Football Lines: Virginia Tech at East Carolina

Written November 4, 2009 by Hector Garza

Virginia Tech has had their National Title hopes dashed coming off a two game losing streak. Last week they were stunned at home 20-17 by UNC and the week before they dropped a road game to Georgia Tech 28-23. They’re looking for a win starting at 7:30 p.m. ET this Thursday night as they travel to Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium in Greenville, NC. The Pirates upset Va Tech last year in Charlotte 27-22 on a 4th quarter blocked punt returned for a td, and the college football odds have them as the underdogs again by 13.

At 3-2 in the Coastal division, the Hokies will need some help to make it to the conference championship. While their offense has been racking up some decent yardage at a 364.5 ypg clip, the defense has hurt them in allowing over 154 ypg on the ground against opponents. QB Tyrod Taylor has shown he can do more than run by throwing for over 1300 yards and 9 td’s to 3 ints. As usual, the Hokies have found success rushing the football with RB Ryan Williams, who’s carrying for 115+ ypg with an impressive 5.7 ypc. While the 316.8 total yards they’re allowing to opponents is good, defensively the Hokies need to improve against the run. It’s no coincidence that in their last two losses they’ve given up 181 and a season high 309 yards on the ground alone, and last year the Pirates ground out 158 rushing yards in the upset. The secondary has done a great job limiting opponents in the air, but if they can’t contain ECU’s ground game, which is first in Conference USA, they may have problems.

The Pirates, meanwhile, are in control of their own destiny at 4-1 in the East Division. Theirs is a balanced attack of over 200 yards passing and 150 yards rushing per contest. While QB Patrick Pinkney has accounted for over 1500 yards in the air, he’s been susceptible to turnovers throwing 9 int’s to 8 td’s. Their strength has been the ground game. Against Memphis last week the unit had a season high 275 yards and 4 td’s. RB Dominque Lindsay is leads the charge with 57o yards, but it’s a diverse squad as 4 players have three rushing td’s a piece. An area that needs work is the red zone scoring, as the offense has settled for td’s 19 times out of their 31 opportunities while kicking 8 field goals. The defense has been successful stopping opponents running behind an experience front 4 linemen that boast 3 seniors and a junior. Between these 4 they’ve tallied 20 TFL, 8 sacks, three hurries and an int are the biggest reason why they’re limiting foes to 108 ypg. The pass defense is another story, as they’ve allowed just under 250 throwing ypg after giving up 313 last week to Memphis. If you’re looking to bet on college football, be sure to take advantage of the 10% BONUS with Bodog

Virginia Tech leads the overall series 9-5, and before last year’s loss they had ripped off 6 wins in a row. Both teams have strong running games, but East Carolina has the better run defense and is playing at home. While Virginia Tech can usually count on an advantage in special teams play, Dwayne Harris has 628 kickoff return yards and is an X factor for the Pirates as a receiver as well. The play here is East Carolina covering the 13 point spread, and you can click here for more expert college football picks.