North Carolina 20, (13) Virginia Tech 17

1234T
UNC (5-3)077620
#13VT (5-3)0071017

Final

7:30 PM ET, October 29, 2009
Lane Stadium
BLACKSBURG, VA

Barth boots winner as time expires as UNC derails No. 13 Virginia Tech

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Top 25 Overview
It was over when... Casey Barth kicked a 21-yard field goal as time expired to give the Heels the win.
Gameball goes to... UNC's defense. The Tar Heels held the Hokies to only 11 first downs and 95 rushing yards.
Stat of the game... 6-15, 2. The Hokies struggled on third down and two turnovers contributed to the loss.
Team Stat Comparison
 
1st Downs1711
Total Yards312256
Passing131161
Rushing18195
Penalties6-305-50
3rd Down Conversions10-196-15
4th Down Conversions1-21-3
Turnovers12
Possession36:1423:46
Air/Ground Leaders
North Carolina Passing
 C/ATTYDSTDINT
Yates18/2813121
Highsmith0/1000
Virginia Tech Passing
 C/ATTYDSTDINT
Taylor11/2316100
North Carolina Rushing
 CARYDSTDLG
Draughn1277044
Houston1866017
Virginia Tech Rushing
 CARYDSTDLG
Williams2396025
Oglesby1707
North Carolina Receiving
 RECYDSTDLG
Little458119
Pianalto634017
Virginia Tech Receiving
 RECYDSTDLG
Roberts573022
Boykin236020
Scoring Summary
SECOND QUARTERUNCVT
TD02:44Jheranie Boyd 13 Yd Pass From T.J. Yates (Casey Barth Kick) 70
THIRD QUARTERUNCVT
TD06:44Tyrod Taylor 1 Yd Run (Matt Waldron Kick) 77
TD01:51Greg Little 15 Yd Pass From T.J. Yates (Casey Barth Kick) 147
FOURTH QUARTERUNCVT
FG13:27Matt Waldron 36 Yd 1410
TD11:51Tyrod Taylor 1 Yd Run (Matt Waldron Kick) 1417
FG02:52Casey Barth 19 Yd 1717
FG00:00Casey Barth 21 Yd 2017
Associated Press

BLACKSBURG, Va. -- North Carolina's defense is as good as advertised. T.J. Yates, Shaun Draughn and the offense are improving, too.

Casey Barth kicked a 21-yard field goal on the final play and the Tar Heels' defense, ranked seventh in the nation, stopped Virginia Tech (No. 13 BCS, No. 14 AP) all night long in a 20-17 victory on Thursday night.

Fast Facts

• North Carolina won its fourth straight against a team ranked in the AP Top 25 (defeated No. 24 Connecticut, No. 23 Boston College and No. 22 Georgia Tech in 2008).

• Tyrod Taylor was 11 of 23 Thursday. He had completed 34 of his 46 passes (73.9 percent) over the previous three games.

• The Tar Heels got their first win vs. Virginia Tech since the Hokies joined the ACC in 2004 and ended a five-game skid in the series.

• It's the first time UNC has won four straight games vs. teams in the AP Top 25 since the 1992-93 seasons.

-- ESPN Stats & Information

One week after blowing an 18-point lead in a 30-27 home loss against Florida State that had them reeling, the Tar Heels put their troubles in the past and handed the Hokies their second loss in a row. Twelve days earlier, Tech was in the national championship hunt.

"I've never really had this feeling before," Yates said after making several key completions. "Kicking it at the last second? It just sends chills down your spine."

The Tar Heels (5-4, 1-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) got their first conference win after forcing a fumble by Ryan Williams at his own 24 with 2:02 left and running out the clock.

Barth's field goal, his second in the final 3 minutes, just made it official.

"We knew we had to get back to the drawing board," Draughn said after running for 77 yards. "To come back and play the way we did definitely speaks volumes about out team."

The reverse may be true of the Hokies (5-3, 3-2), who until losing to No. 11 Georgia Tech 12 days ago were in the thick of the national championship picture and feeling good.

Now, with their slim ACC championship game chances probably also squandered?

"I think the motivation is to come out here so you don't feel like this again," linebacker Cody Grimm said, dismissing a 10-win season as a motivator. "Ten wins is one thing, but I don't want to feel like this any more and the only way to do that is to win."

