Late Alliance Vote for North Carolina

No. 7 North Carolina felt it deserved an alliance bowl bid. The Tar Heels didn’t get one, so they took it out on Virginia Tech in the Gator Bowl on Thursday.

North Carolina defeated Virginia Tech, 42-3, posting an 11-win season for the third time in 107 years and making Carl Torbush’s debut as Tar Heel coach an impressive one.

Torbush, the former defensive coordinator, took over as coach for North Carolina (11-1) three weeks ago after Mack Brown left for Texas.

“We know an alliance team when we see one and this is certainly an alliance team,” said Virginia Tech Coach Frank Beamer, whose team played in the Orange and Sugar bowls the last two seasons. “They compare with Nebraska. North Carolina wouldn’t take a back seat to any of those guys.”

Quarterback Chris Keldorf, who missed North Carolina’s Gator Bowl win over West Virginia last year with a broken ankle, was 17 of 28 passing for 290 yards and three touchdowns to earn the most valuable player award.