
Who: Virginia Tech Hokies (2-1, 0-0 ACC) at East Carolina Pirates (1-2, 0-0 AAC)
When: Saturday, September 26, 2015 at 3:30 PM ET
Where: Greenville, North Carolina | Dowdy-Ficklin Stadium (50,000)
Watch/Listen: ABC/ESPN2 (Mark Neely, Mike Bellotti, Dawn Davenport) / Virginia Tech IMG
Spread: Hokies -10
Weather: Low 70s, 50% chance of rain.
Series: Virginia Tech leads 13-6. East Carolina won the last meeting 28-21 on 9/13/14 in Blacksburg.
Reppin' TKP: TKP did not make the trip to Greenville, but you better believe if we had a full-time beat writer (s)he would have.
Tidbits: The Hokies are averaging 46.5 PPG and 527.0 YPG over the last two games. Tech's defense has allowed 10.0 actual PPG.
Dating back to 1996, VT is 40-3 (.930) on the road when scoring 30+ points (12-0 vs. non-conference opponents).
ECU is 16-3 (.842) at home since the start of the 2012 season. The three losses were against Virginia Tech, Navy and UCF.
Discuss today's game and festivities here. Avoid leaving play-by-play, we're all watching. Remember to follow the community guidelines.

Comments
Prepare thy hearts for heartbreaking loss
That never happens to us . . .
can the defense finally get a stop
That is likely a product of not having an WR depth. Cam and Ford are pooped I bet.
Motley limping. No bueno.
This game reminds me of Marshall 2013
They need an answer for Summers, but he's been getting some serious breaks up until now.
Looks like the rain let up.
Motley wasn't advertised as a running QB??
Unfortunately, that's not the stupidest thing those two have said this game.
The good news is the offense appears to have some pride and some courage. The defense is all talent and no heart. All the leadership on this team is on the offensive side of the ball.
The defense should use a thing called 'tackling" now.
At least they got him running sideways that time.
FUCK-DAMMIT! WTF DID THE DEFENSE DO, TAKE THE ENTIRE FUCKING GAME OFF!?!?
Horrible call. Just plain horrible.
FUCKING REFS. BULLSHIT
Are you fucking kidding me? That's a bullshit call.
That's a cheap call
What?
if you wrap up his legs he'll go down just fyi
WHAT THE CRAP?! FUCK THAT REFEREE.
Are you kidding me...
What the fuck. The dude is breaking tackles left and right. How in the fuck is that targeting?
Targettng????////?? WTF
Awful call. Fuck these refs.
...targeting. Fuck me.
TARGETING A DEFENSELESS PLAYER? WOW. OK.
As many times as that guy has slid by?
That's bullshit.
ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? TARGETING?
Well this will fuck us
Dude, these refs are amazing. How do these jokers keep their jobs after a game like this?
AAC REfs! Lets screw a P5!
He hit him with shoulder in the shoulder.
if they throw him out of this game
This guy does not know the rules at all. he should stop talking
I guess it was targeting in that they actually tackled him.
He was in a pile of people and he hit him with his shoulder!!!!
That was so clearly the shoulder.
If this targeting call stands, fuck these refs
That's awful.
Shoulder to Shoulder. This is horrible.
Huelscamp ROCKS! Targeting just heard. AAC REFS!
Watch the replay. The QB actually jumped. The shoulder made contact at the same time the need touched down. The QB hadn't even slid yet....
Probably the same official that spotted that kick at the 5.
Because it was called "targeting", does it now have to be indisputable to reverse it?
What B.S.
Unfuckingbelievable.
These refs can eat a giant bag of dicks. Huge bag. Like a garbage bag of dicks.
I can't not post this. Content is, as you can guess from the title, NSFW.
QB wasn't even on the ground yet so what! Shoulder tackle!!
These refs are awful
Are these AAC officials? THis is absurd.
This is making me sick. Taking the game out of the hands of the guys on the field is total bullshit.
ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME
HAHAHAHAHA omg.
This is the worst officiating I've ever seen in a game.
speechless right now
These refs aren't qualified to coach a pee-wee game
In a game of horrifically bad calls, that was the worst.
Couldn't agree more. Shoulder to shoulder contact is apparently targeting in the NCAA now
I am going to throw up. That is fucking ridiculous.
Fuck these motherfucking refs. They should be targeted leaving the stadium. That has to be the worst fucking call of the fucking season.
I CANNOT FUCKING BELIEVE WE ARE ACTUALLY GOING TO FUCKING LOSE TO THIS FUCKING TEAM 2 FUCKING DAMN YEARS IN A ROW!!! FUCK DAMMIT!!!
