On its way to a 4-1 start in 2016, the No. 17 UNC football team has relied on its highly-explosive offense to make up for a defense that’s struggled to keep opponents off the scoreboard.

Playing in the midst of Hurricane Matthew, however, the Tar Heels couldn’t even light a spark on Saturday—as the No. 25 Virginia Tech Hokies traveled to Kenan Stadium and left with a 34-3 blowout victory in a crucial Coastal Division showdown.

It was the lowest-scoring game UNC has put together since head coach Larry Fedora took over in Chapel Hill prior to the 2012 season. The Tar Heels’ up-tempo attack was rendered lifeless—held to just 131 yards–without the passing threat of quarterback Mitch Trubisky, who was held to a meager 58 yards through the air.

VIrginia Tech quarterback Jerod Evans helped the Hokies end UNC's nine-game home winning streak. (AP Photo/ Ben McKeown)

VIrginia Tech quarterback Jerod Evans helped the Hokies end UNC’s nine-game home winning streak. (AP Photo/ Ben McKeown)

Both teams were severely limited by the driving rain and wind gusts topping 20 miles per hour, but UNC’s running game was forced to withstand the absence of junior tailback Elijah Hood, who sat out with a concussion.

Starting in Hood’s place, TJ Logan led the team with 67 yards on 14 carries. However, third-stringer Khris Francis–who took over as the backup–lost a key fumble early in the game.

Virginia Tech wasn’t exactly spectacular on offense, but the Hokies did just enough to take advantage of four untimely UNC turnovers—including Trubisky’s first two interceptions of the season.

“We didn’t do anything running-wise or throwing-wise,” Fedora said after the game. “We couldn’t get into any kind of a rhythm. And so it puts your quarterback at a disadvantage when you put it all on him to throw the ball every time.”

Coming out of halftime down by 10 points, the Tar Heels dug themselves into a deeper hole right away.

Trubisky lost a fumble on the team’s opening drive out of the locker room, which Virginia Tech immediately capitalized on with a 22-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jerod Evans to Sam Rogers.

This forced the Tar Heels into playing from behind—and throwing the ball more often—despite conditions that made that much more difficult. By the end of the game, Trubisky had completed just 13 of his 33 passes.

After using up a few years’ worth of comeback magic in the last couple weeks, it appeared as if UNC simply didn’t have enough gas to do it yet again.

“It was frustrating for everybody,” Fedora said. “I mean, [we] turn it over on the first couple series that [we] have the ball–and go down–and [we] just never recovered.

“We never were able to bounce back from anything.”

Virginia Tech ran the ball on 66 of its 83 offensive plays, as the Tar Heels simply were unable to make stops when they were needed. Despite averaging just over three yards per play, the Hokies held onto the ball for a whopping 40 minutes.

The Hokies celebrate after one of UNC's four turnovers during the game. (AP Photo/ Ben McKeown)

The Hokies celebrate after one of UNC’s four turnovers during the game. (AP Photo/ Ben McKeown)

Defensively, the visitors held UNC to just two third-down conversions on 14 tries—which is why Fedora wanted no part of blaming the weather for his team’s struggles.

“It’s hard to blame it on [the weather] because both teams were playing in it,” he said. “I’m not gonna use that as an excuse. We just didn’t play well.”

All in all, it was a day to forget for Fedora and the Tar Heels—which no longer control their own destiny in the ACC Championship race.

Instead they’ll will need to regroup and get ready for a showdown in Miami–which could be considered a must-win game in terms of the Coastal Division standings.

Regardless of what the reasons were behind UNC’s lackluster offensive performance on Saturday, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know the Tar Heels will have to fix things up moving forward.

“We didn’t play the way we normally play, at all,” Fedora said. “That’s my responsibility as the head coach is to have them ready to play and have them ready to go—no matter what the conditions are.”

Up Next:

The Tar Heels travel to Hard Rock Stadium in Miami next weekend for a showdown with head coach Mark Richt and the Hurricanes. Miami entered this week undefeated and ranked No. 10 in the nation.

Game Notes:

  • UNC also had its 11-game regular season conference winning streak snapped with the loss.
  • The Tar Heels had scored 30 or more points in 11 straight games as well.
  • TJ Logan accounted for 97 of UNC’s 131 yards (67 rushing, 30 receiving).
  • Trubisky’s school-record streak of passes without an interception ended at 243 with a first quarter pick by Virginia Tech cornerback Greg Stroman.

 

FINAL STATS