Hokies pull out tough victory over ECU

Virginia Tech running back Ryan Williams set a career high at East Carolina. The Hokie defense dominated as well as Tech pulled out a tough 16-3 victory in Greenville on Thursday night.

Virginia Tech and East Carolina struggled to move the ball down the field on each of their first possessions. Both teams picked up a first down before punting.

The Hokies took advantage of the Pirates punt as Jayron Hosley took Matt Dodge’s return 33-yards down the left sideline to the East Carolina 31. Taylor picked up a critical 12-yards on third and 15 to set up a Matt Waldron field goal from 41-yards out. The kick gave the Hokies an early 3-0 lead with 8:59 to go in the first quarter.

Virginia Tech stepped up with a defensive stand as East Carolina moved it to midfield after an Alex Taylor 20-yard reception from Patrick Pinkney. Antoine Hopkins got good pressure up the gut to force an incompletion.

The Hokies got the ball back at the Tech 20 and started with three consecutive runs by Josh Oglesby for 13 total yards. Ryan Williams opened things up with an 11-yard run up the gut. After feeling the heat for much of the first quarter, Tyrod Taylor and the offense adjusted with quick passes hitting screens to Marcus Davis and Xavier Boyce and then a quick dump to Jarrett Boykin. Two plays later, Taylor stretched the field finding Dyrell Roberts between defenders getting it down to the nine. Tech stalled from there and settled for a 22-yard field goal with 51-seconds to go in the first quarter. Virginia Tech took a 6-0 lead at that time.

Following the kickoff, East Carolinna quickly started to move down the field first with a perfect pass from Patrick Pinkney to Darryl Freeney for 24-yards, threading it between Tech defenders. Three players later, Pinkney under blitz pressure quickly hit Dwayne Harris for 14-yards. On the next play, Dominique Lindsay broke out on the left side for a touchdown, but the play was called back for holding. That proved costly, on the next play Pinkney found Rob Kass for short yardage. Cody Grimm ripped the ball out and recovered it to give it back to the Hokies offense at the 25.

Tech’s offense got rolling quickly on second and 10 as Ryan Williams broke three tackles to the right side and breaking out into the open field before being tripped up at the East Carolina 29. Williams picked up 46 on the play. Tech followed that up with a quick screen from Taylor to Danny Coale for 12-yards. On first and 10 from the East Carolina 17, Tyrod Taylor fakes the quick pass and darts up the middle through a huge hole. Taylor makes a push for the endzone, but the Pirates Van Eskridge hits the ball out at the one-yard line as Taylor is falling. The ball went out of the back of the endzone and gave the possession back to the Pirates.

Virginia Tech and East Carolina struggled on their next three possessions until the Hokies got it back on a Matt Dodge punt with 7:44 to go in the half. Hosley muffed the punt running up to field it, Tech was fortunate that Jarrett Boykin was in the area to fall on the fumble.

From there, Tech efficiently moved the ball down the field. Taylor made quick throws to Danny Coale and Boykin for a first down. Ryan Williams got rolling from there running four of the next five plays including a 17-yarder up the middle weaving through defenders. Two plays later, Taylor on third and seven from the East Carolina 37 found Danny Coale down the middle for 12. On first and 10 at the East Carolina 13 after two runs by Williams, Tyrod Taylor takes the snap scrambles into the openfield and dives over a defender stretching for the touchdown. The Hokies took a 13-0 lead with 2:06 to go in the half.

East Carolina responded moving the ball quickly down the field. Patrick Pinkney first found Alex Taylor for seven on a critical third and three, then on the next play hit Darryl Freeney for eight. Three plays later Pinkney hit Dwayne Harris for 15 before three straight strikes to Taylor for 33-yards. Following an incompletion into the endzone on first down, East Carolina settled for a 24-yard field goal as time expired. The Pirates went to the locker room down 13-3.

Virginia Tech rolled up 252-yards of offense including 157 on the ground in the half. Ryan Williams broke out for 89-yards on 12 carries, while Tyrod Taylor had 55-yards on six carries while completing 10-of-18 passing for 95-yards. Meanwhile, East Carolina posted 181-yards of offense, Patrick Pinkney went 13-of-22 for 129-yards in the half.

The big statistic though was six penalties for 60-yards which killed a couple first half drives for East Carolina.

Neither team could get something going as Tech and East Carolina had quick three and outs on their first two possessions. The Pirates got rolling on their next possession, on third and three from the East Carolina 39 Dominique Lindsay broke out to the left side for 18-yards. Giavanni Ruffin then busted through the middle for 16-yards. Ruffin got in again the next play, but fumbled the snap; Tech’s Lyndell Gibson fell on it for the Hokies at the 18 for the huge turnover.

The Hokies were able to move the ball to the East Carolina 39, but a penalty and pressure by the Pirates defense stalled the drive and forced the punt. East Carolina got one first down before a three and out forced them to punt.

That’s when Virginia Tech took over with 1:55 left in the third quarter. The Hokies were forced into a third and five immediately, but the offensive line stepped up giving Taylor a ton of time in the pocket to pick up the first down on a pass to Danny Coale.

Virginia Tech got away with one on the next play as Taylor once again attempted a screen to the wide receiver. Taylor attempted to hit Coale, by East Carolina safety Levin Neal jumped the pattern perfectly diving for the would be interception. However, Neal dropped the ball in midair.

Tech made the Pirates pay on the very next play as Ryan Williams with the help of some solid blocking ripped off 16-yards to the right side. Then, Tyrod Taylor took the carry and was hit late by the linebacker. The penalty gave Tech possession at the East Carolina 40. After three straight runs to get it to the East Carolina 28, Ed Wang was called for a 15-yard penalty on a leg whip that pushed Tech out of field goal position and halted the drive.

Once again both teams struggled to move the ball until Virginia Tech got it back with 8:26 to go in the game. Tech gave the Pirates a heavy dose of Ryan Williams running it six of seven times for 43-yards before punting.

East Carolina took over at their four-yard line with 3:21 to go in the game. Tech brought the pressure as Cody Grimm sacked Pinkney on second and 10. Then on third and 13, Pinkney tried to hit Lindsay on the screen. Lindsay couldn’t hang on and Rashad Carmichael pulled in the tipped ball for an interception at the East Carolina 13.

Virginia Tech ran the ball on three consecutive plays before settling for a 31-yard Matt Waldron field goal. The kick sealed the victory for the Hokies putting them up 16-3 with 1:13 remaining.

Virginia Tech accounted for 383-yards of offense in the victory, while holding East Carolina to 273-yards. Tech put up 247-yards on the ground including Ryan Williams setting a career high of 179-yards on 26 carries averaging 6.9-yards per carry.

Tyrod Taylor completed 17-of-30 in the win for 136-yards along with 62-yards on the ground and one touchdown rushing, while Patrick Pinkney posted 166-yards on 16-of-33 including one interception.

Dominique Lindsay led the Pirates with 13 carries for 69-yards.

Danny Coale led Tech receiving with 59-yards on six carries, while Alex Taylor hauled in five receptions for 60-yards for the Pirates.

The Hokies improved their record to 6-3 on the season with the victory and maintain a 3-2 record in the ACC. The Hokies once again are bowl eligible.

Virginia Tech will stay on the road with a battle at Maryland next Saturday, November 14th. Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on ESPN360.com.