No one felt worse than Williams, who started the night averaging 119 rushing yards, gained 96 and was hoping to lead the team down the field to a win until he lost the ball.

"As of right now, there probably isn't really anything they can say to lift me up because regardless of what anybody says, personally I feel like I kind of took the game away from us today," Williams said. "It was on the line, it was in my hands and I fumbled."

The loss was the Hokies' first in six ACC games against the Tar Heels.

Tydreke Powell caused Williams to fumble for just the second time this season -- the first was on a muffed punt in the opener -- and Deunta Williams recovered, setting the Tar Heels up at the Hokies 24. After six carries by Ryan Houston, Barth's chip shot won it.

Yates, who was knocked out of the Tar Heels 20-17 loss to the Hokies last season, finished 18-for-28 for just 131 yards. He was sacked twice, both in the first quarter.

He hit Jheranie Boyd from 13 yards in the first half for the game's first points, and Greg Little from 15 yards as the Tar Heels answered immediately after the Hokies tied it.

Yates did make one big mistake, throwing a dump pass that Rashad Carmichael intercepted at the North Carolina 11, setting up the second of Tyrod Taylor's two touchdown runs. That gave the Hokies a 17-14 lead with 11:51 left, but Yates engineered a 16-play, 78-yard drive to a tying field goal and then the defense, fittingly, made a big play to get the win.

"I thought it was his best performance," Tar Heels coach Butch Davis said of Yates.

The Hokies finished with just 256 yards and 11 first downs.

They finally came to life with their first possession of the third quarter, and a huge play by Taylor early in the drive saved it. Facing a third-and-17 from his 11, Taylor dodged pressure and rifled a 22-yard pass to Dyrell Roberts for the first down.

Taylor followed with passes of 16 yards to Danny Coale and 15 to Xavier Boyce, Williams ran for 22 to the Tar Heels' 14 and Virginia Tech needed seven plays to punch it in.

Taylor did that on fourth-and-goal from the 1 to tie it at 7.

The Hokies other scoring drives covered 35 yards to a field goal and 5 yards to a TD.

Taylor was 11-for-23 for 161 yards, was sacked three times and rushed numerous other times, causing him to throw the ball away. He ran the ball nine times for minus 8 yards.

The Tar Heels had done virtually nothing on offense until midway through the second quarter. On a drive that covered 84 yards in 13 plays, Yates hit Greg Little for 17 yards, Little ran for 23 around the right side to the Hokies 16 on a third-and-3 and Yates hit Boyd for 13 yards in the right corner to make it 7-0 just 2:44 before halftime.

The Hokies gained 45 yards on the first two plays of the game and seemed primed for another big Thursday night. But Jarrett Boykin fumbled after a 20-yard reception on the second play and Kendrick Burney recovered for North Carolina at its 27. The Hokies also drove to the Tar Heels 38, 34, 37 and 35, 40 before halftime and had nothing to show for it.

College Football Scores

Other Scores:

Thursday, October 29th
North Carolina 20 Final
13 Virginia Tech 17
Friday, October 30th
21 West Virginia 19 Final
South Florida 30
Saturday, October 31st
Georgia 17 Final
1 Florida 41
3 Texas 41 Final
14 Oklahoma State 14
Indiana 24 Final
4 Iowa 42
5 USC 20 Final
10 Oregon 47
UNLV 0 Final
6 TCU 41
San Jose State 7 Final
7 Boise State 45
8 Cincinnati 28 Final
Syracuse 7
Tulane 0 Final
9 LSU 42
11 Georgia Tech 56 Final
Vanderbilt 31
12 Penn State 34 Final
Northwestern 13
Wyoming 10 Final
16 Utah 22
New Mexico State 0 Final
17 Ohio State 45
Southern Miss 43 Final
18 Houston 50
19 Miami (FL) 28 Final
Wake Forest 27
Kansas State 30 Final
22 Oklahoma 42
22 South Carolina 13 Final
Tennessee 31
Washington State 14 Final
23 Notre Dame 40
24 California 23 Final
Arizona State 21
25 Mississippi 20 Final
Auburn 33