East Carolina Pirates vs Virginia Tech Hokies Preview

The rain didn’t top Pirate fans from getting out and getting pumped up for Saturday’s game against Virginia Tech. It’s to point out that East Carolina is another Group of Five school with an impressive record performing in the shadow of a Power Five conference. Brenden Motley and the rest of the team answered that question with a beat down of Big 10 opponent Purdue last week, 51-24.

Blake Kemp stepped in and led the Pirates to a 28-20 win over Towson State and the second week was a near-upset of Florida. Kurt Benkert was set to take over for four-year starter Shane Carden in 2015, but he suffered a season-ending knee injury two weeks before the opener. “And if you can’t get excited for that, you have to check your pulse”. With a tough game against East Carolina coming up, and then the heart of the ACC schedule, there is little doubt the Hokies have to do better here – especially since this was an issue that was supposed to be addressed during spring practice and the entire offseason. And in the 2011 and 2013 home losses to the Hokies, the Pirates ran for a combined 31 yards.

According to The Richmond Times-Dispatch, Virginia Tech has given up six first downs via penalty, tied for second most in the league. He’s had 14 catches and three touchdowns in the past two games, and a big red-zone target could come in handy against the Hokies. Quarterback Brenden Motley continues to improve as he starts his third game after replacing injured Michael Brewer, throwing for four TDs without an interception in the last two contests. He did fumble twice last weekend at Purdue and the Hokies need him to avoid turnovers that can swing momentum quickly. Before that, though, the 2-1 Hokies will travel to Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium today in search of victory against the East Carolina Pirates. “We see each other a lot on the road”. That may not sound like much in yardage, but scoring is down from tied for sixth previous year (35.8) to 102nd (24.3). “We’ve got a bunch of guys step up in his absence”.