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How did I love this game? Let me count the ways.

On second thought, never mind. I can’t count that high.

Make no doubt about it, Virginia Tech’s football team loves adversity. They love it when people think they’re weak or don’t have a chance, or when they get no respect. ECU coach Steve Logan did his best to get rid of the "no respect" angle before the game, telling the press that his Pirates had no chance to win, and that Tech was the best team they’d faced in two years.

It didn’t work. And after the last ten years, there is also no way that ECU will ever sneak up on Tech again, because the Hokies have learned that the Pirates are not a team to be trifled with. You better come ready to play against ECU.

Before we get into the analysis, I want to give a hand to the crowd that showed up, all 49,200 of you. Dave Braine said last Monday night that the crowd was expected to be in the range of 48,000, and the paper, no doubt thinking about the weather forecast, later predicted 45,000.

Well, throw that out the window. The last big game in Lane Stadium was a year ago, when Syracuse came calling, and it's been a long time since then. An eternity. The Hokie fans were hungry to once again see a home game that mattered, so they showed up in droves. There were very few tailgaters, because it was freeeezing, but people were in the seats come game time. Before game time. I was heartened to see the support in the wake of the suspensions.

The game “played well” on ESPN2. The crowd sounded raucous, which they were, and the dusting of snow on the field looked imposing. Memo to Dave Braine: the end zones looked good, too.

One of my favorite football announcers, former Raider tight end Todd Christiansen, did the analysis, and at one point during the second half, the play-by-play guy asked him, “Do you think Tech’s defense has been hurt by the suspensions?” Christiansen barked back, “No, I don’t think so, and you know what? I don’t want to talk about the suspensions anymore.”

Way to go Todd! Consider yourself an honorary Hokie.

Answering the Call

It's one thing when your experienced players step up in a big game. It's great when they do come through, because it doesn't always happen. But when you've got no-names, backups, freshmen, walk-ons, and guys who have been having bad years stepping up and making big plays, then you've got a game that's something special.

Everybody talked after the game about the great performance put in by Druck, and I was a little surprised. In my opinion, Druckenmiller played a good game, yes, but what I saw was Cornelius White making two great catches, Shawn Scales making a sliding grab, and James Crawford playing like an experienced senior (three catches for over 60 yards). And oh yeah, I saw Michael Steuwe with a 65-yard TD that was 7 yards Druck and 58 yards Steuwe (with a helping hand from Mike Gentry, who made him strong enough to break the tackle and fast enough to sprint for the touchdown).

Bottom line? If the receivers make their usual number of drops (2 or 3), and Steuwe doesn't break that tackle, Druck's numbers (15-23, 268 yards and 3 TDs) are something like 12-23, 170 yards, and maybe 2 TDs. That's why people talk about "the passing game." It's not all the quarterback, as Hokie fans well know.

And where has Jason Berish been hiding? Filling in for a guy named Cornell, Berish posted Cornell-like numbers: six tackles, one sack, and another tackle behind the line. More importantly, he was a presence, pursuing down the line after plays had gone to the other side. Twice I watched him make tackles on the other side of the field when ECU left him unblocked.

Going into the game, Tech's defensive line was gutted by injuries and suspensions, and against the NCAA's sixth-leading rusher, ECU's Scott Harley, the Hokies fielded a starting foursome of Waverly Jackson and Kerwin Hairston at tackle, and John Engelberger and Jason Berish at end. Danny Wheel, listed as doubtful for the game, would see some playing time, as would freshman Carl Bradley.

After watching J.C. Price, Jim Baron, Lawrence Lewis, Cornell, and company last year, that lineup I just listed in the previous paragraph would ordinarily be enough to give a Hokie fan an ulcer. But after watching them play Saturday night, I'm starting to think, as they say, that the Hokies don't rebuild on defense ... they reload.

The line played solidly, holding their own and occasionally bringing pressure on ECU backup QB Dan Gonzalez, and more importantly, Harley didn't see decent daylight all night long, finishing with just 54 yards on 19 carries. As a team, ECU netted just 47 yards on 24 carries, an effort that moved the Hokie defense up to 12th in the country in rushing defense (95 yards per game).

More Unexpected Heroes

Late in the second quarter, on the "frozen tundra" of Worsham Field, Antonio Banks went down with a groin pull. After a long, agonizing walk across the field to the sidelines, Banks was gone, not to be seen again for the rest of the game.

