By BRIAN WOODSON
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — With a 22-13 lead and a little less than a full quarter left to play, Virginia Tech appeared poised to open its 2008 campaign with a win over East Carolina.
However, a blocked punt returned for a touchdown by T.J. Lee with 1:52 doomed the Hokies to a 27-22 loss Saturday at Bank of America Stadium.
Virginia Tech head coach Frank Beamer was asked after East Carolina scored 14 fourth quarter points if he’d ever lost a game on a blocked punt.
“I don’t think so,” said Beamer, with a sigh.
It’s been said that the biggest improvement for a football team is between the first two weeks of the season. If so, the Hokies could be poised to break out during Saturday’s home opener with Furman.
“I think just as a football team we’ve got to do better,” Beamer said. “I think if we go back and count the number of missed tackles it will be a bunch. Good defensive teams tackle well and we know what that is like so we’ve got to get better at that.”
Missed tackles were just one issue for the Hokies. Virginia Tech managed just 243 yards on offense, including 80 in the first quarter when two scoring opportunities inside the East Carolina 20 came up empty.
Virginia Tech quarterback Sean Glennon threw the first of two interceptions on a deflected pass, and the Hokies had a 4th-and-1 from the East Carolina 5 and Darren Evans was stopped for no gain.
“That (interception) just unfortunate, that was bad luck, and then on the 4th and 1, that hurt us too,” Glennon said. “If we execute that, that is seven points we would have got. It’s disappointing to move the ball very well two drives in a row and not put up any points.”
Glennon, who was the controversial choice as Virginia Tech’s quarterback over Tyrod Taylor, was 14-of-23 for 139 yards. He was also picked off deep in East Carolina territory by Nick Johnson in the second quarter, leading to a the Pirates’ first touchdown and 14-7 Hokies’ lead at the break.
“I thought (our quarterback play) was OK,” said Beamer, whose right tackle, Blake DeChristopher, left during the first series with a bruised thigh. “...I thought other than the interception that got them their first touchdown. I’ll have to take a look at that. That hit the guy right in the chest.”
Don’t think Glennon doesn’t know it.
“I didn’t see him, but I need to see that guy. They had four down linemen and one of them dropped back,” Glennon said. “I was trying to hit Danny (Coale) and when I heard it, I regretted that throw.
“I don’t regret too many throws, but I wish I had that one to do over again.”
Evans (12-37, 1 td) and Kenny Lewis (11-62, 1 td) saw the majority of playing time for a young tailback tandem, while tight end Andre Smith and receiver Ike Whitaker led the Hokies with three catches apiece. Both areas are works in progress for the Hokies.
“We’ve got to improve the general execution of our offense, but I think Kenny and Darren made a couple of pretty good runs today, they did some good things,” Beamer said. “I thought we could make a couple of more catches (at receiver), hang onto the ball a little bit better.
“For the oldest guy out there to be Ike, a redshirt sophomore, along with a redshirt freshmen and three true freshman, it was probably about what you would expect.”
Defensively, Virginia Tech had eight new starters on the field — and didn’t have cornerback Victor “Macho” Harris, who hopes to return Saturday against Furman. Cam Martin led the Hokies with 11 tackles, but Tech seemingly missed more than they made.
“We have to tackle better, and just play better football. ECU is a great team, they came out and took it to us,” said Virginia Tech defensive tackle John Graves, who had a blocked extra point that led to the two-point conversion by Stephan Virgil. “We just didn’t have good technique. We didn’t wrap up and move our feet well.”
East Carolina signal-caller Patrick Pinkney was impressive, chiseling up the Virginia Tech secondary by completing 19-of-23 passes for 211 yards and a touchdown. The Pirates also had 158 yards on the ground.
“It was stuff we weren’t doing,” said Virgil, who accounted for eight points for the Hokies, six on a fumble recovery for the game’s first points. “We work on tackling every week, it was our fault, we’ve just got to get better at tackling.”
In addition to the blocked punt, Dustin Keys missed an extra point and a field goal attempt. Beamer will also look for immediate improvement in that area.
“Certainly, we’d like to think we’re going to get the advantage in the kicking game so let’s go back and work on that and let’s see if we can get some blocked kicks and punt returns ourselves,” Beamer said.
Brent Bowden said he’d never had a punt blocked in his life prior to Lee’s big play.
“I thought the snap was a little soft, and I think the kick was a little bit slow,” Beamer said. “The guy just broke through on our protection and he did a nice job...
“There’s no excuse for that, I give them credit, the guy did a nice job, but no one has worked harder than us on zone-protecting in preseason.”
Offense, defense and special teams all played a role in a tough start for the Hokies. The work has already started to get ready for their next test on Saturday against the Paladins. Kickoff is at 1:30 p.m. at Lane Stadium.
“I’d say overall we just need to get better as a football team, but we will,” Beamer said. “We’ve got some good players, they want to get better and we’re going to get better.”
—Contact Brian Woodson
at bwoodson@bdtonline.com
