North Carolina knocks off No. 14 Virginia Tech

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 No. 14 Virginia Tech all night long in a 20-17 victory on Thursday night.

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 the clock down to two seconds.

Barth's field goal, his second in the final three 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.

Notes

• A Connecticut student committed an act of terrorism by posting Internet messages telling people to "stop the snitching" after the stabbing death of football player Jasper Howard, university police said. Christopher Mutchler, an 18-year-old freshman from Wethersfield, faces charges of hindering prosecution, committing an act of terrorism and several misdemeanors. He is due in court Nov. 10.

• Running back Javarris James, defensive end Eric Moncur and safety Ray Ray Armstrong all have been ruled out of No. 18 Miami's game at Wake Forest on Saturday.

• Oregon State backup quarterback Lyle Moevao will need surgery after injuring his ankle during practice.