2010 Virginia Tech Hokies Football: Va. Tech @ North Carolina

The Virginia Tech Hokies are the ACC's standard-bearing program, the embodiment of excellence near the Atlantic Seaboard over the past several seasons. However, the boys from Blacksburg, Virginia, have attained their elevated place in the college football world for a reason: They don't take advantageous situations for granted.

You might think that Virginia Tech is assured of the ACC Coastal Division championship for the fourth time overall and the third time in the last four seasons, but coach Frank Beamer's ballclub still has one very important step left to take in order to feel really good about representing the conference in its Dec. 4 championship contest. Tech must go into Kenan Stadium this weekend and fend off what is likely to be a spirited challenge from the homestanding North Carolina Tar Heels.

Yes, Virginia Tech should be the favorite in this game, due largely to the fact that North Carolina continues to play without several top defenders and its two main pass catchers, receiver Greg Little and tight end Zach Pianalto. The reason for Pianalto's absence is an injury, but with most of UNC's sidelined players, the source of their gameday silence is the NCAA, which suspended 16 players for various portions of the 2010 campaign, all stemming from a combination of offseason sports-agent and tutoring scandals that have shaken the Tar Heels to their foundations. What's amazing, though, is that Carolina continues to compete with distinction. As hard as it might seem to believe, UNC is 3-2 in the ACC Coastal, and if Georgia Tech defeats Miami this weekend, the Tar Heels could vault into sole possession of second place with a win over Virginia Tech. Moreover, the presence of a head-to-head triumph over the Hokies would mean that UNC would win the Coastal in the event that the Hokies trip up against either Miami or Virginia down the stretch. Yes, North Carolina is still alive for a division title, and that's why Virginia Tech can't assume it will win this game just by showing up.

There's another reason why the Hokies shouldn't be overly confident heading into Chapel Hill to play a thorny roadie: UNC went up to Blacksburg and won last year.

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Indeed, on Oct. 29, 2009, Carolina claimed a Thursday-night scalp that was covered with Tech's colors. Tar Heel coach Butch Davis and offensive coordinator John Shoop confused the Hokies with multiple motion sets and a short-passing game that steadily moved the ball. While UNC controlled the clock, the Tar Heels' defense put the clamps on Virginia Tech's offense, limiting a powerful rushing game to just 95 yards and holding the Hokies to just 256 yards overall. Virginia Tech quarterback Tyrod Taylor hit just 11-of-23 passes on a night when the Hokies committed two turnovers. When one then realizes that Taylor struggled mightily in his most recent game - a distinctly uneven effort against Georgia Tech on Nov. 4 - North Carolina could still contain Virginia Tech. The Tar Heels, despite their depleted defense and rail-thin depth chart, could still make noise and get back into the thick of the Coastal race.

Taylor needs to play well - in other words, exactly the way he performed throughout October - if Tech is to get out of Chapel Hill with a win and feel genuinely secure about its division championship. If Taylor shows the form he displayed just over a year ago in Blacksburg, the Hokies will find themselves in big trouble, and an uprising could develop on Tobacco Road.

Will Virginia Tech take care of business? Does North Carolina have another surprise in store for the Hokie team it humbled a year ago? Don't assume Tech will trounce the Tar Heels. This is a game with more intrigue than a quick first glance might indicate.

Virginia Tech Hokies @ North Carolina Tar Heels Football Preview