By Jimmy Robertson
BLACKSBURG – It's Homecoming weekend in Blacksburg, and the biggest event associated with Homecoming takes place at Lane Stadium on Saturday afternoon when Virginia Tech battles North Carolina in a key ACC Coastal Division showdown.
Coming off two straight wins, the Hokies are 4-2 overall, but just 1-2 in the ACC, so they need a victory to keep pace. North Carolina, coming off a big win over Georgia Tech, is 3-3 overall, 2-1 in league play.
The Hokies have gotten the better of the Tar Heels of late, winning three straight games, including last season's thrilling 22-19 victory in which Ryan Willis threw a touchdown pass to Dalton Keene in the final 20 seconds. Tech has won five of six in the series.
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The Tar Heels, though, nearly pulled the upset of the season, falling to No. 1 Clemson 21-20 after failing to convert on a two-point conversion with 1:17 remaining. Plus, UNC owns impressive wins over South Carolina – which just beat Georgia – and Miami.
So what gives Saturday? Here are a few things to watch:
Winning the turnover battle – As stated here in Monday's piece, Tech is 19-2 under Fuente when committing fewer turnovers than its opponents. The Hokies haven't committed a turnover since the 45-10 loss to Duke and not coincidentally have won two straight games. Obviously, that trend needs to continue.
Unfortunately, for the Hokies, the Tar Heels take care of the ball, too. In two games, they didn't turn it over, and in three others, they only turned it over once. Their six turnovers on the season are the third-fewest in the ACC and tied for 20th nationally.
Tech has forced eight turnovers this season – five coming in the 42-35 victory over Miami. It would help its cause to force a couple against the Tar Heels on Saturday afternoon.
Keeping an eye on Hunter – Reggie Floyd's targeting penalty in the second half of the Rhode Island game leaves him on the sideline for the first half of the Hokies' game against North Carolina. Defensive coordinator Bud Foster said Tuesday that Devon Hunter was the next man up, so Hunter – a heralded recruit three years ago – figures to make his second career start (he started last season at ODU).
Hunter has played in all six games this season, but only sparingly. He enters the UNC game with just two tackles on the season, and Tech's staff fully expects the UNC offense to test Hunter.
The game represents a great opportunity for Hunter, who worked at the nickel/whip linebacker position in the spring and has bounced around in his career. But he appears settled at rover, and the staff is anxious to see how he performs.
"Devon has been the same guy every day," rovers and safeties coach Justin Hamilton said. "The biggest thing I've seen in his development is that he's prepared like a starter. He never complained about not being a starter. He comes to work, wants to go do his job, wants to be coached, wants to get better in every way. Probably my favorite thing about Devon is that he's excited about getting an opportunity, but hates the circumstances that they came in because he would never want it to be at the expense of a teammate."
Getting after Howell – Traditionally, Foster's defenses have feasted on true freshman quarterbacks. In fact, the last time Tech lost to a true freshman quarterback came in 2014 when the Hokies fell to Wake Forest in the infamous 6-3 game in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. John Wolford served as Wake's quarterback and threw for 160 yards and an interception.
Tech plays a much different talent in UNC quarterback Sam Howell, who continues to impress in his first season in Chapel Hill. Howell stands second in the ACC with 15 touchdown passes, and he is tied for the national lead among freshman quarterbacks in that category. He's throw at least two touchdown passes in every game this season and only thrown three interceptions.
The Hokies need to get after Howell and make him uncomfortable, and UNC's young offensive line has struggled at times, allowing 20 sacks on the season. In the Tar Heels' three losses this season, they have allowed 12 sacks, including six in a loss to Wake Forest. Tech has registered 10 of its 20 sacks in the past two games – both victories.
"I don't know," Foster said when asked if Howell could be rattled. "They do a nice job of getting the ball out of his hands. He throws a nice deep ball. There are a lot of quick throws, RPOs [run-pass options], and they aren't going to let you get a lot of pressure on him. He does have some escapability to keep a play alive. He can run the ball a little bit, and he is well-coached.
"Offensively they do a great job. They aren't real complicated, and I don't think they want to be. They want to be good at what they do, and that's what I've seen. Obviously, he is a highly recruited guy and a highly talented guy … I've been really impressed by him, and I'm sure he will play his best football game, and we just have to play our best football game."
Winning the fourth quarter – For whatever reason, the Tar Heels get off to slow starts in games. They've been outscored 55-34 in the second quarter alone and 88-71 in the first half, and they've only led at halftime in two of their six games this season.
But the Tar Heels finish strongly. They've outscored opponents 72-31 in the fourth quarter – and that 41-point differential ranks first among all ACC teams and sixth nationally. Howell's seven touchdown passes and 518 yards in the fourth quarter lead the country.
UNC has outscored its opponents in the fourth quarter in five of its six games, with the lone exception being its 21-20 loss to No. 1 Clemson.
On the flip side, Tech has been outscored 52-45 in the fourth quarter of its games this season. The Hokies outscored both Furman (7-3) and Rhode Island (10-0) in the fourth quarter, but haven't outscored an FBS team in the final 15 minutes.
The Hokies get off to quick starts – they've outscored their opponents 54-10 in the first quarter. But in a game that figures to be close, one with the Tar Heels currently being favored by 3.5 points, Tech may need to find a way to close out the game in a big way to pull off a victory.
In closing: The Tech-North Carolina game is slated to kick off at 3:30 p.m. and can be seen on the ACC Network. For more information on how to get the ACC Network, please click here.