Enter 18-year-old true freshman Anthony Midget, who at 5-11 and 170 pounds, must have been feeling small as ECU placed him in their sites. Loren Johnson has been a favorite target of opponents' passing games this year, but after watching Johnson pick off his third pass in the last three games in the first half, ECU must have been thrilled to see Midget step in.

Four plays later, they were really thrilled, and Midget was feeling really small, after ECU's stellar receiver, Larry Shannon, beat him for a 74-yard touchdown.

I watched Midget after that play, and as he walked off the field, dejected, a number of Hokies patted him on the helmet, encouraging him to keep his head up. And for the rest of the game, Midget did. He proceeded to rack up a key third-down sack and a big endzone interception as ECU was driving for a score that would have closed the game to 28-21. And give him credit for another big play, because on Jason Berish's lone sack, it was Midget who blitzed and forced Gonzalez out of the pocket and into Berish's mitts.

One last unexpected hero: Shawn Scales on the punt and kickoff returns. He's cool, he's calm, he's collected. He lets the punts drop when they're inside the ten, and when they're not, he catches them and always gets positive yardage. His kickoff returns, as I said last week, have put the excitement back into that phase of the game for Tech. In the last two weeks, Scales has laid to rest the Hokies' concerns about the punt and kickoff returns, which were atrocious earlier in the year.

The Usual Gang of, uh ... Suspects

Bad headline, I know, but this is the part where I talk about the usual stars, because it wasn't just the unknowns who stepped up against ECU.

This game was won in the trenches, specifically, by the offensive line. ECU fans were shaking their heads after the game, marvelling at the way Tech's line had blown a very good ECU defense off the ball. Even when the runs didn't work, they worked, know what I mean?

Prior to the Tech game, ECU had given up 300 yards just once. Against the Hokies, as you well know by now, they gave up 323 yards rushing, and a Tech-versus-Temple-like 591 yards total. Tech's rushing offense is still ranked 10th in the country (not having moved up despite the fine performance). When you've got 300-pounders who can move like Conaty and the boys, you've got a good thing going. And going, and going, and going ...

On other fronts, Druck continues to put the ball on the money and play (knock on wood) without throwing the back-breaking interception. Parker and Oxendine are a contrasting one-two punch, Edmonds is a crushing blocker, and Newsome, Semones, and Torrian Gray continue to provide the senior leadership on the defense.

Shayne Graham, who shocked the crowd by missing a short field goal at the end of the first half, is playing like a freshman - inconsistent. I like what I see, though, because to be perfectly honest, every field goal he has missed has looked good from my vantage point in the stands. So he's just a little off sometimes. As a friend of mine said last week, "I don't worry about Shayne Graham."

The formula for victory for this year's Hokie team is well-established: play solid defense, don't give up the big play, pound the other team with the rushing attack, and play mistake-free in the passing game. That's enough to cover for a punting game that is awful, ranked 107 out of 111 teams in net punting (at least now they're not getting them blocked, which will come in handy against ECU and Miami).

Did you notice that I went through this whole game report without saying a thing about those three fumbles in five offensive plays?

Do I Need to Tell You Who's Next? WAKE UP!!

There's a lot of bad blood involved in next week's game, all of it coming from last year. Oddsmakers have installed Miami as an early 6-7 point favorite, another sign of the lack of respect that the Hokies feed on. I'll have a lot to say about this game later in the week.

The key question for Tech is this: is this game just another flash in the pan, like the BC and Temple games were? Or is this the beginning of another patented Hokie sprint to the finish line?

I can't answer that, but I will tell you this: the ECU game was different. It wasn't just Tech beating up on an inferior opponent. It was Tech with their backs to the wall, focusing, and making a very good team look ordinary. Say what you will about Marcus Crandell not playing. Dan Gonzalez put in a decent effort. And there was nobody missing on ECU's defense. Tech just dominated them with smash-mouth football.

I'd say the Hokies are looking good for the stretch run. At the risk of ticking off WVU fans, UVa fans, and even some Tech fans, I will say that Tech's most winnable games are the WVU and UVa contests in Lane Stadium. And the best part is, even though I consider Miami in the Orange Bowl to be our stiffest challenge, it's a game that can be easily won, if the Hokies stick to their strengths. More on that later this week.

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