GAME NOTES: Tied for the second-longest winning streak in the nation entering this week, the 21st-ranked Virginia Cavaliers try to stay perfect in ACC play as they contend with the NC State Wolfpack on the road in Raleigh. Since falling to Wyoming in the season opener, 23-3, the Cavaliers have reeled off seven consecutive victories, the most recent being an 18-17 nail-biter last Saturday night versus Maryland on the road. During the team's win streak this season, which has matched a school record previously accomplished in 1914, 1949 and 1990, five have come by five points or less. As for the Wolfpack, they managed to post just their second win of 2007 last weekend in a 34-20 triumph over East Carolina. The win was the first on the road this season for NC State and its first against an opponent from the newly-renamed Football Bowl Subdivision. The squad, which is still 0-3 in league matchups, posted a 38-17 win over Wofford at home. As far as the all-time series is concerned, NC State leads, 32-21-1, since the relationship began back in 1904. The Wolfpack is 15-8 at home in the series, but lost to Virginia on the road last season in a 26-20 decision.

After a couple of questionable calls by the officials in the waning moments of last week's tilt against Maryland, Mikell Simpson took matters into his own hands and scored the game-winning touchdown on a one-yard plunge with just 16 seconds remaining. Simpson finished the outing with 119 yards and two scores on the ground, while Jameel Sewell added 243 yards on 22-of-35 passing and survived three sacks. Filling the shoes left by an injured Cedric Peerman, Simpson surprised almost everyone with his effort in the triumph, especially since he's been used so sparingly the first seven games of the season. Sewell's production continues to fluctuate, despite matching his career-high for passing yards. Considering he threw for a combined 243 yards in the first three games alone, it's never clear which version of the quarterback is going to come out and play. However, what is clear is that the Cavs offense is still struggling, even with the lengthy win streak, placing 101st among the 119 FBS teams with an average is just 326.9 ypg of total offense.

The Virginia defense came alive when it needed to against the Terrapins last weekend, holding the home team to a mere 103 yards passing and 233 yards of offense overall. After giving up two touchdowns to Maryland on its first three possessions, the Cavs limited the Terps to just a field goal the rest of the way. Jon Cooper led Virginia with 12 tackles, of which two and a half came behind the line of scrimmage, but the real big hitter for the Cavs was Chris Long who logged 10 tackles, 3.5 TFLs and the only two sacks of the game for the visitors. Make no mistake, this team plays only as well as the defense allows, with the squad currently ranked third in the ACC and tied for 15th nationally with three sacks per outing. The run defense has limited opponents to just 113.3 ypg, which has brought the group's overall defense down to just 314.3 ypg. Long has been a beast for the Cavs, having made 13 of his 50 stops behind the line of scrimmage and already posting 10 sacks to lead the ACC and put him third in the nation in terms of sacks per game.

Daniel Evans connected on 29-of-44 passes for 335 yards and three touchdowns in leading the Wolfpack to their first win of the season over another member of the FBS. The team leaned heavily on Evans as the so-called rushing attack managed a mere 49 yards on 28 attempts. Evans has played marginally well under center this year, filling in for Harrison Beck who is out with a separated shoulder, completing 64.3 percent of his pass attempts. And while Evans averages just 113.3 ypg through the air, his seven touchdowns and six picks are still far better than the nine INTs to two TDs that Beck had produced before his injury. Running back Andre Brown has given the group some stability coming out of the backfield with his nearly five yards per carry and team-high five TDs, but the team is still ranked 11th in the conference and 109th in the nation with a mere 91.9 ypg rushing.

Defensively, the Wolfpack limited East Carolina to only 72 yards on the ground and less than four yards per play as they took part in 87 snaps on the road. Javon Walker and DaJuan Morgan both recorded double-digit tackles for the visitors with 11 and 10, respectively, while Markus Kuhn and Willie Young made much more noise as they recorded two of each of their three stops behind the line of scrimmage. Kuhn added a pair of forced fumbles and a sack, while Young had two sacks of his own. Morgan is currently second in tackles for the Pack with 52, posting a team-best 32 solo efforts. However, not one of the team's top seven tacklers has a single sack to this point in the campaign, which is why the Pack is ranked 10th in the conference in that department. Getting a strong push up front has been difficult for the group this year, currently ranking last in the ACC and 103rd in the nation in run defense with 204.4 ypg, despite what the team accomplished last weekend. Having the nation's worst turnover margin (minus-2.43 per game) doesn't help matters much.

At some point an opponent is going to make the Cavaliers pay for playing so many close games, but NC State is not that team this week. Expect Jameel Sewell to carry Virginia, or more precisely, push it to a win with his leadership.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Virginia 31, NC State 17