Virginia Tech Football
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VIRGINIA TECH FOOTBALL AMERICA’S LONGEST ACTIVE BOWL STREAK - 27 STRAIGHT • 11 CONFERENCE TITLES - 4 ACC TITLES • 899.0+ SACKS, 396+ INTS LEAD FBS SINCE 1996 • #HARDHATMENTALITY #19 VIRGINIA TECH (2-0, 2-0) Oct. 10 • NOON • ACC NETWORK • Chapel Hill, NC. • Keenan Stadium (51,000) #8 UNC (2-0, 2-0) Justin Fuente Mack Brown Alma Mater: Murray State (1999) Alma Mater: Florida State (1974) Record at VT: 35-20 (5th Season) Record at UNC: 78-52-1 (12th season) Career Record: 61-43 (9th Season) Career Record: 253-128-1 (32nd season) GAME 3 Record vs. Opp: 4-0 Record vs. Opp: 1-1 TECH RETURNS TO CAROLINA VS. HEELS BURMEISTER 2-0 AS TECH’S STARTER IN 2020 TURN UP THE JUICE, RB KHALIL HERBERT • For the third consecutive week Tech will face an opponent • Oregon transfer QB Braxton Burmeister won his initial start for Tech • Kansas transfer RB Khalil Herbert leads the nation, averaging from Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill triangle as the Hokies vs. NC State (9/26) and guided VT to another win at Duke (10/3). 276.5 all-purpose ypg. travel to face North Carolina (10/10). • Burmeister is Tech’s second-leading rusher with 100 yards and a • Herbert racked up a school-record 357 all-purpose yards at • A severely depleted VT squad missing 23 players and pair of rushing TDs. He also threw a 12-yard TD to TE James Mitchell Duke (10/3), while his his 207 rushing yards tied as the fifth- multiple coaches registered a convincing a 45-24 win to at Duke (10/3). highest single-game total in Virginia Tech history. open the season vs. NC State (9/26). WELCOME TO #SACKSBURG • Herbert leads ALL FBS players, averaging 156.0 rushing ypg. • Last week, despite missing 21 players (including the • Tech has posted 13.0 sacks in its first two contests of 2020 to tie for He’s registered back-to-back 100-yard rushing games in his first squad’s top five DBs) and multiple coaches once again, the second in the nation behind Pitt (19.0). The Hokies posted 6.0 sacks in two games in a VT uniform. Hokies pulled off a 38-31 win at Duke (10/3). the first two games of 2019. • Herbert played in 35 games for the Jayhawks, producing 320 • Tech is 4-0 against UNC under head coach Justin Fuente, • The Hokies are 20-3 under Fuente when registering 3.0 or more sacks, carries for 1,735 yards (5.4 avg.) with 14 TDs. He racked up a 11-6 in ACC road contests and 5-0 in conference games including a string of 11 straight wins dating back to a 31-14 win at Duke career-high 291-yard rushing performance at WVU (9/23/17). played in North Carolina (3-0 vs. Duke, 2-0 vs. UNC). (9/29/18). Tech had 7.0 sacks at Duke (10/3). • Herbert registered 104 rushing yards with a 37-yard TD to go • Tech’s last trip to trip to Chapel Hill resulted in a frenetic • Tech DE Emmanuel Belmar is tied for fourth in the ACC with 3.0 sacks. along with 46 receiving yards vs. NC State (9/26), as well as 45 finish. With UNC leading 19-14 in the fourth quarter and • The Hokies have registered three INTs in their first two games and are KO return yards. poised at the Tech one-yard line, the Hokies forced a fumble, now 11-2 under Fuente when picking off two or more passes. • The grad student became the first Hokie to ever rush for 100+ proceeded to recover en route to an epic 98-yard TD march • Tech alum and former NFL player Justin Hamilton enters his initial season yards and register 100+ kickoff return yards in a single contest. resulting in an unlikely 22-19 win (10/13/18). as defensive coordinator in 2020. He has been unavailable for Tech’s first • In 27 games (14 starts) at Rutgers, RB Raheem Blackshear • Last year’s contest vs. UNC (10/19/19) was even more two games. CBs coach Ryan Smith, who called the defensive signals vs. rushed 211 times for 912 yards with six TDs and three 100-yard dramatic as Tech won the longest game in ACC history, a six- NC State (9/26) was also unavailable last week. games. He also caught 80 passes for 810 yards with six TDs with OT 43-41 VT win that featured TD passes by three different • LB Rayshard Ashby led