A Sitdown with Carter Hill: Looking Back at Virginia Tech’s 2021 Upset of North Carolina

Virginia Tech On SI's Thomas Hughes sits down with former 3304 Sports director Carter Hill to revisit the Hokies' 2021 opener with North Carolina.

Sep 3, 2021; North Carolina linebacker Jeremiah Gemmel (44) tackles Virginia Tech wide receiver Tre Turner (11). | Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images

There are some games that remain etched in Virginia Tech lore. The 1999 National Championship Game. The Battle at Bristol. The 2014 victory over Ohio State.

The 2021 season opener was one of those games. I sat down with Carter Hill, a Blacksburg native who graduated from Virginia Tech's Sports Media and Analytics program this past spring and held the Sports Director role for 3304 Sports, to discuss the iconic contest, one that still gets played often across many social media platforms.

Hill grew up in the area, graduating from Blacksburg High School before attending his hometown college. Heading into the game, most of Hill’s friends possessed little firsthand experience with Virginia Tech football; the vast majority had never been to a game at Lane Stadium.

Adding to the stakes was the fact that this marked the first game at Lane with full fan attendance following the COVID-19 shutdowns, amplifying the anticipation and energy around the matchup. When asked what he remembered most about the lead‑up to the game, Hill immediately recalled the buzz among his fellow freshmen as they prepared for their first taste of Lane Stadium that Friday.

"So it was our second week of school and I remember, all my friends were freshmen for the most part at Tech and 90% of them had never been to a game there," Hill said. "So they were all like, 'Oh, what's Enter Sandman gonna look like?' and 'What's the atmosphere?' They'd heard all the hype and everything."

His friends Giovanni Heater and Kyle Marchak both possessed differing opinions on how to approach the first Virginia Tech game of their collegiate experiences. Heater chose to hype up the "Enter Sandman" introduction. Meanwhile, Marchak decided to go in blind.

"I remember like Gio, we were talking about it a couple days in advance and he was the one hyping up 'Enter Sandman'," Hill said. "Kyle obviously had heard about 'Enter Sandman' but he wanted to go into the game blind. So he didn't even look up any clips on YouTube or anything, which is kind of cool. So he went into it. He went to that game for the first time, wanting to see 'Enter Sandman' for the first time without knowing anything about it. And he was blown away. And so was Gio, and so was pretty much every other freshman at Virginia Tech, I think."

"And then for Justin Fuente's group, that was a make-it or break-it year. And though eventually it was a break-it year, it got off to a crazy good start. And there was a little bit of optimism around the Hokies to be pretty good. For a while there, it looks pretty promising, because you beat Carolina, they ended up beating up a Middle Tennessee the next week, and then they went to West Virginia, like two weeks later, in the top 15. So there was a lot of hype around that year's team, and there's obviously a lot of hype on that game, and that game certainly did not disappoint. So definitely a fun night in Lane Stadium."

Virginia Tech dictated the tempo from the opening kickoff, surging to a 14‑0 lead by halftime, which included an 11‑yard touchdown pass from quarterback Braxton Burmeister to tight end James Mitchell, a play that Hill said had everyone "going crazy". But the Hokies weren't in the clear just yet. With 4:20 left in the third frame, North Carolina wide receiver Josh Downs snagged a pass from quarterback Sam Howell and took it 37 yards to slice Tech's lead to a single score.

The Hokies rebuilt their cushion to 10 points with a field goal from kicker John Parker Romo early in the fourth quarter, but North Carolina responded on the ensuing possession with a field goal kick of their own from Grayson Atkins. That trimmed Tech's margin to seven with just 5:38 left to play. After the Hokies came up empty on a crucial third‑and‑six, they were forced to punt the ball back to the Tar Heels with 3:17 remaining, setting up a tense finish inside Lane Stadium.

North Carolina running back Ty Chandler opened the drive with two carries for 16 yards, advancing the Tar Heels to the 29-yard line. Quarterback Sam Howell followed with back‑to‑back incompletions, setting up a fourth‑and‑six. Howell appeared to convert with a 13‑yard strike to wideout Antoine Green, but the play was wiped out by an ineligible man downfield penalty. On the ensuing fourth‑and‑11, Howell connected with receiver Emery Simmons for 18 yards to move the the Tar Heels to the 42. North Carolina continued marching with gains of six and nine yards, respectively, crossing midfield to the Virginia Tech 43‑yard line.

From there, tailback DJ Jones rushed for three yards, setting up a second‑and‑seven that still lives in the minds of Hokie fans. On the very next snap, Howell’s pass was intercepted by defensive back Chamarri Conner near midfield, effectively sealing the upset. Lane Stadium erupted as Virginia Tech’s defense closed the door on the Tar Heels’ comeback bid, a scene that still stands as one of the defining moments of the Hokies' 2021 season.

In the four years since, Hill, Heater and Marchak have all earned their diplomas from the university, all three broadcasted various sports on the ACC Network and the former two starred as the play-by-play voices for the Salem Red Sox, the Single-A affiliate of the MLB's Boston Red Sox. Their time as students inside Lane Stadium began and ended with hallmarks of Hokie history. It began with the North Carolina game. And it concluded with the Metallica concert this past May.

For Hill and his friends, those four years traced a full arc of Virginia Tech history, from the frenzy of upsetting a top‑10 rival on opening night to the roar of over 70,000 fans celebrating Metallica in the same stadium. What started as wide‑eyed freshmen in Lane Stadium ended as alumni with memories that will follow them far beyond Blacksburg.

The season opener for 2025 Virginia Tech football kicks off on Aug. 31. For Hill, it'll be his first game not as a student in almost four years.

"The one thing you got to give [Virginia Tech head coach] Brent Pry credit for is [that] they've always hit on guys in the portal," Hill said. "They pretty much had to reinvent their entire team through the portal. So. I think there's some pretty good pieces that they've added, Ben Bell up front defensively... Isaiah Brown-Murray quarterback from East Carolina. Lot of people really excited about Terion Stewart and Braydon Bennett from Coastal Carolina in the backfield, couple receivers, couple other guys I'm missing too. [James] Djonkam up front from Eastern Michigan... the schedule is not brutal... [But] you got to see it to believe it at this point, because obviously, last year didn't end up going the way it was supposed to go... Obviously, nobody's going to tell you that last year is a success at all, and now you gotta find a way to regain some momentum. So, obviously, the expectation this year is nowhere near what it was last year. I don't think it has to be, but you do want to be able to restabilize yourself as a football program, and there's no doubt it's a key year for Brent Pry and Co."

How well the Hokies navigate that challenge will go a long way in defining not only the 2025 season, but also the trajectory of Pry’s tenure in Blacksburg. For now, looking back on 2021 serves as a reminder of what Lane Stadium can be at its apex and why nights like that still resonate with those present, keeping alive the hope of brighter days ahead for the program.