Virginia Tech surged to a big lead in the third quarter Thursday night behind the play of quarterback Logan Thomas, then held on against North Carolina in a frantic finish for a 24-21 victory at Lane Stadium.
It was the 250th victory in coach Frank Beamer's career, coming in his 31st season overall and 25th at his alma mater.
Ahead 10-7 at halftime, No. 9 Virginia Tech scored two touchdowns in the third quarter to go ahead 24-7
Thomas ran for the first touchdown in the quarter on a 23-yard burst. He then connected with receiver D.J. Coles on a four-yard pass for the second score and his second touchdown pass of the game.
The Tar Heels played the second half without tailback Gio Bernard, who suffered a mild concussion with 4:42 left in the first half.
But the Tar Heels rallied to score two touchdowns in the final 7:06 and sliced their deficit to three points.
North Carolina attempted an onside kick after its last touchdown, with 2:32 left.
Charles Brown recovered, but the ball did not travel the necessary 10 yards and Virginia Tech took over at the North Carolina 39.
"We've always got fight," said receiver Erik Highsmith. "My team never quits. We did a good job coming back."
The Tar Heels lost for the fourth time in five games and fell to 6-5 overall and 2-5 in the ACC. The Hokies got their sixth consecutive victory and improved to 10-1 and 6-1.
The game turned late in the first quarter after the Tar Heels took a 7-0 lead on Bernard's four-yard touchdown run. Ryan Houston, a UNC tailback, fumbled just short of the Virginia Tech goal line, and the Hokies recovered, ending the scoring threat.
On first down at the Virginia Tech 5, Houston took a handoff from quarterback Bryn Renner and hit the middle of the line.
Houston was hit by defensive tackle Luther Maddy at the 3 and lost the ball at the 2. Defensive tackle Derrick Hopkins recovered at the 5.
Virginia Tech then drove 95 yards in 18 plays for a touchdown, which came on an 11-yard pass from Thomas to tight end Chris Drager. Cody Journell added the extra point, his first of three. Virginia Tech's drive lasted one second short of eight minutes.
"It was a big momentum swing," Highsmith said. "It was unfortunate we lost that possession. It put our heads down a little bit. We lost a lot of momentum. When they went down to score, it put us in a hole."
Instead of being ahead 14-0, UNC was tied 7-7 with 9:18 left in the second quarter. Virginia Tech took the lead for good on Journell's 22-yard field goal with 4:58 left in the first half, and UNC was unable to force a tie when Thomas Moore missed a 43-yard field goal wide left with 45 seconds left in the half.
Tydreke Powell, a UNC defensive tackle, said the defense could not come up with the critical stop it needed to force Virginia Tech to punt and give the back the ball on its long drive.
"When a defense stays on the field that long, it's always tough," Powell said. "It was tough. It's always frustrating when you have the opportunity to go up on a great team, but we didn't capitalize and score."
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