UNC-BYU Exhibition Preview + UNC's Litmus Test vs. UVA

On this episode of the Tar Heels Inder Podcast, beat writer Grant Chavchere talks about North Carolina's big weekend, with the football and basketball teams both in action. Men’s basketball travels to Salt Lake City to take on Top 10 BYU in an exhibition matchup, while football faces Virginia in the 100th game of 'The South’s Oldest Rivalry.'

To hear what he has to say, check out the video below.

Bill Belichick on Virginia

UNC — Oct 17, 2025; Berkeley, California, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Bill Belichick looks on before the game against the California Golden Bears at California Memorial Stadium. | Eakin Howard-Imagn Images

They're kind of their own, they develop that into their own Virginia package. I'm not saying it's Clemson, but there are some elements of the Clemson system, especially offensively, Coach (Des) Kitchings, the offensive coordinator, and Coach (John) Rudzinski, defensive coordinator, have both done an excellent job, and those guys are very sound.

They don’t turn the ball over and they haven’t had a fumble all year long. Fumble all year. Only had a couple of interceptions. So the ball security has been really good, and they've made the plays on the defensive side of the ball.

And of course, (Chandler) Morris is having a good year. Cam Ross is an outstanding player open the return game and offensively.

J’mari Taylor, excellent running back. Really has good vision, great quickness. He can really hit from sideline to sideline on any play with his vision and his ability to jump cut and get into, get into spaces. The receivers, so that'll be a challenge for us.

Oct 4, 2025; Louisville, Kentucky, USA; Virginia Cavaliers quarterback Chandler Morris (4) looks to pass against the Louisville Cardinals during the second half at L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium. Virginia defeated Louisville 30-27. | Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images

Defensively, this is a very experienced group. It's mainly all juniors, seniors, some graduate students. Other than (Ethan) Minter the safety, who's a sophomore, it's a very experienced group, and they play well together.

The ends are very disruptive. The defensive line is good, but the ends in particular are very disruptive and create negative plays, long yardage situations, make plays on long yardage and score touchdowns.

So you got to do a good job offensively of keeping the negative plays to a minimum and staying out of long yardage against this team.

Hubert Davis on BYU Matchup

UNC — Mar 20, 2025; Milwaukee, WI, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Hubert Davis watches team workout during NCAA Tournament First Round Practice at Fiserv Forum. | Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

How has the increase in these public exhibition games changed the way you approach the preseason?

Normally, it’s been behind closed doors and private, and you have more of a hands-on approach. In regards to, ‘hey, let’s look at going up against a zone, or going up against a press, or let’s do situational stuff. But there’s huge benefits in playing games like this."

Oct 22, 2025; Kansas City, MO, USA; BYU head coach Kevin Young (left) and Robert Wright III (right) speak to media during Big 12 Menís Basketball media day at T-Mobile Center. | Sophia Scheller-Imagn Images

"I mean, obviously, playing against such a really good opponent in BYU, it gives us an opportunity to be able to take a clear look at us and things that we’re doing well, things that we need to improve on before the regular season starts.

Same thing that happens in the NBA. So, it gives us a chance to do that. I think it’s also really beneficial for us to go on the road… To be on a true road game, there’s a lot that you can learn about your team, and it’s something that is invaluable to be able to learn that prior to the regular season starting.

With a lot of eyes on a high-profile exhibition game like this, do you hold back anything for scouting reasons?

Oct 22, 2025; Kansas City, MO, USA; BYUs AJ Dybantsa speaks to media during Big 12 Menís Basketball media day at T-Mobile Center. | Sophia Scheller-Imagn Images

No, I don’t think there’s a situation where you hold things back. I mean, I think there’s situational stuff that we haven’t practiced yet, and so in that scenario, you are playing what you have practiced at that point. And so that’s what we’ll do against BYU, and that’ll give us a good indication on things that we need to work on moving forward

What are you looking for from UNC on Friday night in Salt Lake City?

UNC — Caleb Wilson | Jackson McCurdy, North Carolina Tar Heels On SI

The huge bullet points that we’ve talked about and identified every day since we’ve come together as a team. From a defensive standpoint, us being, and I’ve been clear and definitive, we’ve got to be a really good defensive team, good rebounding team, for us to have a chance to be the best team that we can possibly become.

Looking at our pace, we play a tremendous pace, taking care of the basketball, doing a much better job this year, getting to the offensive glass. And so those are big picture, very important things that I’m looking for out of the scrimmage on our exhibition game on Friday.

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