East Carolina Preview

Who: #11 Virginia Tech Hokies (1-0, 0-0 ACC) @ East Carolina Pirates (0-1, 0-0 Conference USA)

Time: 3:40 PM

TV Coverage: Fox Sports Net (Ron Thulin, JC Pearson, Jeremy Bloom)

Venue: Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, Greenville, NC (50,000 – Grass)

Series History: Virginia Tech leads 11-5

• Last Meeting (2010): Virginia Tech 49, East Carolina 27
• This is Virginia Tech's first true "road" non-conference game since a 16-3 victory in Greenville in 2009
• The Hokies are 4-2 all-time at East Carolina, including three straight victories dating back to 1994
• Tech has won 9 of the last 10 meetings with ECU, with the only loss being the season opener in Charlotte in 2008
• Since 1994, VT has won 14 consecutive true "road" games in the state of North Carolina

Injury Report

• FS Theron Norman – Probable (shoulder)
• LB Telvion Clark – Probable (ankle)
• WR D.J. Coles – Probable (shoulder)
• OL Michael Via – Probable (knee)

The Opponent: The East Carolina Pirates open their home slate with a visit from Virginia Tech Saturday in Greenville. The Pirates are coming off a 56-37 loss to South Carolina in Charlotte last Saturday, a game in which they held a 17-0 lead in the second quarter.

Under the direction of head coach Ruffin McNeill, the Pirates spread offense is back after averaging 36.8 points per game (t-16th in nation) last season. ECU went 6-7 in McNeill's first year, losing 5 of its last 6 games, including the Military Bowl to Maryland. The reason? Statistically, the Pirate defense ranked dead last in the FBS, giving up nearly 480 yards per game and next to last by allowing 44 points a game.

The Hokies and Pirates are in the midst of a nine game series that will be on hiatus for the next two years as Tech needed to make room for the Chick-fil-A Kickoff against Alabama in 2013. So far, Tech is 3-1 in the series, which will restart in 2014 and finish in 2017.

• On Offense: The Pirates feature an "Air Raid" attack, with emphasis on passing, passing, and more passing, as evidenced by 56 attempts last week. The offense revolves around quarterback Dominique Davis (6-3, 210, Sr), who has really grown into his role with this offense. When he was at Boston College, things seemed forced, but he now seems to have found his niche in the spread attack. Need proof? He tossed four touchdowns against a very good South Carolina defense last week.

  The Pirates need him to be good, because they don't have a lot of experience elsewhere. Prior to last week, none of ECU's four running backs had seen extensive playing time at the D-1 level. ECU doesn't run the ball a lot, but if they do it will primarily be dives out of the shotgun or read option plays. Reggie Bullock (5-9, 176, Jr) is a transfer from junior college and was touted as the C-USA Newcomer of the Year entering the season. He'll get a bulk of the carries.

  However, the focus of the Tech defense should be ECU's wide receivers. Gone is NFL draft pick Dwayne Harris, and in steps Lance Lewis (6-3, 209, Sr). Last week, Lewis caught 13 balls for 108 yards and 2 touchdowns. He set the ECU single-season record with 14 touchdowns last season. There's a lot of depth at the position, which is needed for a team that runs a base 4-wide set. Seven different players caught a pass last week, including Justin Hardy (6-0, 181, Fr). He was Davis' second favorite target, hauling in 11 balls for 91 yards and a TD in his first collegiate action. The key for the Pirate offense is to get the ball to the receivers quickly in space and let them make the plays. South Carolina stopped that last week, holding ECU to 7 yards per completion.

  Up front, the Pirates are extremely inexperienced. According to Ruffin McNeill, ECU has the third fewest returning starters on the O-line in the nation. Aside from sixth-year senior Doug Polochak (6-4, 303, Sr), ECU starts four sophomores up front. Tech dominated an inexperienced line last week, and I would expect something similar this week, but probably not as lopsided. Last year, the Hokies sacked Davis three times, which is tough to do against any line in this type of scheme. Expect a lot of contain from the defensive ends, keeping Davis in the pocket and forcing him to run up the middle, if needed, into the teeth of the Tech linebackers.

• On Defense: Everybody knows that last year's ECU defense was horrific. There was nowhere to go but up, as shown by their 120th ranking in yards per game and 119th position in points allowed per game. The 56 points given up last week is a tad deceptive as the Gamecocks scored a touchdown on defense and on special teams. ECU only allowed 351 yards to the South Carolina, which puts them at 60th in the nation.

  To help change the tone in Greenville, Ruffin McNeill switched from a 4-3 alignment to a 3-4, which gives the Pirates more speed on defense and better fits their personnel. Despite having more speed, ECU is still extremely young in the front seven. The Pirates two-deep defensive line features just two upperclassmen, with one being a backup. Defensive end Derrell Johnson (6-1, 263, So) was the only player to record a tackle for loss and sack against South Carolina, indicating the Pirates still weren't able to get a big push up front. The key will be how much pressure this unit gets while battling an experienced and cohesive Tech O-line.

