Hokies’ defense held its own against Pirates

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.

The Pirates (5-4) drove deep into Tech territory only three times, but points seemed inevitable on all three occasions. That the Hokies (6-3) allowed only a field goal the entire night is a testament to their defensive prowess, with a little bit of luck thrown in as well.

“To hold this crowd to three points is impressive,” Tech coach Frank Beamer said.

ECU trailed 6-0 in the second quarter when running back Dominique Lindsay made a beeline to the end zone for a 20-yard touchdown. The jubilation from the go-ahead score was short-lived, as a holding call against left guard Terence Campbell wiped out the entire play.

The Pirates still had a first down inside Tech’s 30-yard line, but on the very next snap, Hokies senior linebacker Cody Grimm stripped ECU tight end Rob Kass and recovered the fumble at the 25-yard line.

It was the first of two backbreaking Pirate fumbles inside the Tech 30. The other came during ECU’s second drive of the second half.

East Carolina tailback Giavanni Ruffin, who rushed for 16 yards on the previous play to get his team into field goal range, fumbled the handoff from quarterback Patrick Pinkney, and Tech linebacker Lyndell Gibson recovered the loose ball at the 20.

Because scoring opportunities were rare for the Pirates, the turnovers were especially damaging.

“We stayed calm. We even had some mistakes tonight, but we made up for them,” Grimm said.

ECU coach Skip Holtz felt the momentum was turning in his team’s favor during that failed third-quarter possession.

All it took was one miscue to stop the Pirates in their tracks. That seemed to be the wake up call the Hokies needed, because in the final 24:21, they allowed only five rushing yards, 37 passing yards and two first downs in five possessions.

“After driving the ball down the field on the second drive (of the second half) and turning it over, we really couldn’t get anything going,” Holtz said. “They put a lot of pressure on us, and we did not handle it well at all.”

Tech, which had allowed more than 180 rushing yards in back-to-back losses entering Thursday night, held the Pirates’ potent rushing attack to 110 yards, 105 of which came in the first 36 minutes.

The Hokies forced three turnovers, including an interception off a deflection by cornerback Rashad Carmichael in the fourth quarter. Carmichael’s fifth pick of the season led to Tech’s only second half points, on Matt Waldron’s 31-yard field goal with 1:13 left.

Waldron was Tech’s No. 1 scoring option. He kicked a career-high three field goals, including boots of 41 and 22 yards in the first half.

Hokies tailback Ryan Williams, who had a critical fourth-quarter fumble in last week’s home loss to North Carolina, bounced back in a major way with a career-high 176 rushing yards on 26 carries.

He helped Tech’s offense, which scored one touchdown despite rolling up 379 yards, control the clock for almost 35 minutes. True, the offense managed only 16 points against the Pirates, but the defense made sure that held up.

“I’m proud of myself,” said Williams, who was devastated right after his mistake in last week’s game. “Words can’t describe how I feel right now, coming from where I was last week. It’s a lot more smiles, right? No bags under the eyes, right?”

It wasn’t a pretty win, but the Hokies did enough to avoid a three-game skid. They jump back into ACC play next week with a road game against Maryland.

“With the hard times we have had lately, it was good to see our guys show some fight,” Beamer said. “The word I would use for our team is relentless. We kept losing in unusual ways, but I think we righted some things tonight.”