It seemed as if North Carolina quarterback Sam Howell was attempting simply to throw the soccer out of bounds to keep away from a late sack.
With 37 seconds left within the recreation, going through a 2nd-and-7 on the Virginia Tech 40-yard line, Howell heaved the ball to his proper as he was spun towards the bottom. The ball did not attain the sideline. And it did not hit UNC fingers. As a substitute, it sailed proper into the arms of Hokies defensive again Chamarri Conner, who bobbled it 3 times as he was going to the bottom after which a fourth time after he hit the turf.
The ruling on the sector was an interception, with UNC already trailing by a rating, and the decision stood upon evaluation. It proved to be probably the most pivotal name in Virginia Tech’s beautiful 17-10 defeat of No. 10 UNC on Friday.
However was it actually an interception?
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Conner was within the strategy of securing the ball as he was tackled by UNC huge receiver Josh Downs. Whereas he put his arms across the ball as he continued to bobble it on his method to the bottom, it was unclear if he saved the arms beneath the ball and prevented it from hitting the bottom earlier than gaining management. UNC had solely two timeouts left.
After the officers’ evaluation upheld the INT, Tre Turner took a jet sweep 12 yards for a game-clinching first down. Virginia Tech quarterback Braxton Burmeister then took three knees to shut out the upset win for the Hokies (1-0, 1-0 ACC). The followers did not take lengthy to start out celebrating.
The interception capped a disappointing recreation for the Tar Heels (0-1, 0-1 ACC). Howell, thought-about one of many high prospects within the 2022 NFL Draft , did not have his A-game — and neither did his offensive line. He completed Friday having accomplished simply 17 of 32 passes for 208 yards, with one landing and three interceptions. His line definitely did him no favors because it allowed him to be sacked six occasions.
