Tar Heels spoil Frank Beamer’s home farewell, clinch ACC Coastal

A large crowd greets Virginia Tech head coach Frank Beamer as he makes his last walk to the stadium prior to the start of an NCAA college football game between North Carolina and Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., Saturday, Nov…

The North Carolina Tar Heels take on the Virginia Tech Hokies today in a game on the college football schedule which sees one ACC Coastal division rival enjoying a national ranking and a prolonged winning streak, and the other team struggling through a mediocre season.

Despite the loss, it was an exciting and memorable day in Lane Stadium, beginning with Metallica’s video tribute to the head coach before the team’s traditional entrance to their hit song Enter Sandman, all the way through the VT marching band writing “Thank You Frank” on the field during their halftime performance.

The Hokies, facing No. 12 North Carolina on Saturday, are 5-5 and need to beat the Tar Heels or Virginia next week to end Beamer’s career with 23 consecutive postseason appearances.

Once the game started, the Hokie fans who filled the stadium for the noon kickoff gave Beamer a huge ovation when he ran onto the field for the last time and erupted into a thunderous “Thank You Beamer” chant.

The Hokies, though, used a takeaway of their own to pull within 24-17 with 2:54 left on Brewer’s 8-yard scoring pass to Bucky Hodges, and then got Williams fumble on a sack by Luther Maddy. On fourth-and-2 at the 4, Brewer hit a sliding Ford for the tying touchdown. They shut down the ACC’s most potent offense for three quarters, but hurt themselves with late turnovers. Tar Heels running back Elijah Hood rushed for 115 yards on 17 carries, scoring on runs of 13 and seven yards in the fourth quarter to snap a 10-10 tie.

Brewer hit Cam Phillips for 10 yards on a third-and-8 from midfield, Rogers had an 18-yard run and Brewer carried it the last three yards on a third-and-goal draw play to pull Virginia Tech even. Virginia Tech has a 5-5 record so far in 2015.