East Carolina Upsets #17 Virginia Tech

It might not count as a monumental upset, but on a mismatch laden Saturday it’s as close as you’re going to get:  T.J. Lee blocked a punt and returned it 27 yards for a TD with just under two minutes to play as East Carolina defeated Virginia Tech 27-22 in a game played at Charlotte, NC in the home stadium of the NFL’s Carolina Panthers.

Even though Virginia Tech was nominally a top 20 team, many observers have suggested that this might be the weakest Hokie squad in some time.  In other words, their ranking may be more reflective of their past success and not of the potency of the current squad.  East Carolina, meanwhile, is a program on the rebound.  Skip Holtz took the program out of the toilet, and East Carolina finished with an 8-5 record last year punctuated by a 41-38 upset over Boise State in the Hawaii Bowl.

East Carolina held the edge in every significant statistical category which would have been a pyrrhic victory were it not for Lee’s timely special teams play.   Skip Holtz has emphasized special teams play in his rebuilding effort, which earned him a six year contract extension after leading the Pirates to back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 1999-2000.  Holtz’s success has left supporters of his former team—the University of South Carolina—scratching their head wondering how he became such a good coach.  During his tenure in Columbia he appeared to be nothing more than a testimony to nepotism as he struggled as the team’s offensive coordinator and designated scapegoat for his dad.

Maybe Lou was smarter than everyone gave him credit for when he gave his kid a gig—Skip has shown not only acumen for “x’s and o’s” but a very impressive knack for getting the most out of his personnel.  He evidentially paid attention to his dad’s motivational tactics, and they’re now paying dividends.

ECU won’t get to pat each other on the back for long, however, as an even bigger test looms next week when #8 West Virginia travels to Greenville.