Sept. 18, 2008

Every Thursday, check TarHeelBlue.com for the latest edition of the Game Guide, which provides all the information you need to get ready for gameday.

The Basics

North Carolina (2-0, 0-0) will host Virginia Tech (2-1, 1-0) in its ACC opener on Saturday at 3:30. The Tar Heels are off to their first 2-0 start since 2000 and are seeking their first 3-0 start since 1997. Carolina defeated Rutgers 44-12 on Thursday night in New Jersey, snapping a 20-game losing streak in games outside the state. Virginia Tech is coming off of a 20-17 win over Georgia Tech at home last Saturday. Virginia Tech holds the edge in the series between the teams with a 15-9-6 record. Carolina has not beaten the Hokies since they came into the league in 2004 and Virginia Tech has a 15-1 record in ACC road games since joining the league and is 13-0 in conference road openers under Frank Beamer. The series dates back to 1895 and this game will mark the sixth meeting in the series since 1946. Nineteen out of the 30 games between the two schools were played at neutral sites; this will be Virginia Tech's eighth trip to Chapel Hill (where they are 3-2-2 against Carolina) and the third since 1946 (the last time the Hokies traveled to Kenan before they joined the ACC).

Game Time: Virginia Tech at North Carolina, 3:30 PM, ABC

Carolina's game notes can be found here and Virginia Tech's official football site is here.

Last Time: Carolina lost at No. 17 Virginia Tech by a 17-10 score on September 29, 2007. Carolina was down just 7-3 at halftime. After a Virginia Tech field goal early in the third, Carolina took the ball and had a 10-play, 80-yard drive that burned 5:19 off the clock, but Ryan Houston fumbled the ball at the goal line. T.J. Yates threw a pick with 3:12 to go in the third, setting up a 12-yard touchdown drive for Virginia Tech to put Carolina in a 17-3 hole with 2:17 to go in the third. With 5:34 to go in the game, Carolina closed to within 17-10 on an Anthony Elzy one-yard touchdown run. Carolina got the ball back with just over four minutes left, starting at its own 14-yard line. Carolina got to the Virginia Tech 44-yard line before T.J. Yates was sacked on third and two and a fourth-down pass fell incomplete. Carolina had 18 first downs to Virginia Tech's 11 and outgained the Hokies with 306 yards of offense to 241. Anthony Elzy led the team in rushing with 74 yards on 11 carries and a touchdown. Ryan Houston had 18 carries for 54 yards, plus the lost fumble. T.J. Yates completed 16 of 25 passes for 182 yards, no touchdowns and one interception. He was sacked six times. Hakeem Nicks led the team in receiving with eight catches for 94 yards. Deunta Williams led the Tar Heels with nine tackles and an interception.

Brandon Ore led the Hokies in rushing with 19 attempts for 93 yards and one touchdown. Tyrod Taylor completed 10 of 19 passes for 66 yards, no touchdowns and one interception. He was sacked four times. Eddie Royal touched the ball six times and had 94 yards (15.7 yards per touch), including a 53-yard scamper that set up Virginia Tech's first touchdown. Xavier Adibi had 15 tackles, an interception and a sack while Vince Hall added 13 tackles, a pass breakup and a quarterback hurry. Brothers Cam and Orion Martin combined for four of Virginia Tech's six sacks with Cam notching three. The 2007 game was the closest game between the two schools since 2004 when Carolina lost a narrow 27-24 decision at home in the first time the two met as ACC foes. Taking out those two narrow losses, Carolina lost in 2005 and 2006 by a combined 52 points (27 in 2005 at Virginia Tech and by 25 at home in 2006).

Gameday Weather: Check the local weather forecast before heading for the game.

Radio Coverage: Tar Heel Sports Network coverage begins at 2:30 PM. The radio broadcast is also available on XM Channel 193 at 3:30. Since it's a home game, the Tar Heel Sports Network broadcast can be heard on XM.

TV Coverage: The game will be shown on ABC.

Game week TV/radio coverage: "Butch Davis Live", Coach Davis' weekly radio show, will be broadcast live from the Top of the Hill restaurant on Franklin Street every Wednesday at 7:00. Inside the Huddle with Butch Davis airs Saturday morning at 9 a.m. on FOX Sports South. Inside the Huddle with Butch Davis will air on Sunday at 11 a.m. on WTVD ABC 11 in the Triangle and will review Saturday's game. The Tar Heel Football Review show featuring highlights of the previous week's game will air Tuesday's at 7 p.m. and Thursday's at 8 p.m. in the Triangle and Fayetteville on the local Time Warner Cable station.