GOD DAMMIT WHAT THE FUCK HORSESHIT HORSESHIT FUCK FUCK FUCK
This is a joke. Right? targeting? for real?
wooooooooooow what did he see what did anybody see what did he even watch???
Whit should pull one of those awesome moves and run down on the field and throw a fit with the officials. That would make my day.
WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK. I HATE YOU.
I FUCKING HATE YOU YOU SELF RIGHTEOUS DICKHEAD. I WOULD BE A MORE OBJECTIVE REF THAN YOU
The targeting rule needs to be a confirm only. If you can't tell by all the angles of the replay, it wasnt targeting
And now we're down another mike for the next game.
That is the worst targeting call I have ever seen.
These refs have served up such a shit sandwich this game...
Seriously, Beamer needs to get the team on the bus and just leave these Refs are horrific! Make a god damn statement!!
We have to stop these guys now. No more first downs. This is it.
This is horseshit. How do these guys get to keep their jobs?
Nice open field tackle
This is some horsecrap officiating. Terrible. Terrible. Terrible.
If I was ECU, I would run that same QB run every play because we can't stop it.
That's exactly why I said earlier, " please don't put the "running QB" in. It never fairs well for us. Or anybody for that matter.
I believe this is grounds to break the rest of the planned series and never play them again.
Targeting now involves shoulder-to-shoulder hits, guys.
Unbelievable.
Looks like the censor got me.
I feel like we get screwed pretty much every game by the refs. So sick of this shit.
Too bad SH didn't actually make that bogus call count and knock him out of the game.
same qb draw up the middle i don't understand why we don't know
A mobile QB shreds VT.....again
These officials should be investigated. Total job here. Every call? Every call. They blew a PI. They blew a fumble recovery. They blew a OPI on ECU, they blew a targeting now. The PI lead to a TD. The fumble turned into a TD.
Untouchable
Don't forget the mysterious false start penalty in the 1st half
It was 5 men in the backfield. The announcers just could not hear anything. Ref clearly said 5 men.
COME ON!
That was a HUGE stop.
HOLY SHIT DID WE ACTUAL TACKLE HIM?
Out of sheer facts, not spite, this is the worst officiated game I've ever seen. Terrible
Mobile QBs are kryptonite to a Foster defense...every damn year
Got him down - finally!
No shit, we got a stop.
omg we stopped it
You know what, at this point I'm almost not even mad that we're going to lose this game. We're not losing to ECU, we're losing to the refs. Way to take the game out of the players' hands.
Laaser is into it.
We need a big stop
Another ECU bounce. Luckiest fucking bastards I've ever seen.
There must be magnets under the field.
I hope Beamer actually rips the refs after this game. No coach speak
Same. I want none of that "Well, we gotta give them credit" crap.
I want REVENGE against EVERY official that has fucked us over in every game since the 90s. I crave vengeance and justice.
*Falls off the couch and begins praying to God that we can move the ball 98 yards without turning it over*
I can't say it better.
NO FLAG! Somebody's getting his bribe shorted
Blessing in disguise...two words Carson Lydon!
Love the positivity, hope you're right.
And after ALL the B.S. VT with the ball down 7
on VT's 3.
Same officials.
The odds are amazingly bad.
Was the 5 last drive. gotta believe
That ball should be spotted at the 5 where it was touched first. I don't understand that.
best punter ever clearly
If these fucks have jobs next week, that's a travesty to the sport of football. Worst officiated game I've seen in my lifetime. Even the ESPN guys are commenting on it.
Those ref's on ECU are a beast!
wow yes they are lol
That was another shitty spot. They touched it at the 4.
They've beaten us in all four phases of the game: Offense, Defense, Special Teams, and Officiating.
Heh, I actually laughed.
Beautiful play, Motley. I SEE YOU, KID
we can do this i believe
Why are they running it at all?
Go spread.
In this weather? With this QB?
Gonna have to dink and dunk this
Let Motley throw the ball around. No more runs! Too much time running
It was too long of a field to be throwing it around. Motley is not "Aaron Rogers" accurate.
Way too many reviews the whole game!
oh lord
Beamer, you son of a bitch! He must've given the head zebra his bank account number!
we've been saved
Awww, shit, the refs made a call for us. Means there's going to be a bullshit turnover call and they won't review it.
I am guessing we are playing this as the last possession of the game
For me, that's why you don't need to waste downs running it.
