The University of North Carolina used a 21 yard field goal on the final play of the game to pull a big college football upset over #13 Virginia Tech on Thursday night, winning by a final score of 20-17. The Tar Heels\’ #8 ranked defense proved as tenacious as their high national status would suggest, and gave the Hokies fits throughout. North Carolina led for most of the game, but withstood a late game Virginia Tech comeback bid to take the win.

College football betting enthusiasts who took North Carolina as +16\’ road underdogs were never in serious doubt about the eventual payday they\’d receive as the Tar Heels never trailed by more than three points. The Tar Heels improved to 3-4 against the college football pointspread, while the Hokies dropped to 3-5 versus the money.

Tar Heels\’ QB T.J. Yates was in a state of disbelief after the narrow road victory:

\”I\’ve never really had this feeling before. Kicking it at the last second? It just sends chills down your spine.\”

Running back Shaun Draughn spoke of the team\’s priority to bounce back quickly after they blew a big lead in a loss to Florida State last week:

\”We knew we had to get back to the drawing board. To come back and play the way we did definitely speaks volumes about our team.\”

In the Hokies\’ locker room, linebacker Cody Grimm spoke of his team\’s need to regain their focus:

\”I think the motivation is to come out here so you don\’t feel like this again. 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.\”

Running back Ryan Williams felt doubly bad about the loss, as his late game fumble cemented the victory for North Carolina:

\”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. It was on the line, it was in my hands and I fumbled.\”

The Hokies will play against next Thursday night, heading to Greenville, NC to face the Skip Holtz coached East Carolina Pirates. They\’ll play at Maryland on Saturday, November 15 before returning home a week later to host North Carolina State. North Carolina plays their next two at home, starting a week from Saturday against Duke. Miami will come in the following week before the Tar Heels hit the road to play at Boston College on November 21.