Home Game Preview: Virginia Tech set to face North Carolina in ACC road opener
Football

Game Preview: Virginia Tech set to face North Carolina in ACC road opener

Roger Gonzalez
virginia tech lane stadium
Photo courtesy Virginia Tech Athletics.

The Virginia Tech football team (2-2, 1-0 ACC) will look to bounce back from the loss to West Virginia when they travel to Chapel Hill to take on North Carolina on Saturday.

The Hokies have continued to look sharp on defense but will have to clean up the penalties if they have any hope of getting a road victory here. The Tarheels (3-1) are coming off their first loss of the season, falling 45-32 to Notre Dame last time out.

This is a big chance for either team to take command of the Coastal Division in what’s expected to be a wide-open race in 2022.

Where to watch?

The game will air on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. on the ACC Network.

What to know about VT

The Hokies’ two losses against ODU and WVU have both primarily been due to bonehead mistakes. Too many penalties, poor execution and the turnovers did them in with both games. That’s not to say they would have won either by playing sharper, but they did themselves no favors. While Grant Wells has shown flashes, the calls for Jason Brown won’t be far off with another underwhelming performance. Expect Tech to try everything it can to establish the run game to find some sort of balance after just 35 yards against the Mountaineers

What to know about UNC

UNC can put up points, but boy can they let them in. They’ve allowed 61 points in a game this season and enter this game allowing 39.5 points per game. In the loss to the Irish, quarterback Drake May was 17-for-32 for 301 yards and five touchdowns, but the run game really struggled. The defense also gave up 576 yards of total offense, and just like Tech, penalties did them in. Whoever plays the cleaner game probably wins.

Prediction

UNC 28, VT 17

Marketplace




Support AFP



 

Roger Gonzalez

Roger Gonzalez

Roger Gonzalez is freelancer for Augusta Free Press. A native of Connecticut that grew up in Charlottesville, he is a graduate of Virginia Tech. He currently is a sportswriter with CBS Sports and has written for The Daily Progress, The Roanoke Times and other newspapers before getting into the digital sports journalism world.

Latest News

tess majors
Schools, Arts, Culture, Media

Tess Majors Foundation sponsoring paid internships at Project GROWS

valley league baseball
Baseball

Baseball: Liberty, set to face #10 UVA, rallies to beat Duke, 13-10

Liberty erased a three-run deficit with seven runs in the bottom of the eighth in a 13-10 win over Duke on Tuesday in Lynchburg.

yes
Politics

‘Yes!’ wins in congressional redistricting referendum: It ain’t over, though

The “Yes” side won in a closer-than-expected congressional redistricting referendum in Virginia, with the final count on Tuesday night giving “Yes” 51.4 percent of the vote, for a 2.8-point win over “No.” The “No” forces are not going to go away quietly, though, as we know. Sixth District MAGA back-bencher Ben Cline was among those...

northern virginia
Politics

‘Yes’ or ‘No’: Live updates on the April 21 Election Night on our live blog

baseball
Baseball

Preview: #10 Virginia hosts Liberty in massive midweek baseball clash

darby allin aew
Etc.

AEW ‘Dynamite’ preview: New champ Darby Allin to defend AEW title

donald trump
Politics

Trump, again, extends ceasefire with Iran, because he’s not winning his war of choice