Virginia Beats N.C. State, Moves Into ACC Lead

The star quarterbacks flopped and the statistics lied. Otherwise, it was just an ordinary upset as No. 24 Virginia beat No. 18 North Carolina State, 20-9, Saturday at Raleigh, N.C.

The victory enabled Virginia to take over first place in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The high-powered Cavaliers lost almost every offensive category but the final score.

The Wolfpack ran 79 plays to Virginia’s 49, and had 26 first downs to the Cavaliers’ 13. N.C. State also held the ball for more than 36 minutes.

Virginia’s Shawn Moore and N.C. State’s Shane Montgomery are considered by many two of the best quarterbacks in the South. But Montgomery left early with a concussion and Moore completed only three of 10 passes for 113 yards.

Still, Moore had reason to smile after teammate Jason Wallace returned an interception 40 yards for a touchdown and Jake McInerney extended his consecutive field goal streak to 14 for the victory.

The victory puts the Cavaliers (8-2 and 5-1) in position to win their first ACC football title. Virginia’s final ACC game will be in two weeks against rival Maryland.

The Wolfpack (7-2 and 4-2) lost for the fourth consecutive time to the Cavaliers.

Montgomery broke Erik Kramer’s school passing mark with 42 yards on the game’s opening drive before being injured. Montgomery has 4,626 career passing yards to Kramer’s 4,602.

Montgomery is not expected to miss a game.