UNC vs. Virginia Tech Postgame Notes

• Saturday was just the fourth time UNC played in a game in which 100 points were scored and it’s the most combined points in any Tar Heel victory.

• 118 – Nov. 10, 2012 – Georgia Tech 68, UNC 50 at Kenan Stadium
• 111 – Sept. 20, 2014 – East Carolina 70, UNC 41 in Greenville
• 101 – Oct. 10, 2020 – UNC 56, Virginia Tech 45 at Kenan Stadium
• 100 – Nov. 23, 2013 – UNC 80, Old Dominion 20 at Kenan Stadium

• Sam Howell passed for 257 yards and three touchdowns, Michael Carter rushed 17 times for a career-high 214 yards and two scores and Javonte Williams rushed 20 times for a career-high 169 yards and two touchdowns.

• This is the third time in school history and second time in an ACC game two Tar Heels rushed for 100 yards and another passed for 200 yards (also vs. Georgia Tech in 1980 and William and Mary in 2004).

• This was the ninth time in UNC history and the first time since 2003 that one Tar Heel rushed for at least 200 yards (Carter) and another passed for 100 yards (Howell).

• This was UNC’s first win against a ranked team in its last eight tries. The previous victory against a ranked opponent was a 20-13 win at Miami in 2016.

• Carolina gained 656 yards of total offense, the fifth highest in school history and the third highest in an ACC game.

• 721 vs. Old Dominion, 2013
• 714 vs. Maryland, 1993 (Mack Brown-coached team)
• 704 vs. Duke, 2015
• 675 vs. VMI, 1969
• 656 vs. Virginia Tech, 2020 (Mack Brown-coached team)

• Carolina’s 656 yards are the second most ever against Virginia Tech by any opponent (Alabama gained 833 in 1973).

• Carolina rushed for 399 yards, its highest total against an ACC opponent since 1988 against Duke (408) and most in any game since 1993 versus Ohio (432).

• Carolina’s 56 points were its highest total since scoring 66 against Duke on Nov. 7, 2015, and the most the Tar Heels have ever scored against Virginia Tech (previous was in a 48-34 win in Chapel Hill in 2012).

• Carter (214 yards) is the first Tar Heel player to rush for over 200 yards since Elijah Hood gained 220 against NC State on Nov. 28, 2015. His previous career high was 165 vs. the Hokies in 2018. Carter is the 13th Tar Heel to rush for 200 yards in a game (and the 22nd time a Tar Heel has rushed for 200 or more yards).

• Carter averaged a school-record 12.6 yards per carry (214 yards on 17 attempts). The previous record for 15 or more attempts was by Gio Bernard, who averaged 11.4 vs. Virginia Tech in 2012 (262 yards on 23 carries).

• This was Carter’s seventh career 100-yard rushing game, and marked the first time he has rushed for 100 yards in back-to-back games (121 last week at Boston College). His 62-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter was the longest rush of his career.

• Carter and Williams are the first pair of Tar Heels to both rush for 160 or more yards in the same game, the second with at least 150 and the second in which one player gained 200 or more and another rushed for 150. The other time one player gained 200 and another gained 150 was in 1981 vs. Wake Forest when Tyrone Anthony rushed for 224 yards and Bobby Ratliff rushed for 158.

• Carter moved into 10th all-time at UNC in rushing yards with 2,572. He passed Tyrone Anthony for 10th place. Elijah Hood is ninth with 2,580.

• Willams’ 169 rushing yards broke his previous career high of 144 on Oct. 5, 2019, against Georgia Tech.

• Williams rushed for two touchdowns. It was the third time in as many games this season that he has scored multiple touchdowns.

• Williams’ six rushing TDs currently leads the ACC and is the most rushing touchdowns by a Tar Heel football player in the first three games of a season since Natrone Means opened the 1992 campaign with six. (Miami’s Cam’Ron Harris has five rushing touchdowns heading into tonight’s game vs. Clemson).

• Dazz Newsome rushed for one score and had a touchdown reception. The rushing score was the second of his career.

• Howell passed for 257 yards, which improves his career total 4,418. He passed Mike Thomas for eighth in UNC history in passing yards.

• Howell completed 18 of 23 passes, for a career-best completion percentage of .782.

• Howell threw for three scores; he has thrown two or more touchdown passes in 15 of his 16 games as a Tar Heel and three or more for the ninth time (first time this season). He has thrown at least one TD pass in every game as a Tar Heel.

• Dyami Brown had three catches for 86 yards, two of which went for touchdowns of 37 and 43 yards. It was the second time in his career he hauled in multiple TD passes (three against Virginia on Nov. 2, 2019).

• Carolina began the game with an 11-play, 75-yard drive capped by a 1-yard touchdown run by Javonte Williams. The Tar Heels have scored touchdowns on each of their opening possessions in the three games this season.

• The Tar Heels scored 21 points in the first quarter. It was the second time UNC scored 21 points in a quarter in 2020. UNC also racked up 21 points in the season-opener against Syracuse in fourth quarter.

• Don Chapman and Cam’Ron Kelly both made a career-high nine tackles.

• UNC’s 35 points in the first half were the most by the Tar Heels in a half since scoring 35 in the second half against Temple on Dec. 27, 2019.

• The last time the Hokies gave up 35 points in a half was Dec. 7, 2002, against Miami.

• Carolina is now 13-24-6 against Virginia Tech. The win snapped a four-game series win streak by the Hokies. This was Carolina’s first win over Virginia Tech since 2015.

• Carolina is now 5-8-2 at home against the Hokies. This was just the second time UNC has defeated Virginia Tech in nine games in Chapel Hill since the Hokies joined the ACC in 2004.

• Mack Brown is now 254-128-1 all-time and 79-52-1 as Carolina’s head coach.

• Carolina has won its last six games, its longest win streak since an 11-game streak in 2015.