I think Lefty is calling it as if there is no defense.
He may be right.
LET'S GO HOKIES. LET'S GO O-LINE.
over
welp
Not Motley's fault.
Bucky Hodges...
After all that, Hodges drops one that hits him in the numbers. Just not our day.
Wow, not our day whatsoever.
Bucky......... Oh. my. god.
smh
I can't believe Bucky dropped that one!
Defense gets one more shot.
I don't want to hear anything about the refs. This team was a fucking embarrassment today and absolutely deserved to lose.
You're right but 11 points for the officials
There's at least 14 to 21 points that made the board (or didn't) because of the refs. Without them jobbing us, this would be a whole different game.
The refs definitely did a VERY poor job, but we got outplayed in every phase of the game after basically being spotted 14 points to start the game. Blaming refs for this L is laughable.
I mean. Yes. But there is something to be said about the officiating. It's been one of the poorest games I've ever seen from that aspect.
Need a big stop here.
Hodges, you HAVE to catch that football.
This team blows
*cries*
i just idk
YES!
We shouldn't have had to (almost) come back in the 4th quarter in this game. Just completely not what was expected from VT today.
ONE MORE STOP!!!!
Damnit Bucky. That was yours.
We'll get 'em the next 20 years
:(...
1 stop and then Motley has a chance to make some magic and Bucky to get a chance at salvation
I know that it wasn't a bad call because it hit him in the chest, but you have to keep it on the ground there, right? Rainy situation, slick hands...
No. It was a bad bad drop.
sigh
How many times do we get to watch this coaching staff get completely outcoached?
And I include Foster in there. Did they have no clue a running QB may play, considering how often those types of players own us
He didn't play (or at least got no stats) against Towson and Navy, and barely got any playing time against Florida.
Gameplanning for him would have been like ECU gameplanning for Lawson.
qb draw here it comes
Even with the horrific refs, we should have been able to put 42 or more on his team.
Boy, that helped.
Oh well, I'll still root for them next week too.
you know it life of a homie
they're trying to give us the game
C'mon, Hokies! I REALLY don't want to have to wait another year to avenge dumb losses to ECU. It sucks enough hearing from all the ECU fans here.
No huddle here we go
Wow. Wow. Wow.
Penalty saved us 15 seconds at least.
95 yards in a minute. Lets GOOO
Eh, just wait till Pitt owns this heartless squad next week
I think stroman needs to let that go and hope for touchback.
This game is an embarrassment.
ummm, fair catch at 5 why not try to run it some? 95 yards with less than a minute and no to
Is there any magic????
Gut check time
Geeez, throw it low so he can't get ut of bounds
terrible
Thank you Bryce
First play may have cost us the game.
Glad we wasted 30 seconds to run one play to start the drive
They should offer free heart medicine to VT fans.
OMG penalty. Worst Time.
terrible
71 early. Come on. How many bullets do our feet have?
worst 1 minute drive in history goes to....
I feel for the kids but coaches just weren't ready for this game either
Can't wait for Beamer to offer nothing reassuring to the fans after this game
The king of that...
game
Are the refs trying to make up for bad calls? Looked like Cam was guilty
We're a bad football team.
and we burned Lawson's redshirt. Hopefully we'll see more of him (and Durkin) this year. What do we have to lose? We are not a team that looks like they have a chance at the ACC.
*throws up*
.....
Inexcusable loss for this coaching staff.
Honestly, it is literally inexcusable. Time to take a hard look at what we want this program to actually be.
I'm drinking and I don't care. Stay fucking dead, Weaver. Fuck you for scheduling this bull shit. Your legacy will forever be a useless sack who couldn't hire or schedule for shit. Fuck you.
Let him vent folks. Let him vent.
Hokie Respect?
Fuck that too. Happily, Whit agrees. Have we seen even one commercial for it this year? Nope, because it was shit. Like what most of what Weaver did concerning fan experience.
No sugar cookie-ing that.
Shame on you. I get it, you're mad, but you've got to keep your shit together better than that.
Well, at least we can all jump off the "hype train" now. This isn't a very good football team.
We played horrible. Refs played horrible. ECU did what they needed to do. Doesn't ruin our season but it definitely blows.
While some of you hate that people pointed out that it wasnt an ACC game so its not as bad, it is true. We have a chance to try and fix some things in the next week and with the way the Coastal has been playing, we are as likely to win it as anyone and get to the ACCG
Except this is a bad football team.
