The North Carolina Tar Heels are back in the win column and they got back there in dominant fashion.

Following a bye week, the Tar Heels were able end their four-game losing streak by beating Virginia 41-14 on the road. After the Cavaliers went up 3-0 in the first quarter, it was all Tar Heels after that. UNC outscored them 41-11 the rest of the way and led big at halftime.

It was by far the best North Carolina has looked all season long and it came at the right time. With the team still off the emotional loss to Georgia Tech and getting through the passing of Tylee Craft, UNC really needed this one.

On a healthy Kaimon Rucker

"You start looking at the defense, Kaimon and Power are the two strongest leaders. All those kids look for them. And then, every time there is a pass rush, Kaimon has a chance to get there. He's that good. And we lost both of those elements when we lost him, and even when we got him back the last week and a half, he was kind of careful. He didn't have his spirit. Today, I could see his face light up because he knew he was back, and that makes so much difference for us."

via Inside Carolina

Meaning of this win

"This team has dealt with more than any team I've ever dealt with in 36 years, with injuries and change and losing a player, watching a player die over time. I've never seen a group of young people and staff handle this this much. You worry about mental health with all of them, and with everybody. It's just a load. And in this business, I feel like we've got the best program in the country off the field, and we lost four games in a row, and you can't do that. And so winning makes that locker room unbelievable. I don't think I've ever seen them that happy.

"And Mitch Mason wasn't feeling well, so this is the first game he's missed in our six years. So they FaceTimed him, gave him a game ball, and let him say the prayer from home. So again, Mitch is a valuable part of our program, because he's the spirit, he's the faith. To be told last night, 'Mitch isn't feeling well,' they're not stupid. They know he's not well. So I was so happy that Jeremy (Sharpe) hit him on FaceTime, and they could sing to him and with him and let him speak to them."

via Inside Carolina

On how the team fed off the positivity from the game

"It's the happiest locker room I've ever seen.

"You want animation and energy on the sideline. They're not going to have it if they're losing. They're not going to have it if somebody's making good plays, because they know, they feel it. These kids aren't stupid. And I talked to them on Thursday about your 'why.' Why do you play? Number one, you play because God gave you enough talent to be good enough to do it, or we wouldn't have asked you to come. So number one, you were separated by talent. Number two, then what? Why do you play? You play to have fun? You play because it gave you an education? You play to win? You play for all the above? So I don't want pressure on you, but you've got to figure out why you do this, and then you've got to figure out how to finish, and you got to finish games."

via Inside Carolina

On JJ Jones peformance

When you're inconsistent at quarterback and you're trying to figure out who you are, it's really frustrating for receivers because they've had two pro quarterbacks. So we've had inconsistency at tight end, we've had inconsistency at receiver because we've been inconsistent as an offense. And I thought today we knew more about who we were.

I thought the fourth quarter last week, Jacolby really started scrambling and went down to score, and we drop a touchdown pass and he gets hit, or he scores a touchdown to win the Georgia Tech game. So I thought that was his breakthrough. We didn't notice it because we didn't win...but I thought that was his breakthrough, and I saw the same thing today. He was poised. He got the ball out of his hands. He didn't have many bad throws. He scrambled when he needed to. I thought he is becoming the quarterback that gives us a chance each week for the last four games.

Via Inside Carolina

On Jahvaree Ritzie's pick 6

"I thought it was JJ when I was looking out there. I couldn't figure out that No. 5.

"He's such a good athlete. When (I) saw it, I never dreamed that he could score. And then he made a couple miss, and I'm thinking, 'You know.' Then he gets close to the sideline, and I said, 'It's 100% he'll step out of bounds. He can't possibly stay in bounds and score.' And good for him. What a great kid for his senior year."

via Inside Carolina

This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire : What Mack Brown said after North Carolina snapped losing streak