Suddenly, Hokies’ final month is laden with uncertainty

BLACKSBURG -- Virginia Tech's to-do list for the season's final month looked pretty simple earlier this week: win its four remaining ACC games and hope Georgia Tech lost to Wake Forest or Duke. Now, after the Hokies lost 20-17 on Thursday to North Carolina, the rest of their year seems riddled with uncertainty.

What will it take for them to make the ACC championship game? The short explanation: a lot.

The Hokies (3-2 ACC, 5-3) must win their three remaining league games. (Thursday's non-league date at East Carolina matters only for their bowl-game résumé.) They still will root for Georgia Tech to lose, but they need more than a two-way tie with the Yellow Jackets, who beat them in their last game before Thursday. Depending on the teams involved in a three-way tie, the Bowl Championship Series standings might break it. But analyzing all the possibilities at this point seems a fool's errand.

Simpler, more important questions for the Hokies are tougher to answer. What is their carrot now that they won't play for the national championship and need significant help to make their league's title game? Can their offense stop botching scoring chances in opposing territory? Can their defense get stingier on crucial third and fourth downs?

"If you're a man, you've still got pride," said wide receiver Dyrell Roberts. "You're not going to lay down and fold your whole season up because of a couple of losses."

Even without playing for their third straight ACC title, the Hokies' sixth consecutive 10-win season is still within reach, if they win out in the regular season and win their bowl game.

"If the road had been paved for us to go to the national championship, we'd have went," said cornerback Rashad Carmichael. "But it just didn't turn out that way. Ten wins is perfect for us. That's perfect."

To get there, they must fix flaws that hurt them Thursday errors not as obvious as tailback Ryan Williams' fumble at Tech's 24-yard line that led to the winning field goal at the gun.

Five times in the first half, the Hokies cracked Carolina's 40. The result: no points. It was reminiscent of the Georgia Tech loss, in which their first five trips into Jackets territory yielded three points, before they scored touchdowns on three of their final four drives.

On Thursday, the Hokies stalled in Carolina territory for various reasons. In the first quarter, quarterback Tyrod Taylor threw a high pass to Roberts on fourth and 3 and the 34. In the second, Taylor was sacked when he spotted no open receivers on third and 15 at the 42.

Later in the second period, Taylor held the ball for seven seconds before taking a sack for minus-9 yards on first and 10 at the 40. Then he finished that drive by scrambling under pressure and throwing behind receiver Jarrett Boykin on fourth and 4 at the 35.

Problems continued in the second half. The Hokies got a touchdown on their first possession. On their next drive, trailing 14-7, Williams ran for a 20-yard touchdown that was called back because right tackle Blake DeChristopher (Clover Hill High) pulled on linebacker Quan Sturdivant's jersey.

Then they had to settle for a field goal after Taylor threw an incomplete pass on third and 5 from the 19. He was pressured by linebacker Bruce Carter, who got past tight end Greg Boone.

Tech's defense played poorly in big spots, just as it did at Georgia Tech, where the Jackets converted six of seven third downs in the second half. The one time the Hokies got a stop, they jumped offsides on the next play, fourth and 1.

Carolina converted five of nine third downs in the second half, including a 15-yard touchdown pass on third-and-8, a pass interference penalty on third-and-4 and a 17-yard pass on third-and-7.

Moreover, the Tar Heels completed a 19-yard pass on fourth-and-7 from Tech's 36 a huge play on a drive that ended in a field goal and tied the game at 17. Receiver Greg Little lined up in the slot and beat whip linebacker Cody Grimm on a slant route. Little also exploited a mismatch with Grimm for the 15-yard touchdown, on which he was in the slot and ran a flag pattern.

Carmichael said third-down inefficiency is "a real big concern. That's the pride and tradition we have at Virginia Tech on defense, how we get people off the field on third down."