GREENVILLE — It was the best start against a perennial ACC team a fan could imagine.
ECU finished a 65-yard scoring drive less than two minutes into Saturday’s game to take an early lead over Virginia Tech. But it’s not how you start — it’s how you finish, and the Pirates didn’t.
Scoring much less than its 41.5 average in two weeks, the Pirates fell to the Hokies, 15-10.
The Tech defense, ranked fourth in the nation, held ECU to 204 yards; the Pirates averaged 371 in their first two games. And for a team that only notched eight third-down conversions this season, Virginia Tech (2-1) had nine in the win Saturday at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
ECU coach Ruffin McNeill talked about the Frank Beamer-coached Hokies all week and knew his Pirates would face a team that will eventually contend for the ACC championship. He recognized VPI changed its game plan since the 35-10 loss to No. 1 Alabama in the season-opener.
“We faced a good football team today,” said McNeill, who is now 0-3 against Virginia Tech in his four seasons. “We knew this would be a game of momentum changes. I think you have to always give your opponent credit, but also, I have a lot of confidence in our offense and in our staff.”
On the opening set of plays, ECU (2-1) churned out a 65-yard scoring drive in five plays in less than two minutes. Quarterback Shane Carden flung the ball to wide receiver Bryce Williams for his first career touchdown reception.
For VPI, quarterback Logan Thomas took a while to warm up as his first two passes were incomplete and the Hokies punted in four plays.
“It was a great opening drive,” Williams said. “We were moving the ball and got in the red zone quick. … I would have rather gotten that W then have gotten my first touchdown.”
The Hokies started kicking into gear after Carden was picked off by cornerback Brandon Facyson headed into the second quarter. It was Carden’s first interception of the season, but two more would blotch his record before the game ended.
He would also be sacked seven times Saturday.
“Shane’s our quarterback, he’s our leader and he’ll bounce back and have a great week of practice,” McNeill said. “I’m sure he’ll play well next game; I have a lot of confidence in Shane.”
Carden finished 19-of-31 for 158 yards, while Logan completed 25 of 43 passes for 258 yards plus an interception of his own.
While an otherwise-durable offense struggled to march back into the end zone, ECU didn’t capitalize where it could have as the Pirates were ahead 10-7 for most of the third. After missing the extra point when the Hokies went up 13-10 in the third quarter, VPI kicker Cody Journell ended up whiffing on three field goal attempts.
“I thought our defense stepped up and forced those things to happen,” McNeill said. “We pride ourselves on taking advantage of opportunities. Today, we didn’t get a chance to and didn’t do as well as we could. We’ll have to fix that.”
With 2:19 left to play, the Pirates got a defensive stop that left Virginia Tech at the ECU 15 facing a fourth and 6. ECU was still able to take over on downs, even after a Pirates penalty gave the Hokies 5 yards and fourth and 1.
The Pirates, who had the ball at the their own 10 with 2:04 remaining, lost 6 yards on a quarterback sack, lost the ball in the end zone for a late-game VPI safety and then lost the ball game. A hit from Hokies defensive end James Gayle shook the ball loose from Carden’s hands.
A Pirates onside kick went out of bounds from the 20, giving the Hokies three plays to end the game.
“It went back and forth, and I was very proud of our football team,” McNeill said. “We’ve got a 24-hour rule here; we’ll put this one behind us and get ready for the off week and prepare for our next opponent.”
ECU heads up to Chapel Hill to play North Carolina next Saturday and won’t return to Dowdy-Ficklen until Oct. 19 to face Southern Miss.
Jessika Morgan can be reached at 252-559-1078 and Jessika.Morgan@Kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessikaMorgan.