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No. 9 Virginia Tech gets by North Carolina

Nov 18, 2011 - 7:06 AM Blacksburg, VA (Sports Network) - Logan Thomas accounted for three touchdowns, passing for two and running for another, as No. 9 Virginia Tech held off North Carolina, 24-21, on Thursday night.

Thomas passed for 195 yards and David Wilson rushed for 82, leading the Hokies (10-1, 6-1 ACC) to their sixth win in a row and giving head coach Frank Beamer his 250th career coaching victory.

North Carolina (6-5, 2-5) got within three points on Ryan Houston's one-yard touchdown run with 2:32 remaining and attempted an onside kick. The Tar Heels recovered it, but a yard too short.

Virginia Tech ran all but three seconds off the clock, giving North Carolina one final play, an incomplete pass by Bryn Renner, who threw for 224 yards and a touchdown in the loss.

Tar Heels kicker Thomas Moore missed two field goals in a game North Carolina made close by scoring 14 unanswered points in the fourth quarter.

The Hokies moved 1 1/2 games ahead of Virginia for first place in the ACC Coastal division and will end the regular season with a road game against their state rivals next Saturday.

They had to overcome an early 7-0 deficit in this one after Thomas was sacked and fumbled on the first play of the game. Giovani Bernard's four-yard touchdown run capped North Carolina's 20-yard drive for the lead.

The Tar Heels were close to extending their lead, but Houston fumbled on a 1st-and-goal at the Virginia Tech five-yard line.

"That was a big turnover for us. I was trying to tell the whole defense, 'They can't get in the end zone again,'" said Virginia Tech safety Eddie Whitley. "We were trying to force them into a field goal. At worst, they had to get a field goal."

The Hokies followed with a 95-yard drive that chewed up nearly eight minutes and ended in Thomas' play-action pass to Chris Drager in the left side of the end zone early in the second quarter.

Cody Journell's 22-yard field goal with 4:58 remaining in the second quarter gave the Hokies a 10-7 lead. It remained there at halftime after both teams missed field goal attempts -- Moore from 43 yards and Justin Myer's 57-yard attempt for Virginia Tech.

Thomas stiff-armed a defender near the end of a 23-yard touchdown run, giving the Hokies a 17-7 lead with 9:02 remaining in the third quarter. Later, he hit D.J. Coles for a four-yard touchdown pass and 17-point lead.

Moore missed a 38-yarder short early in the fourth quarter, but North Carolina scored on its next possession when Renner found Erik Highsmith for a five-yard TD.

Renner threw passes of 25 and 64 yards to set up Houston's late TD. Dwight Jones caught the 25-yarder and finished with six receptions for 105 yards.

Virginia Tech's Jarrett Boykin led all receivers with 10 catches for 106 yards.

Game Notes

Virginia Tech holds an 18-10-6 lead in the all-time series, which dates to 1895. It is the only school in Virginia with a winning football record against North Carolina...The Tar Heels were coming off a bye.