In Fits, Starts, No. 17 Hokies Do Just Enough to Beat UNC
Virginia Tech 17, North Carolina 10

By Adam Kilgore
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, September 30, 2007

BLACKSBURG, Va., Sept. 29 -- Nobody expected the game to be this close, but there stood the Virginia Tech defense, at midfield, trying to keep North Carolina from scoring a tying touchdown in the final minute. The Hokies already had withstood an injury to quarterback Tyrod Taylor, thwarted a UNC drive by recovering a fumble in their own end zone and overcome nine penalties.

Now, they needed one more stop. As the No. 17 Hokies did throughout their unsightly 17-10 victory over the Tar Heels on Saturday at Lane Stadium, they played as well as they needed to in order to win. A sack by Cam Martin and then a hurry by his brother, Orion, halted North Carolina's attempt to score its second touchdown in the final six minutes, sealing a victory that delivered both promise and worry.

For every encouraging moment -- Branden Ore's season-high 93 yards on 19 carries, quarterback Sean Glennon's successful cameo -- there was a sobering statistic that inspired little confidence for next week's showdown at Clemson. To wit: North Carolina outgained Virginia Tech, 301 yards to 244. The Tar Heels earned 18 first downs, seven more than the Hokies. Taylor, who missed just one play because of his injury, threw for 66 yards, was sacked four times and tossed the first interception of his career.

"We really did some things that win football games," Coach Frank Beamer said. "And then we really did some things that don't win football games."

Beamer worried after the Hokies, who entered the game as the second-most penalized team in the ACC, drew nine flags for 80 yards. He worried about the running game, which produced 112 yards in the first quarter but stalled for much of the remainder. Even with their struggles, the Hokies enjoyed total command midway through the fourth quarter, thanks in large part to the fumble, forced by Orion Martin, that safety Kam Chancellor recovered in the Virginia Tech end zone.

But UNC (1-4, 0-2 ACC) inserted backup running back Anthony Elzy, who received all 11 of his carries in the fourth quarter and gained 74 yards. Elzy ate up 31 yards on a 12-play, 76-yard drive, finishing it off by leaping over a pile of Hokies from a yard out. With 5 minutes 34 seconds left, the Hokies led just 17-10.

After a Virginia Tech three-and-out, North Carolina drove to the Hokies 43, where it faced third and two. The Tar Heels broke the huddle in "13 personnel," three tight ends and one running back. Each time North Carolina showed the package, defensive coordinator Bud Foster called for the "whip" linebacker, Cam Martin, to blitz.

As Cam Martin bolted around the left side of UNC's line, he figured quarterback T.J. Yates would try to fake a handoff and roll to the right. He guessed right. Martin charged from behind and, before Yates could complete his bootleg or sense him coming, jumped on his back and dragged him to the turf, his third sack of the game.

"That was the biggest play of the game," Adibi said.

The most frightening play for the Hokies (4-1, 1-0) came shortly after halftime. As Taylor scrambled, defensive tackle Marvin Austen (Ballou) fell on Taylor as Taylor's legs splayed.

"That was the first time I've done a split in a long time," Taylor said. "I was more flexible when I was younger."

Taylor, grabbing his right groin, left the game on third and 13, and in jogged Sean Glennon, the quarterback who entered this season as the incumbent starter after winning 10 games last season and who objected aggressively when coaches gave his job to Taylor. Glennon assumed a familiar position, in the center of the offensive huddle, his teammates eyes on him.

"It was normal, but you could tell he was confident," said wide receiver Eddie Royal, Glennon's roommate. "It was weird, because he had another gear. It was different. It wasn't, like, old. He had a sense of confidence, a sense of control of the huddle."

Glennon dropped back, shuffled two steps to his left and beamed a line-drive pass to Josh Morgan across the middle. The play gained 10 yards, not enough for the first down but enough for Beamer to send Jud Dunlevy into the game. Dunlevy booted a 52-yard field goal, the longest by a Hokie since 1999.

Taylor returned with a wrap around his groin, unaffected, he said. The moment for Virginia Tech was happy -- Glennon returned, Taylor was all right, Dunlevy boomed one. But the end result offered mixed feelings, and the sense that the rest of the Hokies' season may be just as difficult.

"I don't believe, for us, any of them are going to be easy," Beamer said. "We're not as smooth as we want to be. I know that. But just keep giving effort, and we'll get there. We're going to be a smooth machine before this thing is over."