We have beaten two absolute no ones, and will get killed in conference play looking like this
No, you are wrong on that. We played bad today, but we are not a bad football team. We were missing an all american corner and had 3 true freshman playing in our back 7 tonight. We missed a few tackles that led to this loss.
The refs directly lead to 3 touchdowns with blown calls as well but even with that, we were very close to overcoming an absolutley horrendous showing and still winning. I am not happy about things from today but I also still see a lot of things in this team that I believe can get us to the ACCCG. We had a very bad day but we are not a bad team.
Now for Beamer to tell us in the post-game show that we need to give ECU credit.
This coaching staff can't get it done. Let's accept this simple truth.
The D is awful this year too
Yes. They definitely haven't been able to prove yet that they can get it done. And also yes, can't believe this defense is so horrible. Every team now knows how to beat a bud foster defense; and it appears we don't know how to adjust for it. Not the end of the world, but definitely the sign of another 6-6 season if we are lucky.
This is why we can't have nice things.
And another 12 months of crap from ECU fans...
I don't know if its the colors of the uniforms or what but we definitely have problems facing ECU.
Looking forward to all of these posts:

Yeah it is. They have Bud's number and you can't win with 1000 penalties. Coaching or you have a bunch of dumbasses.
Dude stop worrying about how the rest of us choose to view this joke of a program. We've now lost to ECfrackinU for two years straight. There's REASON to be upset. If you don't think so, I think you've got some heavily shaded glasses on, but that's fine. But don't be surprised or upset when people aren't hunky dory with it.
Yes we lost to a team 2 years in a row. I don't like it anymore that you do but to say the whole season is a disaster because of 1 showing is a sign of wearing the heavily shaded glasses. It isn't about getting knocked down, but how you get back up. We got knocked down which no one likes but I will not judge the season until the prove they can or can't get back up, dude.
It goes deeper than this, I think it starts with the attitude getting off the bus and this team seems to lose it right off the bus. Just think back to the Pitt games at Heinz field. Our guys poop their pants as they get off the bus because Frank set the stage.
We came out and smoked them off the bus! We had them 14-0. The guys were flying around.
What stage does Frank set getting off the bus? Not buying that nonsense.
We had two gifts inturnovers, what did we do after that. Nothing. That is what I am talking about.
Yes, this ECU series is really good for recruiting...
... for ECU.
This really was inexcusable.
Poor officiating, yes, but even poorer execution on VT.
The only bright spot is that they didn't give up, and actually had a chance to tie or win it at the end.
And it was in pouring rain.
But it did seem like ECU got every conceivable break in that game.
As a Golden Hokie, I am ready for a change. We need to make difficult decisions but they need to be made. The last 5 minutes was completely unacceptable.
As an O&M Hokie, I'm in full agreement.
ecu (fuck them) is now better than us. WE are not is a situation like 2000. WE never will be.
Time to update your flair to "2016 is our year".
Here it is for today, and honestly the season, in my opinion:
1. Yes, the refs were terrible, however we have the talent and SHOULD have the coaching to overcome... good teams do.
2. We were out coached in all facets of the game. Do all the reviews you want, dream whatever dream you want, the players did not execute and the other team did, on the coaches period. you want to blame the talent pool, well that flows right back up stream to the coaches. Dont have "that" talent, use what you have, period and adapt, good teams do, notice i said good, not great . None of the coaches, except maybe loefler, which is a huge stretch, do that.
3. We are simply not that good, and that is ok for old money and the delusional young money. compete, be the "almost there" team, win that "participation" trophy. Gone are the games we would win when we should win and lose when we should lose, maybe surprise a few here and there. there is no killer instinct in this team either, heck note the Furman game. At least Paul Johnson steps on your throat in public and makes no bones about it...
Will Battle at Bristol end up being the kill shot for this program, in that Whit will feel obliged to keep Beamer around for it as we run further into the ground
Honestly, if this ends up being the same kind of season as last year I would say that Beamer should go.
Our program lies in a very precarious position, and if we allow more mediocrity we could end up where we were before Beamer came here.
Absolutely. If we pull off another 6-6 regular season, there's no way Frank should be standing on our sidelines as a coach next year.
Bad loss. Worst officiated game I've ever seen. But we shouldn't have kept it this close at all. Overall, I'm pretty damn pissed off. Ridiculous.
Continuing to drink heavily now. Will be back for fantasy football threads tomorrow. 97VT540 out.
Wow, just wow. This shouldn't happen two years in a row. The coaches knew that ECU would make throws quickly and yet it appears that they didn't do anything different than they did last year. Officiating was pretty bad, but this team didn't do well in all phases. Pretty much the only really good play was AJ Hughes' punt.