  At linebacker, the Pirates follow a similar theme of quality talent, but little experience. Cliff Perryman (6-1, 224, Sr) has the most experience of the unit, but is currently listed as a co-starter with Marke Powell (6-3, 222, Jr) at outside linebacker. At the other OLB slot, transfer Chris Baker (6-3, 238, Jr) made his first appearance with the Pirates since coming from Juco and is listed as a co-starter with Justin Dixon (6-1, 252, So). Expect all four to see legitimate action Saturday. In the middle, Daniel Drake (6-0, 237, Jr) and Jeremy Grove (6-1, 230, Fr) led the team in tackles last week with 14 and 12, respectively. Both are raw and probably won't see as much action with the Hokies trying to get the ball to the outside and not favoring the middle as much as South Carolina.

  The secondary has the most experience with three senior starters. Cornerback Emanuel Davis (5-11, 182, Sr) was a preseason first-team All C-USA selection this year, but was suspended for the South Carolina game due to his June arrest for "intoxication, disruptive in public and resisting a public officer." At the field corner, Derek Blacknail (5-11, 175, Sr) is in his second year as starter, but made this transition from boundary to field in the offseason. Bradley Jacobs (5-10, 210, Sr) makes up the final third of the senior secondary trio. The strong safety forced two fumbles against Tech last year in his first full season as a starter. Damon Magazu (5-11, 199, So) is the new starter at free safety. He was one of just three true freshmen to see action last season.

Players to Watch:

• Virginia Tech
• WR #81 Jarrett Boykin
• Last Week vs App State: 2 rec, 16 yards, TD
• Last Year vs ECU: 3 rec, 118 yards, TD
• Needs two catches to become Tech's all-time leader in pass receptions
• CB #20 Jayron Hosley
• Last Week vs App State: 3 punt returns, 97 yards (55 long)
• Last Year vs ECU: DNP (suspension)
• Missed last year's game with ECU due to violation of team policy. Also, did not figure in defensive box score against App State.
• East Carolina
• QB #4 Dominique Davis
• Last Week vs South Carolina: 37/56, 260 yards, 4 TD, 1 INT
• Last Year vs Virginia Tech: 30/44, 252 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT
• Making third career appearance against Tech…also started 2008 ACC Championship game for Boston College. In his career, he's 47/87 for 514 yards, 2 TD, 4 INT against VT.
• OLB #6 Chris Baker
• Last Week vs South Carolina: 4 tackles, 1 fumble recovery
• Last Year vs Virginia Tech: DNP
• Transferred from junior college in the offseason

Matchups to Watch:

• ECU Wide Receivers vs Virginia Tech Linebackers/Secondary
• The ECU offense is built upon short passes and putting playmakers in space, similar to what App State attempted to do last week. Odds are Dominique Davis will be more accurate, and therefore more dangerous with precision passing. Tech's back line needs to control the receivers at a pace similar to what South Carolina did last week to be successful.
• ECU O-Line vs Virginia Tech D-Line
• As discussed earlier, ECU's offensive line is young. So is Tech's defensive line. But Tech's front four obliterated the youthful App State front and, for the most part, contained an athletic QB in DeAndre Presly. If the Hokies can get similar pressure on Davis, it could cause bad/rushed throws and a field day for the secondary.
• Virginia Tech Running Game vs ECU 3-4 Front
• This should be an obvious mismatch. Despite ECU converting to a system they are more equipped for, they still lack the talent to run sideline-to-sideline against a Marcus Lattimore or David Wilson-style back. That showed last week, and it will probably reappear again this week.
• Logan Thomas vs ECU Crowd
• My biggest concern Saturday is how the new guys, particularly Logan Thomas, do in a hostile environment. ECU has a reputation for being a tough place to play, and with a mid-afternoon kickoff, I'm sure they'll be more than ready to go. Can Logan handle the noise and avoid potentially damaging mistakes?

Keys to Victory:

• Virginia Tech
• Run The Ball
• This is an easy one. If Tech can run the ball, and all indications point to them being able to, this one shouldn't be in doubt. David Wilson rushed for 89 yards on just 12 carries last year against ECU, and Tech as a team averaged a hair over 6 yards per rush on 41 carries last season. The Wilson/Oglesby duo has a chance to be something special, with Oglesby providing a nice physical presence to Wilson's explosiveness.
• Open Field Tackling
• Early in the season the past couple years, Tech has struggled with open field tackling. Thankfully, that wasn't the case last Saturday as shown prominently by Kyle Fuller making numerous great plays on one-on-one battles in space. As has been said multiple times, ECU wants its receivers in space and Tech needs to make sure the Pirates don't have a lot of yards after the catch. Watch that stat throughout the game.
• East Carolina
• Stop The Run
• Everyone knows the Hokies are going to run the ball. If ECU can't at least slow down the ground attack, it could be a long day for Pirate fans. ECU's strength is its experienced secondary, and despite the advantage Tech has with skill at receiver, the Pirates will need to get the Hokies behind the chains and into obvious passing downs.
• Maintain Energy Level Throughout Game
• This has been a problem in big games for the Pirates. Last week against South Carolina, they got out to a 17-0 lead but seemed to tire and eventually, the bottom fell out by giving up 28 points in the third quarter alone. Last year against Tech, the Pirates held a 24-21 lead at the half, but managed just a field goal the rest of the way. Part of that was Tech turning it up a notch on defense, but the energy level just wasn't there either. Playing in front of the home crowd for the first time will obviously help this, but the Pirates must play a complete four quarters if they want to knock off the Hokies.

Projected Score: Virginia Tech 45, East Carolina 21