GREENVILLE, N.C. — Though it was pushed to the brink a few times, Virginia Tech’s defense didn’t concede much in the Hokies’ 16-3 win over East Carolina on Thursday night.

GREENVILLE, N.C. — Virginia Tech got back to its winning ways Thursday night, style points be darned.

It wasn’t always pretty, but the 22nd-ranked Hokies did enough to wrestle away a 16-3 win from East Carolina in front of a revved up crowd of 43,569 at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.

GREENVILLE, N.C. — The Atlantic Coast Conference announced a revamped bowl lineup for 2010 on Thursday. The changes? The Gator and Emerald bowls are out and the Sun and Independence bowls are in.

The Sun Bowl, which is played in El Paso, Texas, will take the Gator’s place in the ACC pecking order. It’ll get the ACC championship game loser, if available, or the third pick out of the conference after BCS selections in a matchup with a Pac-10 school.

Three weeks ago, Virginia Tech’s football team had so much to play for. It was still in the national title hunt and was the odds on favorite to win its third straight ACC championship.

After two losses and a precipitous fall in the rankings, the Hokies have had to dig deep for inspiration.

There’s still at least one major motivator on the line for the rest of the season.

“It’s definitely pride,” Hokies senior linebacker Cody Grimm said.

BLACKSBURG — Ryan Williams stayed up all night Thursday thinking about the fumble that led to the deciding points in North Carolina’s 20-17 upset win over then-No. 14 Virginia Tech.

His teammates tried to convince him that he wasn’t to blame for the Hokies’ loss, but his fumble at the Tar Heels’ 24-yard line with 2:02 left stayed with him. It haunted him. “It makes me sick to my stomach,” he told reporters Sunday.

BLACKSBURG — Ryan Williams sat dejected on Virginia Tech’s bench as North Carolina’s players celebrated wildly on the Lane Stadium field.

Williams, the 14th-ranked Hokies’ star tailback, lost a fumble deep in Tech territory with two minutes left in the fourth quarter, and Casey Barth kicked a 21-yard field goal as time expired to give the Tar Heels a 20-17 upset win Thursday night.

BLACKSBURG — Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer wasn’t kidding earlier this week when he said North Carolina’s defensive front was better than any the Hokies had seen this season.

The Tar Heels’ front seven caused all kinds of problems for Tech in the first half of Thursday night’s nationally televised game at Lane Stadium.

BLACKSBURG - Eight games into last season, Virginia Tech’s offense needed a jolt as the Hokies prepared for their first Thursday night game of the year, against Maryland.

BLACKSBURG — Ryan Williams heard the excitement from his dorm room. That’s where he was almost a year ago to the day when Virginia Tech running back Darren Evans broke the school single-game rushing record with 253 yards in the Hokies’ 23-13 Thursday night win over Maryland.

Lane Stadium was just a short walk away, but Williams, who was redshirting at the time, chose to watch the game on television instead. He didn’t have to pay too close attention to the TV screen. He could tell what was going on with each roar of the crowd.

“It was crazy loud,” said Williams, who has filled in nicely for the injured Evans as the 14th-ranked Hokies’ starting tailback.

BLACKSBURG — Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer tried to set the record straight during his Tuesday news conference.