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With one more win and a little bit of help, Virginia Tech really can make its 0-2 start a distant memory.
The No. 16 Hokies have a chance to earn a spot in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game Saturday. To get there, the Hokies would need to win at North Carolina and have Georgia Tech beat Miami earlier in the day, a scenario that would give the Hokies their fourth Coastal Division crown in six seasons.
Then again, a win by the Tar Heels would keep them in the race despite a distraction-filled year overshadowed by an ongoing NCAA investigation.
''They're right in the ACC hunt just like we are,'' Hokies safety Eddie Whitley said. ''This is a must-win for them. For us, it's just keep winning because we don't want to lose any more. So it's a must-win for us also.''
The Hokies (7-2, 5-0) started the year with a loss to Boise State followed by a surprising home loss to James Madison of the Championship Subdivision. But Virginia Tech hasn't lost since, with quarterback Tyrod Taylor ranking second in the league in total offense to go with 16 touchdown passes.
But the series with the Tar Heels (6-3, 3-2) has been tough. Since Butch Davis' arrival in Chapel Hill, Virginia Tech earned a 17-10 home win in 2007 and needed to rally from a 17-3 deficit for a 20-17 road win in 2008.
Last season, the Tar Heels answered with a last-second field goal for a 20-17 road win of their own.
''We're very confident as an offense,'' UNC quarterback T.J. Yates said. ''We've had success on them the past two years. So going into this game, it's going to be fun.''
North Carolina came into the season with hopes of playing for an ACC title, but spent the first month of the season wondering who would play and who wouldn't due to the NCAA probe into agent-related benefits and possible academic violations. Thirteen players missed the opener against LSU, starting a seemingly weekly countdown of players returning one by one to the field.
Six players won't play this season, including three who were either dismissed from the team or declared permanently ineligible by the NCAA. Five players have returned to action after missing games, while a sixth - tailback Ryan Houston - was cleared to return after five games but is still weighing whether to redshirt or return to an injury-depleted backfield.
The status of two players remains in question. And yet, the Tar Heels are still in the race after a wild win at Florida State in which Yates threw for a school-record 439 yards to continue his strong senior season.
''There's a tendency for people to bond tightly when they get threatened and challenged and you're facing adversity and don't have anybody to depend on but yourself,'' Davis said. ''I think that's a great story and they've done more than I could have ever hoped for.''
The Miami-Georgia Tech game, which kicks off 3 1/2 hours earlier, will have a huge impact on the division race, too. Miami has already beaten North Carolina to earn a tiebreaker over the Tar Heels and hosts the Hokies next weekend in its final league game.
If UNC beats Virginia Tech and the Hurricanes (4-2 ACC) lose to the Yellow Jackets, then the Tar Heels would have a chance to jump to the front of the division race with a win against rival North Carolina State next weekend along with a Miami win against the Hokies.
For Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer - whose Hokies have won 21 of 23 games in November since joining the league in 2004 - it would just be easier for the Hokies to keep winning than to worry about all the what-ifs.
''I kind of have figured out in this league that you better take care of your own business,'' Beamer said. ''You know it's week to week and we better get ready to go play a great football game against North Carolina. That's really what it's going to take.''
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AP Sports Writer Hank Kurz in Richmond, Va., contributed to this report.