Storylines

Getting off to a fast start on both sides of the ball: The Carolina defense has actually been at its best this season in the first quarter, allowing just three points this season (the only quarter that a Carolina opponent has not yet scored a touchdown). Carolina has also allowed the fewest opponent first downs in the first quarter (nine). The second quarter has been the problem as the Tar Heel defense has allowed 123 yards on average, compared to 91 in the first and 91.5 in the third and fourth quarters.

But the Carolina defense getting out to a fast start has allowed a Carolina offense to get its feet wet. After outscoring opponents just 7-3 in the first quarter, the Carolina offense has outscored opponents 72-40 (+16.0) in the other three quarters. Even though Carolina didn't score a touchdown against Rutgers in the first quarter, the Tar Heels moved the ball well and sustained drives, running 19 plays in the first quarter compared to just eight for Rutgers. Against McNeese State, the Carolina offense ran just eight plays compared to 22 for McNeese State in the first quarter. Carolina has only run 27 plays in the first quarter in two games and 19 came against Rutgers. The Tar Heels have run the ball 17 times in two first quarters for 40 yards (2.3 yards per carry). T.J. Yates has completed just 4 of 10 passes for 38 yards in the first quarter. Just 102 of Carolina's 762 yards this season have come in the first quarter of its first two games.

In the first nine offensive plays for Rutgers, it gained 83 yards in ten plays (8.3 yards per play). After Burney popped Underwood, Deunta Williams had a big hit the next play to force an incomplete pass and Rutgers had to punt. The defense then held Rutgers to ten yards in six plays on the next two drives (picking off a pass and forcing a three-and-out). "At the Rutgers game, we smiled and had fun from the opening kickoff," Kendric Burney said."We weren't going to let anything bother us. They came out and jumped on us. He was about 4-for-5 or 5-for-6 passing. But the thing that from last year to this year, we knew how to stay poised and just take care of business when we had to."

The final two drives of the second half had Rutgers gaining 115 yards on 25 plays and coming away with a field goal and an interception in the end zone. Carolina came out in the second half and on Rutgers' first four drives it held the Scarlet Knights to 56 yards on 15 plays (3.7 yards per play), forcing three punts and picking off one pass that was returned for a touchdown. By the time Rutgers started its 12th drive at the end of the third quarter that would result in its only touchdown, Carolina had a 38-6 lead. The 10-play, 80-yard drive was Rutgers' best of the day. Of Rutgers' six drives of 20 yards or more, two ended in field goals, one in a touchdown and three in Carolina interceptions. Twelve of Rutgers' 23 first downs came in the first half and of the 11 second-half first downs, eight came in the final 16 minutes. Of Rutgers' seven second-half drives, two were three-and-outs, one ended in a punt and two ended in interceptions.

Carolina allowed Rutgers to have four plays of ten yards or more out of 12 first-quarter plays. Rutgers averaged 7 yards per play in that first quarter; Carolina held Rutgers to 5.0 yards per play the rest of the game. After allowing 11 plays of ten yards or more and five of 15 or more out of 37 first-half plays, Carolina allowed just six 10-yard plus plays in the second half out of 35 plays and two of 15 or more.

Part of the problem is that Carolina has allowed 22.5 first downs per game, an average that ranks second to last in the ACC. Rutgers was held to 0-of-9 on third-down conversions after McNeese State was 9-of-19, bringing Carolina's third-down conversions allowed to 28%, fourth-best in the ACC. But Carolina has had 112 plays this season on offense compared to 150 for the opposition. That is partly due to Carolina's quick-strike offense and partly to Carolina's defense at times having trouble stalling long drives by the opposition. So the third-down stat is encouraging but considering Rutgers ended up out-gaining Carolina, it is a bit deceptive.

"When you have success on third downs, you hate to say this, but sometimes it's almost not about third down, but it's how you played first and second down," Davis said. "If they're in third and one, two and three, you're probably not going to do a very good job of keeping them from making third downs. If you're having some success either pressuring and batting some balls down - I thought our pass defense at time was very good tonight - that brought up a lot of second and 10s and 12s, some negative plays in the running games. If you can take teams and put them off track, it gives you a chance for a better third-down defense."

