Virginia Tech defends the belt, 24–21, at home over North Carolina.
AP poll, week 12: North Carolina unranked at Virginia Tech No. 9 · No. 1 that week: Southern Miss. The belt vs. the polls →
Where this game sits in the lineage
Virginia Tech came in 7 days into reign #280, which began with a win over Georgia Tech, with no defenses yet; this was its first defense. Virginia Tech went on to defend it 1 more time before Clemson took it on December 4, 2011, 24 days after the reign began.
For North Carolina this was its 12th shot at the belt; it had held the belt once before.
This is the only time North Carolina and Virginia Tech have met with the belt on the line.
Recap
North Carolina struck first with Giovani Bernard's early touchdown rush, but Virginia Tech's offense found its rhythm in the second quarter, with Logan Thomas connecting with Chris Drager for a touchdown and Cody Journell adding a field goal to take the lead into halftime. The Hokies' dominance continued into the third quarter as Thomas orchestrated a stunning performance, including a quarterback draw touchdown and another passing touchdown to D.J. Coles to extend Virginia Tech's advantage to 31-7. North Carolina mounted a desperate fourth-quarter comeback, with two late touchdown passes from Bryn Renner to Erik Highsmith and a short rushing score from Ryan Houston bringing the Tar Heels within three points at 31-28, but Virginia Tech's defense held firm to preserve the belt with the 24-21 final.
- Giovani Bernard's opening touchdown gave North Carolina an early 7-0 lead
- Logan Thomas's three-touchdown performance in the second and third quarters (pass to Drager, QB draw, pass to Coles) built Virginia Tech's commanding lead
- Bryn Renner's late-game heroics with scoring passes to Dwight Jones and Erik Highsmith made it a one-possession game but fell just short
Written by Claude from the box score and play-by-play on this page — a plain-English recap of the numbers below, not a substitute for them.
Team stats
CFBD box scoreFull team box score from CFBD’s /games/teams data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have team-level stats that far back.
Key plays
CFBD play-by-play| When | Team | Yards | Play |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 13:42 | North Carolina | +4 yd | Giovani Bernard rush over left guard for 4 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q1 13:42 | North Carolina | +0 yd | Thomas Moore extra point GOOD. |
| Q1 13:34 | North Carolina | +28 yd | Thomas Moore kickoff for 61 yards returned by David Wilson for 28 yards to the VTech 37. |
| Q1 6:15 | North Carolina | +26 yd | Bryn Renner pass complete to Dwight Jones for 26 yards to the VTech 28 for a 1ST down. |
| Q2 9:18 | Virginia Tech | +11 yd | Logan Thomas pass complete to Chris Drager for 11 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q2 9:18 | Virginia Tech | +0 yd | Cody Journell extra point GOOD. |
| Q2 7:35 | Virginia Tech | +33 yd | David Wilson rush over right guard for 33 yards to the NCaro 1 for a 1ST down. |
| Q2 4:58 | Virginia Tech | +22 yd | Cody Journell 22 yard field goal GOOD. |
| Q2 0:45 | North Carolina | +43 yd | Thomas Moore 43 yard field goal MISSED. |
| Q2 0:00 | Virginia Tech | +57 yd | Justin Myer 57 yard field goal MISSED. |
| Q3 9:02 | Virginia Tech | +23 yd | Logan Thomas rush quarterback draw for 23 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q3 9:02 | Virginia Tech | +0 yd | Cody Journell extra point GOOD. |
| Q3 0:25 | Virginia Tech | +4 yd | Logan Thomas pass complete to D.J. Coles for 4 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q3 2:21 | Virginia Tech | +39 yd | Logan Thomas pass complete to Jarrett Boykin for 39 yards to the NCaro 27 for a 1ST down. |
| Q3 0:25 | Virginia Tech | +0 yd | Cody Journell extra point GOOD. |
| Q4 11:16 | North Carolina | +38 yd | Thomas Moore 38 yard field goal MISSED. |
| Q4 9:30 | North Carolina | +20 yd | Bryn Renner pass complete to Dwight Jones for 20 yards to the VTech 25 for a 1ST down. |
| Q4 7:06 | North Carolina | +5 yd | Bryn Renner pass complete to Erik Highsmith for 5 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q4 7:06 | North Carolina | +0 yd | Thomas Moore extra point GOOD. |
| Q4 3:40 | North Carolina | +25 yd | Bryn Renner pass complete to Dwight Jones for 25 yards to the NCaro 34 for a 1ST down. |
| Q4 3:22 | North Carolina | +64 yd | Bryn Renner pass complete to Erik Highsmith for 64 yards to the VTech 2 for a 1ST down. |
| Q4 2:32 | North Carolina | +1 yd | Ryan Houston rush up the middle for 1 yard for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q4 2:32 | North Carolina | +0 yd | Thomas Moore extra point GOOD. |
| Q4 2:19 | Virginia Tech | +22 yd | David Wilson rush left for 22 yards to the NCaro 17 for a 1ST down. |
Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).