the ACC with 120 tackles (61 solo) in three 100-yard games. Blackshear returned 30 kickoffs for 518 Hokies’ QBs. Tech is 13-3 against UNC in ACC play. 2019. Ashby leads Tech with16 tackles and is tied for second on yards (17.3 avg.). • UNC is 2-0 after registering wins vs. Syracuse (9/12) the squad with 2.5 TFL and 2.0 sacks. He led VT with 10 tackles at and at Boston College (10/3). The Tar Heels have won five Duke (10/3). VICE SQUAD - TECH’S O-LINE POWERING TECH straight dating back to 2019. • Walk-on S Tyler Matheny made his first career start at Duke (10/3), • Behind an offensive line coached by Vance Vice, Tech ranks third leading Tech with 2.0 TFL, while adding seven tackles, along with • The only time VT and UNC squared off with teams ranked in the nation and leads all P5 teams, averaging 319.0 rushing ypg. his first career INT. in the AP Top 25, the No. 25 Hokies took out the No. 17 • From 2011-19 Tech registered no games with 300+ net rushing Tar Heels by a 34-3 count in a deluge at UNC (10/8/16). SPECIAL TEAMS STILL SPECIAL AT VIRGINIA TECH yards. The Hokies have now accomplished that feat in back-to- back games with 314 rushing yards vs. NC State (9/26) and 324 VT is currently No. 19 and UNC is No. 8. • K Brian Johnson has made 16 consecutive FG attempts dating net rushing yards at Duke (10/3). TECH DOMINATES THEIR STATE back to a contest vs. UNC (10/19/19), including six makes of 40+ yards, two of which (46, 49 yards) came vs. NC State (9/26). He had • Tech has registered back-to-back games with 300+ net rushing • Virginia Tech owns a 10-1 record against teams from a career-long 54-yard make vs. Kentucky (12/31/19). yards for the first time since doing it with 334 yards at BC the state of North Carolina under Fuente. (9/10/02) and 332 vs. Rutgers (9/19/02). • RB Khalil Herbert busted off a career-long 83-yard KO return at • VT owns a combined 36-8 all-time record in ACC play Duke (10/3) en route to a career-high 150 KO return yards. • Tech leads the ACC in rushing at 319.0 ypg and RB Khalil against teams from the state of North Carolina: 14-3 vs. Herbert leads the ACC in rushing (156.0 ypg.). • Herbert leads the ACC and ranks fourth in the Power FIve, Duke, 13-3 vs. UNC, 5-1 vs. NC State and 4-1 vs. WF. averaging 39.0 yards per KO return. KEY SCORING STATS ON HOKIES, HEELS MORE ON TECH’S TRIO OF TALENTED QUARTERBACKS RANKINGS, STREAKS & SUCH • Tech is 4-0 vs. UNC under head coach Justin Fuente. • Tech’s trio of QBs who have all walked off the field after guiding their team to victory • VT is No. 18 in the USA Today Coaches Poll VT owned a 115-29 scoring edge in Fuente’s first two against a Power Five opponent - Hendon Hooker, Quincy Patterson & Braxton Burmeister. & No. 19 in the AP Top 25. meetings with the Tar Heels. Tech’s last two wins have • In his six wins as Tech’s starter in 2019, QB Hendon Hooker completed 68 of 108 • UNC is No. 8 in the AP Top 25 & is No. 9 in the come by a combined five points (VT 65, UNC 60). passes (63.0%) for 1,126 yards with 10 TDs and no INTs (181.1 rating) in those USA Today Coaches Poll. • VT is 25-5 when scoring 30+ points under Fuente and contests. He also rushed 83 times for 266 yards with four TDs in those six victories. • Tech ranks third the ACC in scoring (41.5 ppg.). 11-0 when scoring 40+ points. Tech has averaged 39.5 • Hooker started eight contests for Tech in 2019 and did not throw an INT in seven of The Hokies rank second in the ACC in total ppg vs. UNC under Fuente. those contests. He threw for a career-high 311 yards at UVA (11/29/19) and had a offense (491.0 ypg) and KO returns (38.6 ypg). • VT owns a 20-2 mark under Fuente when leading at half. season-high 76 rushing yards at Miami (10/5/19). • Only Notre Dame (14.5) and UNC (18.5) have • VT is 31-2 when holding foes to 21 points or fewer dating • Prior to his winning his initial two starts in a Virginia Tech uniform, QB Braxton allowed fewer first downs per game than VT (19.0) back to the start of the 2015 season (6-1 in 2019). Burmeister last tasted victory after leading Oregon to a 41-20 win vs. Utah (10/28/17). among ACC schools.