Carolina was able to set Rutgers back at times; after 36 first-down plays, Rutgers faced second and five or more yards 21 times. Rutgers had 26 snaps on second downs and Carolina allowed the Scarlet Knights to gain 15 first downs, two third-and-short chances and forced seven third-and-longs. The Carolina defensive line appears to be finding its way and the Tar Heels are just sixth in the conference in tackles for loss, averaging 5.5 per game. The Tar Heels are also dead last in the league in sacks with just one in two games. Carolina's rushing defense is 75th in the nation and sixth in the league, allowing 146 yards per game on the ground.

Virginia Tech and its opponents have combined for just three first-quarter points this season and Virginia Tech has none. This is a huge ACC game that will go a long way in determining conference positioning; it's also a game that Carolina has come close to winning twice in the last five years. It's a game that the crowd will need to be into early and often and a game in which Carolina can't afford to get behind early.

Not biting the cheese: Does it make sense? Not really, but it's a phrase that Butch Davis defines as "not getting sucked in on the first thing that appears, realizing down and distance, realizing personnel groups and allowing things to unfold and being in the right place." It was a transition last season with a young defense and the youth showed in the season opener against McNeese State. There was quite a bit of cheese-biting in that game, and even sophomore cornerback Kendric Burney bit, allowing a McNeese State wide receiver to get behind him on a shallow crossing route and catch a pass for a long gain. Against Rutgers, Burney saw that same route again. This time, he sat back, saw the receiver coming and popped Tiquan Underwood, jarring the football loose and pumping up the entire Tar Heel defense and sideline.

After the McNeese State game, the Carolina secondary began taking things personally, becoming angry if a teammate caught a ball in practice and pushing each other to do better. A young team full of athletic playmakers might be tempted to try to make a play when the defense is struggling early on. It's important for the secondary to avoid cheese-biting against a team with a versatile threat like Tyrod Taylor, particularly when that secondary is the last line of defense.

"Not biting the cheese is when you see something shallow, don't jump it because there's definitely something coming behind you," Burney said. "It's hard to jump the cheese when it's that good, but you've definitely got to stay back. With defensive linemen, they get the pressure but if we jump the cheese then we're leaving our safeties out by themselves and that's definitely not what we want where they have to make a big open-field tackle. So if we just do our jobs, everything will work out well."

Davis has some experience facing elusive quarterbacks after having gone up against Michael Vick in his final two years at Miami. Vick and the Hokies torched the Hurricanes, beating them 43-10 in Blacksburg in 1999. Vick had 197 all-purpose yards, including 46 rushing yards. The next year, Miami won 41-21 and Vick had 19 plays for 14 yards, adding an interception and a fumble.

As Adam Lucas pointed out, Carolina has had trouble with mobile quarterbacks in recent years, including McNeese State's Derrick Fourroux who had 43 yards and a touchdown in the season-opener. With young and sometimes overly enthusiastic defenders, Davis has continued to emphasize discipline and awareness on defense, both qualities the Tar Heels will need in abundance on Saturday.

"I thought that we were physical when we did try to tackle, but the best part about all of that was that they were disciplined enough to stay at home and let the play come to them," Davis said. "That had been a problem the week before. That was one of the things that we didn't do very well against McNeese. We chased receivers clear out of areas that they weren't even supposed to be covering them. They're either overzealous or wanting to make a play.

"Guys were disciplined, staying home and that's how the interceptions (happened). Guys that drop off the right guys and put yourself in the right position, you've got a chance to get an interception. If you don't cover somebody you're not supposed to, that's not going to happen very often."

The Tar Heels not beating themselves: After years of struggling with turnovers, the Tar Heels are now sixth in the country in turnover margin at +2.0 per game, having gained six turnovers and committed just two. Carolina finished the Rutgers game forcing four turnovers and committing none. It's quite a transition for a team that lost 28 turnovers and gained just 22 last season for a -0.5 margin. Last season, Carolina actually averaged a -0.9 margin in its first eight games, losing 20 turnovers and gaining just 13. But in the final four games, this young team was able to begin to force more turnovers and after averaging 1.6 forced in the first eight games, it forced 2.3 per game in the final four games. The Carolina offense turned it over eight times in the final four games and the team had a +0.3 margin in the final four games. Carolina had at least one turnover in every game last season; Carolina averaged 3.5 turnovers compared to 1.5 forced in two blowout losses last season and 2.2 lost to 1.5 gained in six close losses. In four wins, Carolina had 2.0 turnovers compared to 2.5 forced.