Player stats
CFBD player statsPassing
Virginia Tech
| Player | C/ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | INT | QBR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Logan Thomas | 19/32 | 195 | 6.1 | 2 | 0 | 83.0 |
North Carolina
| Player | C/ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | INT | QBR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bryn Renner | 14/26 | 224 | 8.6 | 1 | 0 | 60.2 |
| A.J. Blue | 0/1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 |
Rushing
Virginia Tech
| Player | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| David Wilson | 21 | 82 | 3.9 | 0 | 33 |
| Logan Thomas | 13 | 32 | 2.5 | 1 | 23 |
| Josh Oglesby | 5 | 31 | 6.2 | 0 | 13 |
North Carolina
| Player | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Giovani Bernard | 10 | 45 | 4.5 | 1 | 16 |
| Ryan Houston | 9 | 42 | 4.7 | 1 | 17 |
| A.J. Blue | 9 | 32 | 3.6 | 0 | 8 |
| Dwight Jones | 1 | 7 | 7.0 | 0 | 7 |
| Erik Highsmith | 1 | 7 | 7.0 | 0 | 7 |
| T.J. Thorpe | 2 | 6 | 3.0 | 0 | 4 |
| Bryn Renner | 2 | -5 | -2.5 | 0 | 2 |
Receiving
Virginia Tech
| Player | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jarrett Boykin | 10 | 106 | 10.6 | 0 | 39 |
| Danny Coale | 4 | 37 | 9.3 | 0 | 17 |
| D.J. Coles | 2 | 23 | 11.5 | 1 | 19 |
| Chris Drager | 1 | 11 | 11.0 | 1 | 11 |
| Marcus Davis | 1 | 10 | 10.0 | 0 | 10 |
| David Wilson | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 0 | 8 |
North Carolina
| Player | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dwight Jones | 6 | 105 | 17.5 | 0 | 26 |
| Erik Highsmith | 5 | 90 | 18.0 | 1 | 64 |
| Eric Ebron | 1 | 18 | 18.0 | 0 | 18 |
| Nelson Hurst | 1 | 10 | 10.0 | 0 | 10 |
| Curtis Byrd | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 0 | 1 |
Show more stats (4 more categories)
Kick Returns
Virginia Tech
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| David Wilson | 2 | 39 | 19.5 | 28 | 0 |
North Carolina
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A.J. Blue | 1 | 17 | 17.0 | 17 | 0 |
| T.J. Thorpe | 1 | 15 | 15.0 | 15 | 0 |
| Sean Tapley | 1 | 12 | 12.0 | 12 | 0 |
Kicking
Virginia Tech
| Player | FG | PCT | LONG | XP | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cody Journell | 1/1 | 100.0 | 22 | 3/3 | 6 |
| Justin Myer | 0/1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0 |
North Carolina
| Player | FG | PCT | LONG | XP | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thomas Moore | 0/2 | 0.0 | 0 | 3/3 | 3 |
Punt Returns
Virginia Tech
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jayron Hosley | 1 | -1 | -1.0 | -1 | 0 |
North Carolina
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charles Brown | 1 | 9 | 9.0 | 9 | 0 |
Punting
Virginia Tech
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | TB | In 20 | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Branthover | 3 | 90 | 30.0 | 0 | 0 | 37 |
North Carolina
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | TB | In 20 | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tommy Hibbard | 4 | 110 | 27.5 | 0 | 0 | 38 |
Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data, split out by team. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back. Linked player names go to that player’s stat line in every other belt game they’ve appeared in.
Sources Box score at ESPN · Game record: College Football Data (id 313210259) · This game in the downloadable dataset