I mean that was the story of the first quarter, but i sincerely doubt that Bud prepped his guys to play a team that was going to run the Qb for the next 3 quarters....
so you're saying Bud was outcoached?
The defense didn't look good. The same mistakes that were made in the first half were made in the second half. That's AT LEAST partially on the coaches.
Yup.
And if he isn't I'll say it. Bud and Torian have been out-coached two years in a row by ECU.
Honestly, it shocks me that a wealthy behind the scenes Hokie alum hasn't secretly put out a bounty for every single ref that has fucked us over in every single fucking game since the 90s. It's not as though their lives or net is worth that much.
If I see that back judge or line judge or referee, I'm kicking them as hard as I can in the nuts. Repeatedly.
Cant wait to hear Foster on the post game interview.
Good thing we get to play them for the next 25 years so we can get revenge
Alright, time to strike the next item off the list.
We can beat OSU again!We can still get into the playoffs.We can still win the ACC.
We can still beat UVA.
There's always next year.
Can you add, "We can be the first team in the history of FBS to lose to OSU and ECU and still win the NC"?
We will still win the coastal
I don't see that happening.
We will lose next week to Pitt, an drop games to BC, and one to at least either GT/Miami/UNC
The silver lining is that this gives Whit what he needs to go the direction that's necessary, without too much distraction from people who want to give whatever they're doing now "more time".
Really?? Pitt doesn't have Connor. They don't have the running ability that Summers had in whomever their QB is. I think we fix it and get right again next week. BC......really??
Motley has definitely been good. It is just so sad how it seems the coaches don't know how to utilize the RB talent that we have. The "share the wealth" strategy has yet to work. Relying on Motley series after series to run up the middle is what we hoped to get away from after LT. We have awesome WRs and TEs. We have really good RBs. However, we keep pretending that JC is our go-to guy. He isn't. He is a solid player, but not a go-to guy.
Also, I just don't understand the defense. Again, great talent; great pressure; but they look lost.
JC is the change-up guy. Not the main guy.
Someone telegraph Shane and tell him.
They were lost. They are extremely young in the secondary. The guys that actually got beat were Stroman and Alexander. They exploited our weakness.
I felt that Stroman was getting beaten the most. It's a recurring event every game. The coaches like Stroman, but he isn't getting it done and they aren't helping him out. I don't know if Fuller being out would have made this game much better, but if it would at least have given us a comfortable lead, then playing him would have been worth it. Now Motley is banged up, we have Pitt to play, and Brewer is not healthy yet.
Are we having fun yet?
Cause it doesn't feel all that fun to get beaten by ECU two years in a row.
All due respect to ECU, but you know your program has declined when you lose to the Pirates 2 years in a row.
But... but... the hype train.....
Poor, poor hype train
The first 7 minutes were what I expected, the last 53 not so much!
I have to admit, I didn't even expect the first 7 minutes.
Well the Hokies brought a high school defense and almost got away with it, but unfortunately the AAC decided to send middle school refs.
It's one thing when ECU beats us it's another when we have it to them, but nothing of more freaking frustrating then us and the stupid( refraining from a more appropriate term) refs handing ECU the game!!!
Edit: anybody know of a mod in GTA to make everybody refs???
No but I really really want one now.
To me, the season is a failure after this game. I understand that a lot of people think that is jumping the gun, but given how the other teams in the ACC have looked, there was no excuse for us not to run the table after the OSU game. Given everything that was shown today, we will lose more games.
This game exposed Foster's weakness in scheming against running QBs yet again, and between this and the OSU game every offense we play will be making an effort to exploit this. The depth in our secondary was exposed, showing that after our first string we really have nothing.
We had 439 yards of offense and managed just 28 points. Considering that 14 of those were gift-wrapped by the defense, the offense performed pitifully. There was no interior run game but the QB draw,
Penalties continued to be an issue. After only having 5 penalties in the OSU game, we have committed 11 in each of our last three games.
Nothing on our schedule is a gimme now. It's likely we'll be in the same position as last year.
Motley is not progressing well through his reads, and stares down his receivers. At this point, we should be putting Lawson in to prepare him to start. No point wasting that burned redshirt.
I honestly didn't think our offense looked that bad if you take away the penalties(which you really can't do). It's tough losing to ECU but I think there is still some hope on the horizon for this team. I will say we have got to get our running game figured out. They need to pick a back and stick with him. And that back is not JC. I like the kid but he isn't the guy we need to lean our running game on. Motley has performed above what anyone thought he could do IMO. Still a lot of questions need to be answered for this team, but I'll continue to stand by them until they are answered.