Virginia Tech is a team that thrives on forcing turnovers. Last season, Carolina lost a fumble at Virginia Tech's one-yard line and a T.J. Yates interception was converted into a touchdown a few plays later. Carolina was able to force a turnover of its own but it was not enough. This season, there has been an increased emphasis on ball security and offensive coordinator John Shoop's philosophy has been that every offense possession should end in a kick - hopefully, that kick is an extra point or a field goal but at the very least, it should be a punt.

"Not turning the ball over was a big step for our football team," Davis said. "I thought that the quarterback made good and wise decisions. I thought that the people who caught the ball did an excellent job of protecting the football. There's an art to it and it must be practiced and it's got to be talked about. When you're a receiver, you're protecting a ball that's high and tight, you're tucking it away, you're carrying it in traffic a certain way. If you're a running back, obviously you're going to get hit, you're going to get pounded and you've got to be able to protect and hold on to the football. Certainly last week, that was a big part of the success was them having four turnovers and us having none. You'd love to take that stat every single week and take your chances in the outcome of the game."

Beamer Ball is one of the more infamous concepts in college football and no one is better at forcing - and capitalizing on - special teams mistakes than Virginia Tech. Despite the Hokies ultimately losing the East Carolina game after getting a punt blocked that was returned for a touchdown, the team is still strong on special teams and will has already done well this year in that area. Defensive tackle John Graves has become the first player under Frank Beamer to have a blocked kick in three straight games this season - he blocked a PAT against East Carolina, a field goal against Furman and a PAT against Georgia Tech.

In Virginia Tech's last ten seasons, a player at every defensive position has scored at least one touchdown. Thirty different players have scored special teams touchdowns. Since 1987, the defense and special teams at Virginia Tech have combined for 116 touchdowns, 99 in the last 180 games. Beamer's teams have scored 41 touchdowns - 15 on blocked punts, 16 on punt returns, five on kickoff returns, four on blocked field goals and one on a fumble recovery. The Hokies already have one this year when cornerback Stephan Virgil returned a fumble 30 yards for a touchdown against East Carolina. Since 1993, Virginia Tech is 65-10 in games in which it scores at least one touchdown on defense or special teams.

Carolina's special teams had a few scary moments last week, but fortunately those moments came when the game was relatively well in hand. Asking Jay Wooten to kick directionally a bit to avoid Tiquan Underwood resulted in two kicks going out of bounds - one on Rutgers' last drive of the game and the other early in the third quarter when Carolina was leading 24-6. His first four kicks of the game went 66 yards on average while the cover unit allowed 12.5 yards returning. With opponents getting the ball on their own 40-yard line if a kickoff goes out of bounds, it's something that Davis would like to avoid in the future. But he was encouraged with the way his cover unit improved.

Wooten has made all three field goals this season, all three against Rutgers, with a long of 43 yards. He has averaged 63.1 yards per kickoff and with the improved Carolina kickoff coverage against Rutgers, the Tar Heels are now No. 2 in the ACC in that category, averaging 48.8 net yards per kickoff. Carolina has allowed 17.8 yards per return this season but after letting McNeese State average 24.8 yards, it held Rutgers to 12.6 yards per return.

"I think that our kickoff cover unit last week gained some confidence," Davis said. "We were playing so many young guys. We looked at some of the freshmen and some of the redshirt freshmen that were covering kicks the first week and realized what a bad job that I did as a coach. I set them up for failure against McNeese. We just assumed that guys could understand returns and where they were supposed to be and how to fit. Thank God we had a longer period of time off to actually go after it. We probably worked on kickoff cover three times over the eight days of preparation for that game just to try to get guys to fix it, and that won't be enough. They'll have to take the next step this next week."

Virginia Tech's kicker has averaged 64.2 yards per kickoff, 6th-highest in the ACC, but the kickoff cover unit has allowed 14.1 yards per return making the Hokies' 50.1 net average yards per kickoff the best in the ACC. The Virginia Tech kicker also has four touchbacks, second-most in the league. Virginia Tech's punter Brent Bowden has averaged 41.7 yards per punt, fourth in the ACC.

At The Game

Listening to the Tar Heel Sports Network at the game: WCHL 1360 is the local affiliate.

Parking/construction update: For the latest information, click here.

