East Carolina Pirates at Virginia Tech Hokies

East Carolina	28
Virginia Tech	21

Pirates Hokies Game Recap

East Carolina 28, No. 19 Virginia Tech 21: Shane Carden's 1-yard touchdown run with 16 seconds remaining lifted the visiting Pirates to a stunning upset of the Hokies.

Despite squandering a 21-point lead, East Carolina (2-1) prevailed on Carden's quarterback sneak, capping a three-play, 65-yard drive that featured two long gains by receiver Cam Worthy and a costly Virginia Tech 12 men on the field penalty. Carden racked up 427 passing yards and three touchdowns despite going just 23-of-47 while Worthy finished with a career-best 224 receiving yards.

Michael Brewer went 30-of-56 for 298 yards with three TDs and a pair of interceptions for the Hokies (2-1), who failed to build on last week's one-sided win over Ohio State. Isaiah Ford had seven grabs for 77 yards and two scores while Cam Phillips added 89 yards and a touchdown on seven receptions for Virginia Tech.

East Carolina struck on its opening drive, as Carden connected with Bryce Williams on a 4-yard fade deep in the end zone. Carden split a pair of defenders to find Trevon Brown for a 15-yard TD strike on the Pirates' next possession - a five-play, 70-yard drive that ate up less than a minute -and added a 3-yard scoring pass to Isaiah Jones near the end of the quarter to help East Carolina go into the half with a 21-7 advantage.

Virginia Tech threatened to make a game of it in the opening moments of the fourth quarter, but Brewer's pass on fourth-and-goal from the 2 floated untouched through the middle of the end zone. Brewer atoned on the Hokies' next possession - connecting with Ford on a 15-yard TD with just over 6 1/2 minutes remaining - and he hit Phillips on an 18-yard score after East Carolina went three-and-out to set the stage for Carden's heroics.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The Hokies fell to 5-4 in games following a win over a ranked opponent in the past five years. ... Worthy came into the game with 78 receiving yards over his first two games of the season, and had only 295 in all of 2013. ... Carden has thrown for 1,031 yards and seven touchdowns over his first three games.

Preview: East Carolina Pirates at Virginia Tech Hokies

A two-touchdown thrashing of then-No. 7 Ohio State on the road last weekend has Virginia Tech riding high going into Saturday's encounter with visiting East Carolina. The 19th-ranked Hokies squandered all of a 14-point first-half advantage before pulling ahead for good on Michael Brewer's 10-yard touchdown pass to Bucky Hodges with 8:44 remaining. Virginia Tech prevailed despite turning the ball over three times and missing a field goal.

The Hokies will now shift their focus to a Pirates team that dropped a well-fought 33-23 decision to South Carolina last weekend. East Carolina is led by standout quarterback Shane Carden, who has thrown for 604 yards and four touchdowns through his team's opening two games. Carden racked up 321 yards through the air against the Gamecocks, but threw a pair of second-half interceptions that South Carolina turned into 10 pivotal points.

TV: Noon ET, ESPN. LINE: Virginia Tech -11

ABOUT EAST CAROLINA (1-1): Both the Pirates and Hokies have instituted 24-hour rules - players must "move on" from the previous game no later than 24 hours after it finishes - but head coach Ruffin McNeill said his players didn't need that long. "I saw lights on from laptops (following the South Carolina game)," he told the Raleigh News & Observer. "They were already finishing watching the game and watching Virginia Tech." Aside from Carden's interceptions, which came on back-to-back drives in the third quarter, East Carolina hung tough with the Gamecocks despite holding the ball for fewer than 24 minutes.

ABOUT VIRGINIA TECH (2-0): Brewer was lauded by teammates and coaches following his performance against the Buckeyes last week. "We got a lot of confidence in him," Hodges told reporters of Brewer, who went 23-of-36 for 199 yards with two touchdowns and a pair of interceptions versus Ohio State. "He never has a bad demeanor. He's always up. He never got down at any point. ... he's a real good leader." The win was the first for an unranked non-conference opponent at Ohio Stadium since Florida State prevailed 34-17 back in 1982.

EXTRA POINTS

1. The Hokies are 5-3 in games following a win over a ranked opponent in the past five years.

2. Virginia Tech has won the last four meetings, allowing 10 or fewer points three times over that stretch.

3. Pirates WRs Justin Hardy (220) and Isaiah Jones (196) rank second and fifth, respectively, in the AAC in receiving yards.

PREDICTION: Virginia Tech 38, East Carolina 24

Away Spread Consensus 40% Pirates (10.0) Home Spread Consensus 60% Hokies (-10.0)

Total Over Consensus 57% Over (54.0) Total Under Consensus 43% Under (54.0)

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Wagering Trends

Pirates are 5-0 ATS in their last 5 games as a favorite.
Pirates are 6-0 ATS in their last 6 games after accumulating more than 280 yards passing in their previous game.
Pirates are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games as a favorite of 10.5 or greater.
Pirates are 8-0 ATS in their last 8 games on grass.
Over is 6-0 in Pirates last 6 games as an underdog of 0.5-3.0.

East Carolina

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Virginia Tech