Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer's Hokies go into Greenville, North Carolina this week with a few positions unsettled, mainly in the backfield at tailback and at the wide receiver position. In fact, Beamer only settled on his starting quarterback earlier this week.
Coach Skip Holtz's East Carolina Pirates, on the other hand, return 16 starters from a team that only lost by 10 points in Blacksburg last season.
While it's true that Beamer's squad was still recovering from the horrifying tragedy that left 32 people dead in Blacksburg, the Hokies still found themselves in a much tougher game than I think they expected.
- B/R Ticket Guide
Holtz is a top-notch coach who is somewhat under the radar in northeastern North Carolina's rural background, but he and senior quarterback Patrick Pinkney have been through some battles together, even as Pinkney shared time behind center with Rob Kass—who appears to have relinquished the top spot to Pinkney this season.
Last year, Pinkney went 14 of 25 for 125 yards and ran for nearly 50 yards as a partial starter. Look for Pinkney to try to solidify Holtz's decision to start him with the backdrop of a rowdy and underrated fan base in Greenville to derail the Hokies' BCS title hopes in Week One.
ECU 24, Va Tech 13
Call your bookie.
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2 months ago
Hells yeah. I'm taking this bet.. I love what Skip is doing with ECU.
2 months ago
Love it...last year ECU gave Va Tech fits last year, and with Glennon at the reins, I smell an upset. Nice job Curly! My POTD and five stars!
2 months ago
I totally agree! I picked the Pirates to win in my predictions article the other day. ECU is going to be really good this year, and Tech is slightly overrated, I think. Skip Holtz is doing great things at ECU.
2 months ago
Good piece!
First: the game's in Charlotte.
Second: As a WVU fan, ECU always scares the beegeebees out of me. Skip Holtz always gets great athletes to play for the Pirates. After this game, West Virginia goes to Greenville's snake pit. Yikes!
2 months ago
First: the game's in Charlotte.
Thanks for the correction!
2 months ago
Thanks Lisa!
2 months ago
virginia tech is gonna duma**es
2 months ago
Wouldn't shock me. But I will be interested to see what ECU looks like without Chris Johnson.
2 months ago
We call this the Bleacher Report dilema, Like the article but don't agree with it at all..
2 months ago
ECU may be returning more starters, but in the big picture does that really matter? What matters is being ready to play, and Beamer will have his boys ready to go. Tech may have lost a number of players, but many of the players who will be starting have plenty of game experience. Also, they're not the only team in this game with running back trouble. Dominique Lindsey was supposed to be there guy after Chris Johnson, but he's out for the season.
2 months ago
Curly!
Great call! Congratulations!
2 months ago
"That boy is good!" ---- Aresnio Hall describing Sexual Choclate, "Coming to America"
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