The North Carolina Tar Heels defeated the Virginia Tech Hokies 41-10 in Chapel Hill Saturday. Outside of the opening minutes, this game was never close. Virginia Tech actually scored first after quarterback Grant Wells found wide receiver Kaleb Smith for a big play to set the Hokies up near the red zone.
However, Tech eventually settled for a field goal and a 3-0 lead.
UNC went to work on its second possession and never looked back. Quarterback Drake Maye led a long drive that saw North Carolina go for it on fourth down twice inside the 15-yard line. Instead of kicking the field goal to tie the game, head coach Mack Brown went for it as Maye found tight end Kamari Morales for the three-yard touchdown and the rout was on.
There was a lot of ugly on both sides of the ball for the Hokies. On defense, Carolina wide receivers were running open all day. On offense, anytime Tech gained momentum, a questionable play call, or a mistake, set the Hokies backward and head coach Brent Pry wasn’t nearly as aggressive as Brown.
Part of that is understandable, as Pry inherited a bad roster while Brown has loaded up on top talent and mostly underachieved. However, Maye is good. Really good. Brown trusts him, and the Hokies lack any type of answer under center right now.
The frustrating part of this game for the Hokies was they failed to get anything going against a terrible defense. UNC was allowing almost 40 points per game, and Tech could only muster 10 points.
In some good news for the Hokies, several younger players saw the field and made contributions, which was necessary for a rebuilding year.
Maye completed 26 of 36 passes for 363 yards with three touchdowns. He also rushed for 73 yards and two scores, with most of his yards coming on scrambles after nothing was open downfield.
The Hokies allowed 527 total yards.
Virginia Tech quarterback Grant Wells completed 16 of 26 passes for 139 yards. He scored Tech’s only touchdown on a run. Running back Keshawn King had nine carries for 52 yards.
Next up for the Hokies is Pittsburgh in what could be an ugly October.
