By By STEVE FRANKLIN, Sports Writer
GREENVILLE — On Saturday, East Carolina achieved one of its primary goals for the season by proving to the country that they can beat one of the nation’s elite programs, downing Virginia Tech 27-22.
Now comes phase two.
How do the Pirates respond after a big win?
That answer comes this Saturday, with an even larger test looming as No. 8 West Virginia visits Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
The Pirates garnered national headlines after shocking No. 15 Virginia Tech, on T.J. Lee’s blocked punt and subsequent game-winning return in the opener. Now, Coach Skip Holtz will get to see how his team handles the national spotlight.
Holtz has allowed his players to enjoy the monumentous win for the past couple days, but on Monday, the Pirates went back to work with their primary focus being West Virginia.
The Pirates are hoping that they learned from last year’s West Virginia debacle. After beating in-state rival North Carolina 34-31 on Ben Hartman’s game-winning kick as time expired, the Pirates went traveled to West Virginia and laid egg. The Mountaineers racked up 599 yards of total offense in thumping ECU, 48-7.
The players understand that must forget about the Tech victory and focus on their next challenge as well.
If the Pirates are going to defeat their straight ranked opponent, the week ahead must be full of focus.