If you take away the two early TDs on a short field, the offense only managed 14 points on over 400 yards. That is very bad.
On the other hand I think, schematically, that our offense is in decent shape but the individual players just aren't making plays. We didn't have a good enough push to get any interior running without using Motley. I agree about JCC. He has no burst once the ball is in his hands, and this line isn't good enough to create the holes for him to go through.
Motley has certainly done better than what anyone expected, but you can also chalk some of that up to luck as well. He has had numerous passes that should have been intercepted over the last few weeks, but weren't. He can play at a high level, but he has moments where he regresses in his discipline and does things like staring down his receiver or throwing off his back foot. To be fair, I think this is somewhat like when Logan Thomas was here. He is simply being asked to do too much. The O-line has to step up and start making plays.
I'll continue to support the team, too, but there are no excuses for losing this game.
I honestly don't think JC sees the field as well as anyone would like him to. Mcmillian always seems to see a cutback lane then make the cut and explode upfield. Granted, Mcmillian, for whatever reason, only gets the ball on sweep plays. I just hope the coaches can re-evaluate our options.
That RB is Travon McMillian. He should be the workhorse.
Couldn't agree more. The guy makes a cut and just explodes up the field. It's a complete shame that we don't see him run the ball on more traditional running plays. We haven't really had the opportunity to see him run in between the tackles yet but the evidence is there that he could excel in the backfield.
I think he picked up 4/5 yards on some inside zones against Purdue. But it blows my mind that today he got about 14 yards on a jet sweep run that seemed to be going nowhere and he cut it up inside, and then he just stayed where he went out of bounds and wasn't in on the next play. I think this is partly Shane rotating them and partly because of Loeffler packages on offense. Whatever it is, we just need to get over it and cut it down to one feature back and a change of pace.
I have seen him check through this progressions. He has a couple reads on the same side of the field so his head does not move a whole lot but you can see the slight shifts. Motley has played better than we could have really expected and was not the issue today. The defense giving up 35 points was the issue.
You're right about that. I think my first impulse is just to remember all of the bad from today.
Motley has definitely played better than we could have expected, but we are putting way too much on his shoulders. It's why people like me end up nitpicking everything. While I think with Brewer we may have won this game, I will also agree with you that Motley certainly did not lose it for us.
The defense did play horridly, but the offense still should have been able to keep up. Our lack of an interior running game is really keeping us from opening up the playbook. Our only interior threat this week was Motley, and, like Logan Thomas demonstrated, when your biggest interior running threat is your QB, your offense is in trouble.
Defensively, without Fuller we are toast.
Shane is killing us with regards to the interior running game. There are clearly holes since Motley can find some room in there consistently. JCC and Edmunds have 0 patience when it comes to running inside. They often run right into the back of blockers or try and bounce it outside and miss the hole. McMillian is by far our best RB and he lets the play develop and explodes through it when it is there. The RB rotation is horrible and that is 100% on Shane.
Completely disagree. The offense put up 449 yards with Motley responsible for 366. He had a good game, especially given the weather. The only pass I'm sure he wants back is the overthrow in the 1st half when he was scrambling and the FB was open. He didn't drop the ball on the 2nd to last drive.
The D made stops in the 1st half when we were up 14-7 only to get screwed by the officials. Even ABC said there was no PI on the endzone play. Yet, on our series just before that, Ford was clearly held on his break, and yet no call. Between those two calls alone, it was at a min a 4pt swing and more likely a 10-14 point swing. Later in the 1st half, we score the game tying TD and they call it back on a mystery false start. Replay showed no false start. That's another 7pts. We clearly recover fumble when the ECU lineman lands on the ball but doesn't control it. Yet, the refs give it to ECU. Then, on ECU's 4th down TD, the nose of the ball hits the ground, yet it's called a TD. That's partly the fault of ABC for the lack of camera coverage. By the way, can't anyone find a rag to clean the lens?
Then there's the targeting call. The QB, who had over 100 yards at the point is running, slides late and our guy hits him in the shoulder as he's starting to go down. I saw a real targeting call earlier in the day in the DUKE game where the defender lead with the crown of his helmet. This was nothing like it. Penalties were NOT the issue they seemed to be today. This crew SUCKED! That doesn't bode well for the rest of the season since they were from the ACC.
Yes, their running QB did well and our LBs are slow and missed tackles. But, that didn't cost us the game and we knew going in that we were light in the LB department. The D stood up in the 4th and gave us a chance.