Pregame activities: Tar Heel Town will open at 12:30 PM on Saturday and the Countdown to Kickoff radio show will broadcast live there beginning at 1:30. The Old Well Walk will be at 1:15 and then the Marching Tar Heels will perform on the steps of Wilson Library at 2:30 before heading to the stadium. Then at 2:45 start making your way to Kenan Stadium and make sure you're in your seats early. For more information, see the new 2008 Fan Guide on TarHeelBlue.com.

Postgame activities: See the Fan Guide on TarHeelBlue.com for the latest information on postgame parking and activities.

Watching At Home

Turn down the sound: If you're watching at home while listening to the radio or over the computer via Carolina All-Access, there will inevitably be some delay. For the reason - and a possible solution - click here.

A full list of THSN affiliates can be found here.

ABC coverage: The game will be available regionally on ABC. For a breakdown of the regional coverage, click here.

Names To Know

T.J. Yates: After two games, T.J. Yates has just one interception and is 14th in the nation in passing efficiency with a rating of 168. He has completed 29 of 48 passes for 442 yards, five touchdowns and just one interception. His solid play has been one of the main reasons for Carolina's early success.

With 11:14 left in the third quarter in the McNeese State game, the game was tied at 14 and T.J. Yates threw his first (and to date, only) interception of the season. To that point, he had completed 7 of 14 passes for 38 yards and one touchdown. McNeese State went on to score a touchdown and take a 20-14 lead. From the 5:35 mark of the third quarter until the end of the game, Yates completed 8 of 12 passes for 181 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. He began the Rutgers game completing 4 of 10 passes for 38 yards in the first four possessions of the game. With 11:45 to go in the second quarter until the end of the game, Yates completed 10 of 12 passes for 183 yards and three touchdowns. So after shaking off bad starts early in which he has completed just 11 of 24 passes (45.8%) for 78 yards, one touchdown and one interception, Yates has spent the end of games finishing strongly, completing 18 of 24 passes (75%) for 364 yards and four touchdowns and no interceptions.

After allowing him to be sacked twice in the first week against McNeese State, the Carolina offensive line held Rutgers to just one sack; the three sacks allowed are tied for first in the ACC in fewest allowed. But facing a team like Virginia Tech is a whole different type of game. Last season at Virginia Tech, Yates was sacked six times and hurried five times. He still managed to complete 16 of 25 passes for 182 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Carolina will need to do a much better job of protecting Yates against a tenacious Virginia Tech defense that will look to force Yates and the Carolina offense into mistakes.

Kendric Burney: The sophomore cornerback is tied for fifth in the ACC in passes defended with two. Both came against Rutgers when he intercepted one and knocked the stuffing out of Rutgers' wide receiver Tiquan Underwood on the other. "The play that Kendric Burney made on the shallow crossing route that was the big hit - a year ago, he probably gets sucked in and chases the other crossing route and lets that guy catch it and turn up the boundary and it turns into a 15-yard gain," Davis said. "Now, guys are starting to realize where they're supposed to be and when they're supposed to be there."

While the defensive line was the popular pick to be the leaders of this defense, it has been the secondary that has made the most difference. Burney's hit on Underwood fired up the entire Tar Heel team and seemed to make everyone play with a new attitude. Deunta Williams followed up that play with a big hit of his own and the secondary went on to have two picks, four picks from the back seven including the linebackers. Burney and his teammates in the secondary, the "Rude Boys", took the poor performance of the defense in the McNeese State game to heart. In practice leading up to the Rutgers game, everything was personal.

"Last week, we took everything personal. When one of our teammates caught the ball, it just fired us up. Coach Davis called me and Deunta out kind of personally in a team meeting. I don't like being called out, even though sometimes everybody needs that, which was good that he did because it got me in my place. We definitely took care of business and did what we had to do on the practice field to get ready for the game," Burney said.

The fiery cornerback will be one of a young group of Tar Heel defenders that will have to contain a dangerous dual-threat quarterback in Tyrod Taylor and a young wide receiving corps. The defense will have to stay disciplined and not try to do too much, but Burney has been one of the best and most consistent performers on that defense this season.

Robert Quinn: The 6-5, 260-pound true freshman has moved atop the depth chart at the right defensive end spot. He was matched up against the big and talented Anthony Davis, one of the best young offensive linemen in the nation. His athleticism, motor and strength were obvious right away. Quinn was a top-20 defensive end coming out of high school. As a team, Carolina had four tackles for loss against Rutgers and Quinn had one. Like any freshman, he struggled with Davis at times but he also was able to get close to the quarterback on many occasions and he was absolutely relentless. On Carolina's first interception of the game, Quinn had beaten the lineman but was tripped up a bit as he tried to sidestep him on the way to the quarterback. But it was a three-yard tackle for loss that had the ESPN announcers hooting and hollering - Quinn came untouched and barreled into Mason Robinson. The hits inspired all of his teammates, including Greg Little.

