Hokies Fall to ECU 28-35

What a difference a week makes.

Just seven days ago, Virginia Tech broke 50 in one of the most complete wins the team has seen in years. Today the same squad traveled to Greenville and stubbed their toe in all three phases of the game, losing 28-35 to East Carolina.

After capitalizing quickly on two Pirate turnovers, the Hokies looked like they would carry last week's success against Purdue into Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. But then, they subsequently allowed four straight touchdowns and couldn't muster a comeback, dropping their second straight game to Ruffin McNeill's squad.

In the discourse that follows over the next day or so, there'll be a lot said about the questionable (at best) officiating that seemed to kill Tech. While both numbers (18 penalties for 186 yards between the two teams) and eyes confirm the zebras' abysmal day, don't let it distract from the fundamental problems that haunted Frank Beamer's program.

The defense was without star corner Kendall Fuller, but the unit's woes went much deeper than that. James Summers, listed as the second quarterback on the Pirates' depth chart, gashed the Hokies with both his legs and his arm, totaling 279 yards and three touchdowns. Summers seemed unstoppable all night, converting back-breaking third downs and slicing through Bud Foster's defense with ease.

While there were a few flags thrown that drew the ire of Hokie Nation (Chuck Clark's phantom pass interference and Sean Huelskamp's ejection probably being the top vote getters), many others were just as crippling. Tech littered the field with false starts, holds and other lapses that created problems on both sides of the ball. Mental errors from players in orange helmets seemed to come like clockwork, and they either kept a Pirate drive afloat or sank their own.

This was a game that deserved the weather it was played in, a monsoon-like slop which drenched all of the stadium's inhabitants. The Hokies committed penalties — each one seemingly more devastating than the last — they turned the ball over, missed a field goal and even snapped a ball that sailed over the head of punter A.J. Hughes. No unit looked good, and it showed in the final result.

The home team, on the other hand, did everything it needed to do after its first two possessions. After giving up a quick 14 points the Pirates regrouped everywhere, beating Tech on offense, defense and special teams. They weren't perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but they capitalized on their opponent's mistakes.

On the flip side, the Hokies could do no such thing. Multiple times they received the ball with good field position after an ECU miscue, and could rarely take advantage. A kickoff out of bounds eventually lead to a Joey Slye miss from 37 yards. A drive beginning at the 40 after a Pirate personal foul ended with a Jonathan McLaughlin false start on fourth-and-one and a subsequent punt.

Brenden Motley was still effective, but showed limitations in the passing game. By the second quarter it was clear that Scot Loeffler blew the dust off the entire Logan Thomas playbook, including the part where the signal caller doubles as the primary ball carrier. Motley ran 19 times for 85 yards and a score, and was by far the team's most effective weapon.

The rest of the running game struggled, as J.C. Coleman, Trey Edmunds and Sam Rogers combined for 16 carries and 30 yards. Travon McMillian gained just as many yards as his counterparts on just five attempts, another annoyingly limited role for the back that has shown more explosion than anyone else at the position.

This game proved two things: the first is that Purdue is much worse than many of us thought (their loss to Bowling Green Saturday proved just that). Secondly, this Virginia Tech team is still further away than most of us wanted to admit. Injuries have forced young players into bigger roles, and they were exposed. Greg Stroman and Mook Reynolds lost their men on a number of different occasions, Huelskamp had 10 tackles but still frequently struggled to bring down Summers in the open field.

The most concerning problems, however, didn't come from the freshmen. They were the offensive line penalties, the bevy of missed tackles, yet another field goal sent wide. These were all from veterans who are consistently counted on to produce, not add to the headaches of both coaches and fans.

All's not lost, but this was a brutal outcome in the Hokies' first major test since Ohio State. Next week Tech returns home to kick off ACC play against Pittsburgh, a giant game against a program that's been similarly underwhelming.

I'm sure this wasn't where the coaching staff wanted to be heading into the conference slate, coming off a disappointing loss with injuries to their two most important players (Kendall Fuller and Michael Brewer). But here we all are.

Will this loss send them into a spiral that ends in another mediocre season, or will it be a rallying cry? A turning point that propels a young team towards the ceiling of their potential?

Neither question can be answered now, but one thing's for certain. If the mistakes aren't cleaned up, things could get dark in Blacksburg.