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NCAAF - East Carolina Pirates chase a cover vs. Virginia Tech
East Carolina Pirates chase a cover vs. Virginia Tech
Game Time: Wednesday, November 4, 2009 12:00 AM ET
East Carolina's defense will be the difference in this one for bettors. Play the Pirates to cover the big spread at home on Thursday night in front of the ESPN audience.
This may appear to be a ho-hum Thursday night game for the casual college football fan, but border-state rivals will meet in a gritty matchup. East Carolina aims to keep chugging toward a Conference USA title while Virginia Tech hopes to recover from two consecutive conference losses.
No. 23 Virginia Tech (5-3, 3-2) at East Carolina (5-3, 4-1)
Thursday, November 5, 7:30 p.m. (ET) ESPN
Opening Line: East Carolina +12.5, O/U 51.5
Current Line: East Carolina +13, O/U 51
The Hokies disappointed fans and backers last Thursday night after losing to North Carolina as 17-point favorites. Virginia Tech’s offense struggled to move the ball throughout the game and posted a paltry 256 total yards.
Tyrod Taylor dons the same logo as Michael Vick during his collegiate days and is a prototype of the controversial quarterback. Taylor dances around the pocket and creates time, but sometimes that isn’t an ideal scenario because too much time promotes turnovers. And when you have a quarterback scrambling around that already doesn’t possess good accuracy, throwing the ball on the move only decreases completion percentages. Taylor is an exceptional athlete, but not a quarterback you can trust to win games through the air.
ECU quarterback Patrick Pinkney is a sixth-year senior who limits mistakes and knows how to manage a football game. His leadership has the Pirates sitting atop the Conference USA East standings with a 4-1 record.
East Carolina is a dominant running football team that relies on salty defense. The gameplan for the Pirates is to keep the clock running and keep the opposing offense off the field. Running back Dominique Lindsay returned from a left ankle injury in a big way last week, carrying the rock 22 times for 139 yards.
Opposing teams face a road block when attempting to move the ball on the ground against the Pirates. The team ranks No. 27 in the country, yielding 108.0 rushing yards per game. Skip Holtz’s defense is and opportunistic one (+.88 TO margin) and has created a turnover in 24 straight games.
Virginia Tech has another portion of the state of North Carolina on deck and again is posted as double-digit favorites. Don’t forget this is the same Pirates team that knocked off Virginia Tech in the opening week of last season with the Hokies ranked No. 17 in the nation. East Carolina outscored Va. Tech 20-8 in second half of that game and outgained the team in yardage, 369 to 243.
The Hokies have not covered either of the games versus ECU in last two seasons, winning the game in Blacksburg in 2007 as the No. 9 team in the country, 17-7. The special teams play will always be good, but this isn’t the same aggressive Hokie defense from recent years. The rush defense is giving up over 150 yards per game, including 181 in that department against North Carolina last week. This should be a weakness East Carolina can exploit.
While sights remain set on taking the Conference USA title, Dowdy-Ficklin Stadium will be rocking Thursday night as this is the Pirates national championship game.
RHL Prediction: Hokies-21, Pirates-17
Free Pick: East Carolina +13 (-110)