The North Carolina Tar Heels host their second game of the season in Kenan Stadium, matching up with the Virginia Tech Hokies under the lights in prime time. The last time these two teams met in Chapel Hill they played in a hurricane. This time the weather should be nice and autumnal. No rain to be found. Unfortunately, UNC will be playing short-staffed in the quarterback department. Chazz Surratt was, uh, not good against Miami...but the alternatives (especially if that alternative is Nathan Elliott) are not good either. Surratt is out for the season following a wrist injury. Can Elliott prove he deserves to be a starting P5 quarterback? Does Surratt’s injury force Larry Fedora to burn Cade Fortin’s redshirt? Stay tuned. It’s difficult to stay focused on UNC football with the results being what they’ve been. It would be incredibly easy to go ahead and look forward to basketball season, and no one here would blame you if you were one of those people, but the rest of the season is important for a number of reasons. The biggest thing to watch for the rest of the year will be whether or not Fedora can do enough to keep his job. Where we go from here depends on that answer. We’ll be back after the game with a complete roundup of the happenings. Until then, as always... Go Heels!<doc-sep>The first quarter ended with something that really looked familiar. a 7-6 score with the favored team (Hokies) hanging on to a slim lead, and possessed of some sputtering on both sides of the ball. The Hokie Defense grabbed a lucky fumble on a delay that actually netted Carolina about 7 yards. After some fits and starts, The short field drive, from just around Tar Heel Territory featured a nice out pass to Hazelton with a sparkling Cheeto keeper by Willis for a long run into the end zone for a Tech touchdown. Then the Tech offensive wheels started to wobble a bit, and the defense kept getting stung by break out runs. The first Carolina field goal was set up by a long outside run that was, once again, the result of indiscipline by the Hokie Defensive Box. There was no contain and no flow over the top and only a lucky chase down from behind kept the ball out of the end zone. The Defense stiffened and forced a field goal. The answering Tech drive stalled out again. Penalties, disappointing runs, and some issues with throws and catches resulted in a pass that bounced out of Damon Hazelton’s arms and into a Carolina defenders. It wasn’t Willis’s fault but the coverage on Hazelton is heavy today. The 2nd quarter opened with a stalled Hokie drive, and a punt. The Hokie D is really struggling on this one. It’s not completely lost, but it’s losing critical leverage on key plays. Eventually Tech stopped Carolina’s 2nd quarter opener and got the ball back in good shape. The Hokies traded a stalled effort back, and then coughed up too many yards on the punt return due to bad tackling. The drive stalled with an emphatic sack by Emmanuel Belmar, and then the Heels missed the Field Goal attempt which preserved the paper thin Tech 7-6 lead. Spyed Willis... the guy who wasn’t supposed to play kills us again. Tech’s just not getting anything going on offense. Tech bailed on 3rd and long with a delay run to Steven Peoples, but Cornelsen and company were just not ready for this game. With 7:00 to go in the first half, the Tar Heels take the field with the ball in decent territory, and promptly completed a 20 yard out pattern. The pass defense is not keeping the freshman Fortin from throwing the ball. Carolina went for it on 4th down and came up about 1 inch short. Turning the ball over to the Hokies. The Hokies promptly went no where with the ball except for one good reverse roll screen to Steven Peoples. The punt was low and short. Carolina pulled a trick play out of the back of the pages and did the old WR lateral pass to the Tight end and nearly scored if Reggie Floyd hadn’t gotten back to the play and tackled him at the 9. Tech’s defense gets 2 or 3 good plays and then loses something on the last one. Carolina was stopped short of the goal line but kicked a 20 yard field goal to go ahead 9-7 with 49 seconds left in the half. Hokies Offense ended the half sort of running nowhere and going no where, with three timeouts, none called, and no effort to get downfield to try for something like a -4 or something. The Offense is just completely DISCOMBOBULATED. Hokies 7 Heels 9, and that says it all.<doc-sep>Now that the bye week is over, the Tar Heels are ready to welcome the always-enthusiastic-to-beat-the-snot-out-of-UNC Hokies into Kenan Stadium. UNC will be without quarterback Chazz Surratt for the rest of the season, so Larry Fedora will be premiering in a brand new segment of “Whose That Quarterback?” Will Nathan Elliott be given yet another chance to take things over, or will Fedora turn to Cade Fortin in a desperate attempt to turn the season around before it’s too late? We shall find out tonight. Naturally, we all encourage all of you to make it to Kenan Stadium if you have the capabilities of making it to the game. If you cannot make it, however, don’t worry. This is a judgment-free zone, and we have you covered. Here’s all the info you need to catch tonight’s game: Time: 7:00 PM EST Location: Kenan Stadium Chapel Hill, North Carolina TV: ESPNU Radio: Tar Heel Sports Network (Affiliates listed here) Streaming: Watch ESPN or TuneIn Radio for the audio feed Line: VT -6.0 In case you missed any of our pre-game coverage: Our staff predictions Chad’s Weekly podcast w/ Akil Guruparan Al’s Player to Watch Jake’s Three Things to Watch Chad’s Game Preview<doc-sep>
CHAPEL HILL, NC - SEPTEMBER 02: Head coach Larry Fedora of the North Carolina Tar Heels watches during their game against the California Golden Bears at Kenan Stadium on September 2, 2017 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Cal won 35-30. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) Hokies come from behind to beat Tar Heels in closing seconds Looking for a second conference win in the last three games, the North Carolina Tar Heels dropped a heartbreaker to the Viginia Tech Hokies in the closing seconds on Saturday night in Chapel Hill. A 22-19 come-from-behind victory for the Hokies dropped the Tar Heels to 1-2 in ACC play and just 1-4 on the season. North Carolina is now just one loss shy of last-place Georgia Tech in the ACC Coastal standings. Freshman quarterback Cade Fortin started the game under center, but split snaps with junior QB Nathan Elliott. Fortin connected on 10-of-18 passes for 97 yards, while Eliiott hit on 10-of-14 for 149 yards and a touchdown. The Tar Heels’ lone passing touchdown went to Anthony Ratliff-Williams, who hauled in just three catches for 19 yards. Junior tight end Carl Tucker reeled in two receptions for 123 yards including an 80-yard strike that put the Tar Heels in scoring position. UNC running back Michael Carter put together a terrific performance on the ground, rushing 18 times for 165 yards. It was his third game of 100 or more yards as a Tar Heel, and the most yards he’s gained in a single game. The Tar Heels held a 19-14 lead until 19 seconds left in the fourth quarter when the Hokies scored on a one-yard pass that capped off a 98-yard drive and gave Virginia Tech the lead. It proved to be the difference in the game, as the Tar Heels couldn’t get downfield on the ensuing drive with less than 20 seconds remaining in the game. North Carolina will travel to New York to play the 4-2 Syracuse Orange next week.