Tackling troubles hamper Hokies

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Virginia Tech’s defensive players should expect some extra tackling drills in practice this week.

“Probably a lot, yeah,” said Hokies senior linebacker Purnell Sturdivant, who finished second on the team with eight tackles.

Poor tackling by the Hokies helped sustain both of East Carolina’s second-half offensive drives in the Pirates’ 27-22 upset win over No. 17 Tech Saturday at Bank of America Stadium.

“I bet when we go back and count the number of missed tackles, there will be a bunch,” Tech coach Frank Beamer said. “Good defensive teams tackle well, and we’ve got to get better at that.”

The tackling flaws were sure signs of Tech’s inexperience. The team debuted seven new defensive starters.

“(They got) a lot of YAC, yards after the catch, so I think we would have cleaned up our tackling, they would have had a lot of three and outs, and the situation would have been different,” Sturdivant said.

Missing Macho

Hokies senior cornerback Macho Harris didn’t travel with the team Saturday. He was back home nursing a sprained left foot.

Harris started 27 straight games before Saturday. His absence pressed sophomore Rashad Carmichael into starting duty.

Tech’s secondary struggled without Harris. ECU quarterback Patrick Pinkney completed 19 of 23 passes for 211 yards and a touchdown.

Junior Stephan Virgil came up with a couple of big plays, though. He scored on a 30-yard fumble return and ran back a blocked extra point attempt for a two-point conversion.

His touchdown was the 75th defensive score and 25th fumble return in Beamer’s tenure.

“(Our inexperience showed) a little bit,” Virgil said. “We’re still good. We’ll learn from our mistakes and move on.”

DeChristopher sidelined

Redshirt freshman right tackle Blake DeChristopher, one of 11 first-time starters for the Hokies, suffered a right thigh bruise during the first series and didn’t play the rest of the game.

“That wasn’t a good way to start the day,” Beamer said.

Richard Graham and redshirt freshman Greg Nosal split time playing right tackle in DeChristopher’s absence.

Tech quarterback Sean Glennon, who was sacked twice and made many throws under duress, didn’t blame the replacements.

“I don’t know exactly whether it was Dick (Graham) or anybody else the pressure was coming from,” Glennon said. “Anytime you lose a starter, and obviously Blake earned his starting spot, so losing him can’t be a good thing, but I can’t necessarily say Dick was responsible for things going wrong.”

Extra points

Ten true freshmen played for the Hokies Saturday: wide receivers Xavier Boyce, Jarrett Boykin and Dyrell Roberts, linebackers Jake Johnson, Quillie Odom and Bruce Taylor, cornerback Eddie Whitley and safety Lorenzo Williams. Running back Ryan Williams and kicker Justin Myer dressed but didn’t play. … Roberts made one of the team’s biggest offensive plays with his 62-yard sideline grab in the third quarter. He blew by ECU cornerback Darryl Reynolds and caught the ball in stride. … Junior Cam Martin led the Hokies with 11 tackles. … The Hokies, who allowed 54 sacks last season, yielded two against the Pirates. None of Tech’s defenders recorded sacks.