The North Carolina football team committed sloppy mistakes and was unable to get its offense going early in a 34-17 loss to Virginia Tech Saturday afternoon at Kenan Stadium, dropping to 2-3 on the season.
With the victory, the Hokies improved to 4-2 in 2014.
Virginia Tech running back Marshawn Williams rumbled for a touchdown and Hokie signal caller Michael Brewer added another through the air to help guide the visiting team to a vital ACC win. The Hokies capitalized with 21 points on Tar Heel turnovers.
The UNC defense kept them in the game with an impressive third quarter in which they limited the Hokie offense to a mere 22 yards and recorded five tackles for a loss, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the 21-point halftime deficit.
“That whole first half, for whatever reason, we kept shooting ourselves in the foot. We didn’t give ourselves a chance to win the football game,” UNC head coach Larry Fedora says.
On the opening play of the contest, UNC junior quarterback Marquise Williams coughed up the ball on a sack, setting the Hokie offense up for an early touchdown thanks to an eight-yard scoring run by freshman back Marshawn Williams just 44 seconds into the game.
The Tar Heels answered back with a methodical march down the field on the ensuing possession, but the home team was forced to settle for a 20-yard field goal by sophomore Nick Weiler when a third down pass slipped through senior tight end Jack Tabb’s fingertips in the end zone. At the 11:38 mark in the first quarter, the Hokies held a 7-3 advantage.
The Hokies continued to move the ball successfully against a reeling Tar Heel defense, converting on two third downs and a fourth down to keep the drive alive. VT quarterback Michael Brewer tossed a 26-yard scoring strike to receiver Bucky Hodges with 5:59 on the first quarter clock to give the Hokies a 14-3 lead.
The defenses largely dominated the second quarter of play until the waning moments before halftime. A 27-yard field goal Joey Slye pushed the Hokie lead up to 17-3 with 1:44 before halftime. Then, a poor decision by UNC redshirt freshman quarterback Mitch Trubisky led to a 47-yard interception return for a touchdown by VT sophomore cornerback Kendall Fuller.
As the two teams trotted into the locker room, Virginia Tech held the 24-3 lead.
The third quarter went the way of the defenses with both offenses struggling to sustain any kind of momentum thanks to dropped balls and sloppy penalties. The scoreboard didn’t change.
The Bell Tower overlooking Kenan Stadium (Elliott Rubin)
A beautiful punt by Tommy Hibbard was downed inside the Hokie 1-yard line. Then, M.J. Stewart’s first career interception set up a great scoring opportunity for the Tar Heels. A couple plays later, freshman Elijah Hood punched in a 1-yard run for a touchdown that cut the Hokie lead down to 24-10 with 13:19 left to play in the game.
From there, with the game in hand, the Hokies began to grind out the clock, putting the finishing touches on an important road win in the ACC Coastal race.
Next up for the Tar Heels comes a tough road game at South Bend next Saturday against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
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