Associated Press

Virginia's Rashawn Jackson (31) and Denzel Burrell celebrate the Cavaliers' fourth-quarter touchdown Saturday at North Carolina.

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Now that Virginia has cleared up one problem area, others await.

The Cavaliers did not have a turnover Saturday at North Carolina and the result was a 16-3 victory, Virginia's first of the season.

UVa (1-3, 1-0 ACC) did give up four quarterback sacks, however, and ranks last in the country in sack avoidance for the second straight week.

Quarterback Jameel Sewell has been sacked 16 times in the last three games and 17 times overall.

Virginia quarterbacks -- mostly Marc Verica -- were victimized for a total of 16 sacks during a 5-7 season in 2008.

Clearly, the Cavaliers have missed left offensive tackle Eugene Monroe, the first-round draft pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars. But, four other starters returned.

UVa coach Al Groh was asked on his Sunday night teleconference whether Sewell needs to do a better job of getting rid of the ball

"That's something he's very conscious of and has been working on," Groh said.

With Sewell handling most of the quarterbacking in 2007, the Cavaliers gave up 33 sacks in a 9-4 season, and that was with a pair of first-round NFL Draft picks in Monroe and guard Branden Albert.

Groh described Sewell after the UVa-North Carolina game as "a passionate, gutty" player. Sewell missed one series after a blow to the head left him woozy, but Groh's original understanding was that Sewell's return was uncertain.

On Sunday, Groh marveled at the way Sewell had stood his ground at one point in the face of a corner blitz, but the negative yardage is beginning to pile up and every hit increases the risk of injury.

Sewell has had 250 yards in gains and would be leading the Cavaliers in rushing if it wasn't for the 162 yards in losses he has also accumulated. Not all of that has come from sacks.

Of Sewell's 70 rushing attempts, 27 have resulted in losses.

n Indiana (3-2) comes to Scott Stadium for a 3:30 p.m. kickoff Saturday with one of the nation's top returning pass-rushers from 2008, 6-foot-3, 259-pound senior defensive end Jammie Kirlew.

Kirlew had 19½ tackles for loss and 10½ sacks last season and is on a similar pace (9½ tackles for loss, 3½ sacks) this year. The Hoosiers' other starting defensive end, Greg Middleton, has three sacks.

Doing it all

Groh indicated that there are no plans for senior Vic Hall to resume his punt-return duties after making his first appearance since Sept. 12, when all he did was hold for one play.

"I wouldn't rule it out," said Groh, who is using cornerback Chase Minnifield to return kickoffs and punts, "but there comes a point where we have to say, 'How many things can we ask this player to do.'"

Hall started at slot receiver Saturday, took turns at both safety spots, held for an early kick and also played quarterback for one play.

"If circumstances had gone a little differently, Vic would have caught a pass, thrown a pass, run the ball, had a sack and played on special teams," Groh said.

In the second quarter, Hall took a backward pass from Sewell on a first-and-10 from the Carolina 34, then threw the ball across the field to Sewell for an apparent 22-yard gain before the play was nullified by penalty.

By the numbers

Virginia's 254 yards in total offense was its second-lowest total in four games and caused the Cavaliers to drop from 111th to 117th out of 120 Division I-A teams in total offense.

The Cavaliers have scored one fourth-quarter touchdown in each of its last two games against North Carolina and won both, including a 16-13 overtime triumph in 2008.

n Virginia ranks most favorably in pass defense (eighth) and pass-efficiency defense (19th). The Cavaliers moved up from 58th to 31st in total defense with their performance at North Carolina.

Odds 'n' ends

In conjunction with homecoming, Virginia will retire the No. 5 jersey worn by three-time former All-ACC defensive back Anthony Poindexter.

It won't be much of a homecoming for Poindexter, the Cavaliers' secondary coach in his seventh season on the staff.

n Indiana is only the second Big Ten team ever to visit UVa, joining Penn State, a 20-14 loser in 2001 at Scott Stadium. The Hoosiers, who will host the Cavaliers in 2011, have never played a game in the state of Virginia.

No other ACC-Big Ten games are scheduled for the regular season this year.