Heels stun Hokies: Barth hits clutch field goal in closing seconds

North Carolina recovered from a near-fatal mistake last night, fighting back and upsetting Virginia Tech 20-17 at Lane Stadium for its first ACC victory of the season.

Kicker Casey Barth delivered the win by hitting a 21-yard field-goal attempt as time expired. North Carolina trailed 17-14 with 11:51 left, but quarterback T.J. Yates led two scoring drives, the first for a tying field goal, and the defense forced a game-deciding turnover with 2:02 left.

"This feels so good," Yates said. "I've never felt this before. It just sends chills down your whole spine when your team's rushing out on the field after a big win. This is a hard place to play in. And there were big stakes."

Barth's game winner came almost five years to the day after his older brother, Connor, kicked a 42-yard field goal on Oct. 30, 2004, as time expired to give North Carolina a 31-28 home win over Miami, its only win over a top-five ranked team in school history.

The Hokies' lead was their only one of the game. They scored a go-ahead touchdown after Yates was intercepted at the UNC 11-yard line and the ball was returned to the 5e. Yates responded immediately by driving the Tar Heels 78 yards to the Hokies' 2, where Barth kicked a 19-yard field goal for a 17-17 tie.

Virginia Tech still had 2:52 and two timeouts left to move into scoring position. It took possession at its 24 after the kickoff, but the turnover, its second lost fumble of the game, came on its third play.

Tailback Ryan Williams ran up the middle trying to gain 6 yards for a first down. Defensive tackle Tydreke Powell, one of several players who keyed a strong defensive effort, slammed into Williams just beyond the line of scrimmage to jar the ball free.

"I knew that the game was on the line so I put my hat to him," Powell said. "I heard the crowd roar and then I saw Deunta (Williams) pick it up. We knew we had to stop them and get the ball back for our offense."

Williams, a free safety, scooped up the ball at the Virginia Tech 30. He ran six yards before being stopped. He thought he could run for more.

"I thought the guy was down, but you can't take any chances," Williams said. "I saw the ball come out and I picked it up, and everything parted like the Red Sea. I thought I was going to score, but it closed pretty quickly."

The Tar Heels turned to tailback Ryan Houston, whose bullish runs produced a first down at the 13 and forced the Hokies to use their timeouts to stop the clock. Facing fourth and 1 at the four, the Tar Heels ran the clock down to two seconds, called timeout and called on Barth again.

Applying a lesson taught him by his older brother, Barth fought off a case of nerves.

"I do a lot of visualization; I think that helped me," he said. "I saw it in my head before I did it. That's what (Connor) taught me. Earlier in the season I missed a couple but I got on track by visualization."

The win was North Carolina's first against Virginia Tech since it joined the ACC in 2004 and snapped a five-game losing streak in the series. North Carolina improved to 5-3 overall and 1-3 in the ACC.

Yates persevered on a tough night against Virginia Tech's hard-hitting defense to complete 18 of 28 passes for 131 yards and two touchdowns. Most important to Coach Butch Davis, however, was the poise that he displayed after being intercepted.

"This is my personal opinion: I thought this was his best performance," Davis said.

Virginia Tech fell to 5-3 and 3-2 and suffered a second consecutive loss, also in ACC play.

bcole@wsjournal.com.

North Carolina 0 7 7 6 -- 20


Virginia Tech 0 0 7 10 -- 17

Second Quarter

UNC--Boyd 13 pass from Yates (Barth kick), 2:44.

Third Quarter

VT--T.Taylor 1 run (Waldron kick), 6:44.

UNC--Little 15 pass from Yates (Barth kick), 1:51.

Fourth Quarter

VT--FG Waldron 36, 13:27.

VT--T.Taylor 1 run (Waldron kick), 11:51.

UNC--FG Barth 19, 2:52.

UNC--FG Barth 21, :00.

A--66,233.

TEAM STATISTICS

UNC VT

First downs 17 11

Rushes-yards 42-181 33-95

Passing 131 161

Comp-Att-Int 18-29-1 11-23-0

Return Yards 9 37

Punts-Avg. 5-39.6 4-43.3

Fumbles-Lost 0-0 3-2

Penalties-Yards 6-30 5-50

Time of Possession 36:14 23:46

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING--North Carolina, Draughn 12-77, Houston 18-66, Little 6-38, Boyd 2-10, Team 1-(minus 1), Yates 3-(minus 9). Virginia Tech, R.Williams 23-96, Oglesby 1-7, T.Taylor 9-(minus 8).

PASSING--North Carolina, Yates 18-28-1-131, Highsmith 0-1-0-0. Virginia Tech, T.Taylor 11-23-0-161.

RECEIVING--North Carolina, Pianalto 6-34, Little 4-58, Highsmith 3-9, Boyd 1-13, Barham 1-7, Ramsay 1-6, Draughn 1-5, Elzy 1-(minus 1). Virginia Tech, Roberts 5-73, Boykin 2-36, Boyce 2-34, Coale 1-16, R.Williams 1-2.