"There were two huge hits from freshman Robert Quinn and I was like, `Wow.' He started the game. It was huge for his confidence and for others to see him do that as a freshman, it was like, `We've got this. Let's keep playing hard, let's keep punching, keep chopping and we'll come out with a victory,'" Little said.

On a third-quarter Teel interception, Quinn nearly got a hand on him again and in the fourth, he had a tackle for no gain when he was untouched. He is an absolute beast to deal with and if Virginia Tech ever forgets to get a body on him, Quinn could really do damage.

Tyrod Taylor: The 6-1 sophomore quarterback was slated to redshirt this season but after an opening loss to East Carolina, the Hokies decided to play him and he is now the starter. Against Furman in his first game (which he did not start), he rushed for 112 yards (the second 100-yard rushing game of his career). He completed 4 of 5 passes for 26 yards. But in the ACC opener against Georgia Tech, Taylor got the start, running for 74 yards on 15 carries (4.9 yards per carry), scoring a touchdown on the ground and completing 9 of 14 passes for 48 yards. He has completed 68.4% of his passes and over his career he is 6-0 as a starter, including the North Carolina game last season in which he threw his first career interception. He is second on the team in rushing with 186 yards and leads the team in yards per carry (6.4). He leads the team in total offense with 130 yards per game. Already this season, he has a 50-yard run against Furman, a 24-yard rush against Furman and a 23-yard rush against Georgia Tech, accounting for three of the 11 20-yard or more plays for the Hokies this season.

"With Tyrod Taylor, he gives them that dimension that they didn't have last year - an explosive guy that's capable of making huge, big plays," Davis said. "He's got a live arm. He can throw the ball 40, 50, 60 yards in the air but he can also pull the ball down, he can scramble, he can run the ball by design. The schemes that they're running are going to give him an opportunity to have the ball in his hands."

Last season against the Tar Heels, Taylor completed 10 of 19 passes for 66 yards and one interception. The Tar Heels were able to contain him on the ground, holding him to 11 rushes for 11 yards and one rushing touchdown. Carolina also sacked Taylor four times. But it was early in Taylor's career and he is a dangerous weapon. If the Tar Heel defense lets down its guard, he can change the game in an instant.

"You know he's going to run," Burney said. "Tyrod is going to be Tyrod and he's going to get his yards, one way or another. He's got a strong arm that many people don't really know about because he hasn't really had to throw the ball much with him and Sean Glennon changing things up. But with him being pretty much the main quarterback threat now, he's going to swing it a little bit now. So we've definitely got to be ready for that."

Orion Martin: The 6-5, 255-pound redshirt senior defensive end had a big day against Carolina last season with five tackles, one tackle for loss, a forced fumble and two quarterback hurries. He forced the Ryan Houston fumble at the one-yard line in the third quarter. Martin walked on at Virginia Tech in 2005 and started all 14 games last season, notching 59 tackles (10.5 for loss), 6.5 sacks, 15 passes defended and three forced fumbles. He led the team in forced fumbles and is the leading returner in tackles for loss and sacks. This season, he has ten tackles, four tackles for loss, one sack and one quarterback hurry. He is tied with three other Hokies for the team lead in consecutive starts with 17 and is the unquestioned leader on the defense.

Kenny Lewis: The 5-9, 200-pound junior has started all three games at tailback this season (including the last game of last season). Lewis struggled running the ball against Georgia Tech, rushing eight times for 13 yards, but he also returns kickoffs for the Hokies. Lewis leads the team in 20-yard or more plays this season with four, two runs and two kickoff returns. Against a stout ECU defense, Lewis had 11 rushes for 62 yards and a score in the loss. Against Furman, he had 13 rushes for 50 yards and a touchdown and he caught his first career touchdown. His five catches for 30 yards this season leads the team; Lewis is the only Virginia Tech player to have a receiving touchdown this season. He has four kickoff returns for 81 yards (20.2 per return), including a season-long 35-yarder against East Carolina. He is tied for leading scorer on the team with three touchdowns and his 77.3 all-purpose yards per game lead the team.

Lauren Brownlow is the managing editor of Tar Heel Monthly.