BLACKSBURG, Va. –– The Virginia Tech Hokies emerged victorious over the North Carolina Tar Heels on Saturday afternoon in Blacksburg in front of a sellout crowd. The Hokies and Tar Heels played to a 31-31 stalemate after 60 minutes of play and took six overtimes to determine the outcome of the ACC Coastal contest.
Virginia Tech head coach Justin Fuente commented, “Our kids have worked incredibly hard and hung together. As you can see by watching us play, we’re not perfect by any means. It’s hard to question our kids’ grit and toughness. I’m awfully proud of them, it was fun to watch them celebrate and find a way to win the game.”
North Carolina started quickly with a 47-yard touchdown pass from true freshman quarterback Sam Howell to former Virginia Tech recruit Dazz Newsome, whose older brother played at Virginia Tech. The Tar Heels followed their first score up with a field goal to take a 10-0 lead.
In the early stages of the game, it appeared that it was going to be similar to the Duke matchup more than three weeks ago. Once Hendon Hooker found a wide-open Tré Turner for a 55-yard touchdown, Tech’s offense seemingly found new life. The Hokies would score two more touchdowns before halftime and led by a score of 21-17 at the break.
Shortly before halftime, starting quarterback Hendon Hooker sustained a gruesome-looking lower leg injury. He jogged out to the warmup lines for the second half but was unable to continue.
He was briefly replaced by the previous starter, Ryan Willis, until he was pulled following a couple of lackluster and listless possessions.
Quincy Patterson assumed the quarterback duties for the Hokies and did not disappoint. Although his playbook is limited to power quarterback keepers, he found some success in the passing game as well.
With a little over five minutes remaining in regulation, Sam Howell found Antoine Green for a 68-yard touchdown completion to give the Tar Heels a 31-24 lead. Once again, a reeling Virginia Tech offense seemed to be down for the count. However, Quincy Patterson hit an open seam for a 53-yard touchdown run to tie the game that electrified the crowd in Lane Stadium.
The game was the first in the nation to utilize college football’s new overtime rules for contests that go longer than four overtime periods. Starting with the fifth overtime, teams will not start from the opposing 25-yard line as they had in years past. Instead, each team receives one attempt at a two-point conversion. A successful conversion for the first team to attempt means that the opposing team has to match or else the game is over.
The two teams held each other on their first attempts and collectively reached a sixth overtime. North Carolina had the first opportunity to score in the sixth overtime but was held on an impressive stop by Hokies defensive back Khalil Ladler. The Hokies followed up that stop with a power run by Patterson to convert their attempt and secure the win in thrilling fashion.
The Hokies resiliency to fight back and win after the injuries to Hooker as well as defensive back Caleb Farley, who was on pace for a career day, was remarkable. With four of their five wins counting towards bowl eligibility, the Hokies took the first step towards extending the nation’s longest active bowl streak to a 27th consecutive season. They will need to win two more games this season to achieve that goal.
Virginia Tech will have an off weekend before traveling to South Bend, In. for a matchup against the highly touted Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
Written by Greg Atkins