This game was just horrible to watch, because it was taken out of the hands of the players. It seems to be the case every year against ECU. Get this game off the schedule and get us other non-conference teams that we at least would enjoy watching. I'm personally tired of this series and I'm not advocating adding ODU in their place.
Again, Motley was NOT the problem. He made some nice plays, and took a beating to help move the team.
Losing to Wake Forest sandwiched by losing to ECU back to back constitutes grounds for some serious and justified discontent on the part of fans.
Damn it. I forgot about that Wake game. THANKS.
We don't even play Wake this year. I have no idea what you're talking about. We haven't played Wake in a while.
You should have to suffer with me, and I can't forget.
Wasn't Motley's fault.
Like I've said higher in the tread, I think he continued to play well. He has definitely outperformed most peoples expectations for him. Straight up, I believe we managed to get out-coached yet again this season. Really disappointing to think about considering the confidence everyone(including myself) has in our staff.
I don't think it was Motley's fault. He actually did OK.
The running game didn't work, there was no defense to speak of, and the refs were a problem.
And STILL, the game was within one score.
Yeah. I'm not going to throw the season in the garbage after this game. Although, I do understand the reasons why others are so upset about this loss. I'm pretty damn pissed and upset about it myself. Bud needs to adjust better IMO and we need to cutback on mistakes and we will be fine and should compete for the Coastal.
Fucking ECU.
Fucking refs.
Come on, Beamer. I love that man but he has got to speak up. But that's just not who he is. Can't expect him to suddenly change after all these years.
Well, at least he has retained his mastery of the understatement.
Classic Frank.
He is going to give credit until we are the program that will be trying to pull an upset just by beating a P5 team
Kind of off topic and maybe too soon to ask given what just happened, but did anybody else notice #94 on defense? I know the number belongs to Trevon Hill, but there wasn't a name on the player's jersey. Did Hill really play or did somebody need a replacement jersey because it got ripped?
That was Dadi
I fully support Beamer and believe that we should wait it out and let him go out on a high note, but the fact that every interview goes "We did good things, we did not very good things, we have to get better" is really starting to make me mad.
what do you define as a high note? You may be waiting for a long time.
What high note is left? Winning (maybe) a nothing bowl a week and a half before New Years?
Because that's where the team I saw on that field today is going if lucky
The only note I see is winning the ACC, and that's a longshot... but let's face it, that was always a longshot this year. Brewer's injury doesn't create the split personality we seem to have in the defensive backfield.
We didn't have a single break go our way. This was really just one of those games. Targeting, pass interference at the goal line, Teller's "unnecessary roughness". Everything.
Chins up guys. This team is better than they showed today. Way better.
A football team is as good as it plays on the field on Saturdays. In my opinion, this team is a 6-6 to 8-4 team, just like it was at this point last year. For many of us, that's just not good enough.
I agree on the chins up part, though! There are still two more months of games to watch, win or lose!
So forcing myself to look on the bright side so I don't get to crazy with the kids around. Still don't have a loss in ACC play and GT does. Next week is the first step to get back to the ACCCG. I'll be there anyone else going to the Pitt game?
That's the only thing that's keeping me sane right now. The team needs to regroup and make that the goal. Not looking forward to leaving Bristol bright and early Saturday morning, but I'll be in my usual spot cheering as loudly as usual.
I'd assume there will be our usual suspects at the usual tailgate spot. I know I'll be around although not too early due to the drive.
Right on sir, look on the bright side.
Love the single linebacker defense. Wonder what play they'll call next.
Let's bring in LT3 in an advisory capacity and have our defense practice tackling him.
for that matter, get some high school students in.
I've been saying to family and friends that this is where the program was headed since 2008 when Stinespring was running the offense and Frank blindly defended his boneheaded playcalling and poor o-line play. Beamer's whole attitude was that he was VT football and didn't need to make changes because he is Frank Beamer. NOBODY is above the program. Not even the guy who built the program. And look at what Frank has done to his OWN legacy. Weaver allowed Beamer to tarnish his own legacy. It's sad and pathetic.
I mean look at how far the program has fallen since the 2011 Sugar Bowl
A couple things we can understand about this team now that we are 4 games in...
1) We do not have a #1 RB unless you count McMillan, and I'm not sure he is a true #1 even if he is the best option. Our RB's do not fire off when the ball is snapped, they are slow to the LOS, and they seem slow and confused when trying to figure out where the hole is.
