Virginia Tech back on winning track, defeats ECU 16-3

It was ugly, but the Hokies got off the losing track at East Carolina University Thursday night.

Virginia Tech journeyed to eastern North Carolina, and got a measure of revenge against East Carolina University for 2008’s upset in Charlotte, defeating the Pirates 16-3.

Running Back Ryan Williams rushed for a career high 179 yards, and Quarterback Tyrod Taylor scored the game’s only touchdown on a 13-yard scamper in the 2nd quarter.

Hokies placekicker Matt Waldron provided the rest of Tech points, kicking three-field goals and an extra point.

—————

By Darryl Slater
Richmond Times-Dispatch

GREENVILLE, N.C. – At times, Virginia Tech looked sloppy, failing to cash in scoring opportunities. At times, it looked fortunate, when East Carolina did the same. But as the Hokies looked at the scoreboard after last night’s game at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, they saw a 16-3 victory, something that mattered, at least for one night, more than how dazzling they appeared while achieving it.

Twenty-six days had passed since the No. 22 Hokies last won, 48-14 over Boston College — an afternoon at Lane Stadium when everything worked for them and the enthusiasm surrounding their season crested. But between then and last night, losses to Georgia Tech and North Carolina redefined their season. No longer were they chasing a national championship, or even in control of their own pursuit of a third consecutive ACC title.

They were just trying to win, trying to avoid their first three-game losing streak since 2003 and just their fourth since their streak of bowl-game appearances began in 1993.

“We don’t want the season to go down the drain,“ said redshirt freshman linebacker Lyndell Gibson.

They had to win last night in the most rabid road environment of the season, with Gibson starting for the first time and without their regular center, junior Beau Warren, who stayed in Blacksburg after spraining his left knee against North Carolina.

His replacement, redshirt freshman Michael Via, made his maiden start and committed no glaring errors — an encouraging development for Tech should Warren need more time to recover.

So, too, was the performance of a more-visible redshirt freshman, tailback Ryan Williams. His fumble with 2:02 left against North Carolina gave the Tar Heels the ball at Tech’s 24-yard line and led to the field goal that won them the game, 20-17. Last night, Williams carried 26 times for a season-best 179 yards, surpassing 1,000 for the season by halftime and finishing with 1,109.

“That fumble did something to me mentally last week,“ Williams said. “I think the only person that was gonna be able to overcome what happened last week was myself.“

And coordinator Bud Foster’s defense? Well, it looked more like a Foster defense. Georgia Tech and North Carolina made it appear like flimsier version, as they converted 11 of 16 first downs in the second half. Last night, Foster’s bunch did a bit of everything while holding East Carolina to 277 yards. Whip linebacker Cody Grimm forced and recovered a fumble in the second quarter. Cornerback Rashad Carmichael intercepted a pass in the fourth.

Yet the Hokies (6-3) also did enough to leave their coaches and fans shaking their heads. Eight of their drives advanced into East Carolina territory. They got three field goals and a touchdown on four and came up empty on the other four, after advancing to the Pirates’ 1, 28, 39 and 42.

The Pirates (5-4) hurt themselves, too. Trailing 13-3 on their second drive of the second half, they had first down and 10 at Tech’s 18. But running back Giavanni Ruffin took the handoff from Patrick Pinkney on the play and immediately fumbled the ball away, before anybody could touch him. With 17 seconds left in the third quarter, East Carolina strong safety Levin Neal nearly picked off Tyrod Taylor’s screen pass at the Hokies’ 26, but the ball bounced off his hands as he dove for it.

The Hokies finished with 379 yards, including 252 in the first half, but had little to show for it as they jogged to the locker room. This continued a troubling trend from the past two games, when 10 of their first 14 drives crossed midfield, yet resulted in just one field goal. Last night, three of their first four drives got into East Carolina territory. They produced two field goals and a fumble by Taylor at the Pirates’ goal line.

But if only for last night, before the shortcomings and successes can be dissected, the Hokies ended up just where they had to.

“Sloppy or not sloppy,“ Taylor said, “I think a win was good for this team.“

————-

By JOEDY McCREARY
AP Sports Writer

    GREENVILLE, N.C. (AP) - Freshman Ryan Williams ran for a season-high 179 yards and No. 22 Virginia Tech avoided its first three-game losing streak in six years, holding off East Carolina 16-3 on Thursday night.
    Tyrod Taylor had a 13-yard touchdown run, Matt Waldron kicked three field goals and Williams atoned for his critical miscue last week against North Carolina by cracking the 1,000-yard mark for the Hokies (6-3).
    They had a 379-277 advantage in total yardage, forced three turnovers and made just enough plays on offense to bounce back from losses to No. 10 Georgia Tech and the Tar Heels while also avenging last year’s loss in Charlotte in which the Pirates turned the tables on Beamerball.
    Williams, whose fumble in the closing minutes last week gave North Carolina a chance at a winning field goal on the final play, helped make Virginia Tech the third school to have freshmen rush for 1,000 yards in consecutive years after Darren Evans did it last year. Williams surpassed his 164-yard effort against Marshall and became just the second 100-yard rusher against by the Pirates this season.
    Taylor finished 17 of 30 for 137 yards with another 61 yards on the ground for the Hokies.
    Patrick Pinkney was 16 of 33 passing for 167 yards with a late interception for East Carolina (5-4), which was playing its first Thursday night home game since 2001 and hosted the Hokies for the first time since 2000.
    The upstarts from Conference USA had won three of their last four against ranked teams, including last year’s 27-22 upset that was keyed by a late blocked punt, and they pulled out a few stops for this special occasion. They designated the game a “blackout,“ welcomed back to town former star quarterback Jeff Blake and broke out a new helmet logo with a tricorne-clad skull and crossbones to replace the traditional “ECU.“
    But ultimately, they had too much to overcome: Two fumbles in Tech territory, too many overthrown receivers by their sixth-year quarterback and some baffling-at-times decisions. Trying to tighten things up late in the third, East Carolina ran five consecutive direct snaps to receiver Dwayne Harris, but the last was stuffed for a drive-killing 8-yard loss.
    Virginia Tech, a 13-point favorite, was strong early - at one point holding a 252-109 advantage in total yards - but for a while, all the Hokies had to show for it was a pair of field goals.
    Waldron kicked a career-long 41-yarder to cap their second series, then made it 6-0 with a 22-yarder late in the first quarter after a 75-yard drive stalled at the 5.
    Taylor put the Hokies up 13-0 with his touchdown run with 2:06 before halftime, but the Pirates countered with a quick 73-yard march capped by Ben Hartman’s 24-yard field goal on the final play of the half.
    At times, both teams had trouble stringing together a few positive plays.
    One play after Dominique Lindsay’s 20-yard touchdown run was called back on a holding penalty, Rob Kass was stripped by Tech’s Cody Grimm. The Hokies gave it right back when - two plays after Williams’ 46-yard run - Taylor took off for the goal line but fumbled through the back of end zone for a touchback.