GREENVILLE The East
Carolina offense provided two leads Saturday against Virginia Tech and
the Pirates defense was not able to protect either one of them.
But the ECU defense wasn't
to blame. The Hokies won, 15-10, because of who they are in terms of
coaching, talent and tradition.
They didn't beat
themselves, other than a bad day for kicker Cody Journell, who missed
two field goals and an extra point that might have sealed the outcome
well before a safety accounted for the final points and gave Virginia
Tech the ball with 1:31 to play.
The Pirates, on the other
hand, could not overcome problems that culminated at the quarterback
position seven sacks and three interceptions.
Shane Carden seldom had
time to go through his receiver progressions as the pass pocket
continually collapsed and Carden was quickly apprehended when he tried
to scramble.
"That was a rough one,"
Carden said. "That's a good team."
Virginia Tech played to
its strengths, which on this fall-like afternoon were quarterback Logan
Thomas's ability to execute on third down and the efforts of defensive
coordinator Bud Foster's unit to shut down ECU's passing attack.
Thomas converted nine of
20 third down situations compared to three of 11 for ECU. The Hokies
completed 25 of 43 for 258 yards with one touchdown and one
interception.
The Pirates had trouble
getting pressure on Thomas on obvious throwing downs and the 6-foot-6
senior often was able to find open receivers.
The afternoon started
brilliantly for ECU with a 75-yard scoring drive. Vintavious Cooper had
an 11-yard run to get the series going. Carden had a modest 3-yard
pickup but was hit as he went out of bounds, resulting in a 15-yard
personal foul penalty that put the ball at the Hokies' 46-yard line.
A screen pass to Cooper
went for 24 yards before Carden connected with sophomore Bryce Williams
for a 22-yard touchdown. The Pirates led 7-0 and the game wasn't two
minutes old.
"We didn't take the back
out of the backfield and we helped them a little bit in that first
series and they don't need help," said 27th-year Virginia Tech coach
Frank Beamer. " ... After that, our defense played great."
The Pirates had 75 of
their 204 total yards on their first possession.
Virginia Tech (2-1) didn't
make adjustments, according to Beamer.
"After the first series,
Coach Foster said we don't need to correct anything but we need to play
the way we practiced, the way we are supposed to execute," Beamer said.
"Again, if you don't make your assignments against these guys, they will
hurt you. They're good."
The Hokies have already
faced the top of the measuring stick in college football, losing 35-10
to No. 1 Alabama although Virginia Tech had more total yardage. The Tide
returned two kickoffs and an interception for touchdowns.
It says something about
the Hokies' confidence and focus that they don't mind playing ECU in
Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. Maybe it's a good sign for the Pirates that they
were a little more competitive than in
a 17-10 loss to Virginia Tech in
Greenville in 2011. ECU was limited to 112 total yards in that game.
The net result for ECU
(2-1) was still a disappointing nonconference loss.
Pirates coach Ruffin
McNeill was proud of the effort. He said that the game film would be
evaluated and that mistakes would be fixed.
Among the items to be
repaired are pass protection for Carden.
ECU's pass defense also
needs to get some sandbags in place or it will be flooded in two weeks
by North Carolina senior quarterback Bryn Renner, whose second half
passing allowed the Tar Heels to expand a 10-6 halftime lead to
a 27-6 win over the Pirates last
season.
Thomas made it look like a
Tuesday afternoon against the scout team when he hit Demitri Knowles for
a tying 30-yard touchdown with 3:42 left in the first quarter. The
Hokies converted three times on third down on the 70-yard drive.
ECU got as deep as the
Tech 33 late in the first half but a sack and a penalty took the Pirates
out of possible field goal range.
Warren Harvey's 44-yard
field goal with 8:49 left in the third quarter gave the Piratesa 10-7
lead. A 23-yard punt return by Danny Webster provided the field position
that resulted in the go-ahead boot.
The Hokies answered with a
75-yard drive to take a 13-10 lead on Thomas's 3-yard pass to D.J.
Coles. Virginia Tech seemed to be able to do what it needed to do when
it had to do it.
"It's disappointing," said
Cooper, who ran eight times for 28 yards and had five catches for 32
yards. "We worked hard. We expected to win."
The 24-hour rule and the
bye week will give the Pirates plenty of time to regroup for another
upset bid. But ECU will need to make more of its opportunities than it
did Saturday.
"Montese (Overton) and I
dropped interceptions," said Zeek Bigger, who started for the injured
Jeremy Grove and contributed nine tackles. Brandon Williams, who filled
in for Kyle Tudor, was in on 12 stops.
"I played well but I can
play better," Bigger said. "I've got some things to work on."
He could have been
speaking for everyone in purple.
There were some anxious
moments as defensive back Josh Hawkins was taken off the field by rescue
personnel in the third quarter. The report from Vidant Medical Center
was that he was alert and responsive.
"They will compete for a
championship in their conference (ACC) and we'll compete for a
championship in ours (Conference USA)," McNeill said as he put
Saturday's battle in perspective.
The Pirates competed
Saturday. It just wasn't enough for an upset.
View box score and statistics on ecupirates.com
Read game recap on ecupirates.com