2) Far to many penalties (I know that the Refs were bad today). This team is undisciplined.
3) Bud's defensive scheme has shown that there is little room for in game adjustment when things aren't working.
4) We thought that Mike LB was the weak spot on the D... It may be the secondary.
5) Motley is going to be OK for us. Still managed the game pretty well today.
6) It's still college football season, and that is always a good thing!
Good summation. Hats off to ECU. And a big salute to our team, they never gave up.
They never gave up, except for those times the D decided to give up on tackling or covering receivers or turning their heads around
I think I am the most upset by the fact that I am not more upset. kind of expect it.
McMillan averaged 6+ yards a play today. He touched the ball 6 times.
He still hasn't shown a strong ability to run up the gut.
So what! Reference David Wilson and that worked out very well for us!
Has anyone on this team?
Has he really been given the chance?
I don't think he has been given enough opportunities to honestly. I mean, if we are going to settle for getting 2 yards everytime up the middle with JCC why not just give the ball to Mcmillian?
Actually I seem to recall a couple nice runs vs Purdue between the tackles. Pretty sure he picked up 4 or 5 a few times.
I keep forgetting that we were up 14-0 at the beginning of the game. That just makes it even worse.
That's as good a plan as any.
End of the day Frank has built a program that is much better at being the underdog than being the hunted. Not sure that will change under his watch.
Have a leg. I think this is what it comes down to. Beamer got us into the national spotlight with this program, but the team always-always-play better when they have little to lose. Beamer was the guy that got us there. I hope whoever we get next takes the next step. And I'm too drunk to define what exactly the next step is
it will not
I know it's in poor taste to speak ill of the dead, but I hope the heat gets cranked up in Weaver's cell in hell for getting us into this "rivalry" with ECU.
Definitely understand your frustration, but complaining about the ECU scheduling won't do any good. The coaches need to feel the heat for this, because this is unacceptable.
But...but...I'm alumni. My opinion is supposed to matter now.
Side note, yes the coaches clearly made some mistakes here, but I refuse to give the officiating a pass. I was all set to send a wonderful email to the AAC, but guess which position is the only one that doesn't have their email publicly listed on the AAC contact page? Head of officiating of course.
Yeah those AAC officials are a bunch of wusses. If they have the audacity to make some of the calls that they did, they better be able to respond to criticism.
During my google search for said email address, most of what I found was actually fans of AAC programs hating on the conference's refs. A lot of them make FSU fans' opinions of Ron Cherry seem kind.
Here it is...our defense is vastly OVER rated! They haven't looked good at all this year. Sacksburg? More like Sucksburg...such a shame. I'm tired of every next year being the year we bounce back. Conference play hasn't started and I do believe we're talented on both sides. But it hasn't come together and coaching and attitude is the reason.
I waited to post this.
Fuck.
I may get so drunk I eat Wendy's BBQ. Stupid pirates w/ their stupid pirate fingers.
Here is a serious question: why is JCC a 100+ yard back when he is our ONLY back (see: late last year) but only gets middlin' yards per carry when he is one of 2 or 3 (or 4) serviceable RBs early in the year, when our O-line is healthy/healthier? Seems like he'd do better with direct RB competition ready to take away his carries, but instead he takes them away himself.
Conditioning/prep?
He was great last year at the END of the season.
In all of this mess I think our biggest down-fall was not having Kendall Fuller on the field today. ECU went after stroman hard once they realized that #11 wasn't in the game, and they were largely successful. They also got a lot of bounces, one 3rd and long pass that had two hokie defenders and the ball magically lands in the ECU guys hands after they all collide. The 4th down pass to the endzone. That was just retarded, but it was also against stroman.
I don't think the season is lost, 10-2 is still possible. I agree with a post way above as well in that I don't think Bud was schemeing for a running QB and we have a walk-on LB in the middle there. Wish we would have seen more McMillan. Oh well on to the next.
Well I waited awhile to post and took out most of my frustration breaking down a concrete wall with a sledgehammer. Initial thoughts.
The offense for the conditions was pretty good we out gained them.
The defense is overrated. The carved up the zone throwing and ran threw the defense.
The ref's are going to call everything against us the can.
The lack of experienced depth at linebacker and DB along with getting totally out coached had more to do with the loss than the abysmal refs. The Hokies are a very weak defensive team and if the DB starters are lost its only going to get worse before it gets better. Now back to my Jack and ice.
Done and again the D could not keep up. Hummm
I am of this thread. Every time I post I get to see that $%^&^*( face.
Had to check the replay for targeting...
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