Hokie ClubCHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Playing in a downpour courtesy of Hurricane Matthew, Jerod Evans threw two touchdown passes and rushed for a score, and Virginia Tech’s defense forced four turnovers, as the No. 25 Hokies rolled to a 34-3 victory over No. 17 North Carolina on Saturday in an ACC game played at Kenan Stadium.
The win marked Tech’s first as a ranked team since 2014 when the Hokies beat Duke in Durham, North Carolina. Tech moved to 4-1 overall on the season, 2-0 in the ACC, and the Hokies also moved to 6-1 against the Tar Heels in games in Chapel Hill since they joined the ACC for the 2004-05 season.
North Carolina had its nine-game home winning streak snapped and fell to 4-2, 2-1 ACC. The Tar Heels failed to score a touchdown in a game for the first time since a 13-0 loss to NC State in Raleigh, North Carolina in 2011.
The four North Carolina turnovers led to 20 Virginia Tech points, and a dropped snap by North Carolina punter Tom Sheldon also led to a Tech touchdown.
North Carolina’s first two turnovers led to field goals by Hokies’ kicker Joey Slye. Arguably the biggest play in the game came on the Tar Heels’ first possession of the second half when quarterback Mitch Trubisky fumbled, and Tech’s Woody Baron recovered. That turnover led to a 22-yard touchdown pass from Evans to Sam Rogers that gave the Hokies a 20-3 lead.
Trubisky, who came into the game leading the nation in completion percentage (76.0) and ninth in passing yards per game (342.2), completed just 13 of 33 for 58 yards, with two interceptions.
Evans completed 7 of 17 for 75 yards. He also rushed for 49 yards on a career-high 21 carries. Tailback Travon McMillian rushed for 76 yards, as the Hokies amassed 189 of their 264 total yards on the ground.
QUOTES TO NOTE
“I’m awfully proud of our guys in all phases of the game to come in here and pull off the victory. Obviously, it wasn’t perfect, but it was a great team effort. We beat a very talented, very well coached, very tough North Carolina team that we have a tremendous amount of respect for. The on thing I will say about the weather is at least you knew that it was going to be something like this leading up to it. I don’t know if there is anything schematically that you can do, but at least emotionally we were prepared for whatever Mother Nature threw at us.” – Tech head coach Justin Fuente on the Hokies’ overall performance.
“We got them behind the sticks and we did a couple of things to get 13 and 3 out of the game. We bracketed those guys in a couple of situations. We made the quarterback hold the ball a little bit and we were able to get some pressure. We were able to get some pressure with our down and we brought some blitz pressure. A couple of times, we were there to get a sack and we missed, but we were able to make him make an errant throw. I really felt like, coming into the game, he was the key. He was playing really well, but we were able to get him off rhythm, and I’m really proud of our kids.” – Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster on the Hokies’ performance on defense.
BIG PLAYS
• Andrew Motuapuaka’s second career interception led to the Hokies’ final touchdown, which came on a 4-yard run by McMillian. The rushing touchdown marked McMillian’s third of the season and the 10th of his career.
• Sheldon dropped a snap early in the third quarter, and Tech’s Cam Phillips tackled him at the North Carolina 4, giving the Hokies the ball in great position. Tech later went for it on fourth down, and Evans scored on a 1-yard run – his second rushing touchdown of the season.
• Greg Stroman’s third interception of the season came in the first quarter at the North Carolina 20 and led to a 35-yard field goal by Joey Slye for the Hokies’ first score. The interception marked the fifth of Stroman’s career.
• Slye’s second field goal also came about because of a North Carolina turnover. Tech’s Brandon Facyson stripped Khris Francis of the ball, and the Hokies’ Terrell Edmunds recovered at the North Carolina 39. That turnover led to a 28-yard field goal by Slye.
• Tech led 6-3 late in the first half before Evans found Bucky Hodges for a 28-yard gain to the North Carolina 1. That marked Hodges’ first – and only – reception of the game and led to Evans’ touchdown pass to Cunningham.
UP NEXT
The Hokies head to the road for their next game, which comes next Saturday at Syracuse. Kickoff is slated 3:45 p.m. and the game will be shown on ESPNU. The Hokies haven’t played at Syracuse since falling in triple overtime to the Orangemen at the Carrier Dome in 2002. Tech has won just twice at the Carrier Dome in nine attempts (1986, 2000).