No. 17 Virginia Tech suffers demoralizing letdown in 28-21 loss to East Carolina

Beamer on ECU quarterback Shane Carden and his receivers making bigger plays than Tech's defense

BLACKSBURG All of the painful lessons about learning how to handle prosperity were supposed to have sunk in by now, but Virginia Tech still hasn't figured it out.

The positive vibes in Blacksburg lasted less than a week.

East Carolina capitalized on a quick start and fended off a late rally by No. 17 Tech to escape Lane Stadium with a 28-21 upset win. A 1-yard touchdown run with 16 seconds left by quarterback Shane Carden capped ECU's victory.

Tech (2-1), which fell behind 21-0 in the first quarter a nightmare start to Saturday's game coming off a win last weekend at then-No. 8 Ohio State, suffered its first September home loss since losing in 2010 to James Madison. It was also Tech's fourth consecutive loss to a Football Bowl Subdivision foe in a game immediately after Tech defeated a ranked opponent.

"We understood exactly how East Carolina was going to play," said Tech coach Frank Beamer, whose team also couldn't deal with success last season after winning at No. 14 Miami 42-24, losing at home the next 27-24 in overtime against unranked Maryland. "It wasn't a secret. They hit a couple of big plays against our defense. Those things, when you give them big plays, things happen in a hurry. Then, offensively, we were sluggish getting started, and now the defense is right back out on the field. It just wasn't a good start."

ECU gained 502 yards compared to Tech's 389, but most of ECU's dissection of Tech's defense came in the first quarter. ECU scored touchdowns on three of its four drives and holding a 205-14 yard advantage after the first 15 minutes.

Tech didn't get its first down of the game until 13 1/2 minutes had elapsed, and didn't cross midfield until its eighth possession midway through the second quarter.

"We knew (ECU was) going to be tough defensively," said Tech quarterback Michael Brewer, who completed 30 of his Tech single-game record 56 passes for 298 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. "We knew they were going to be ready to play. There's really no excuse, other than they outplayed us in the first half."

Despite the early deficit, Tech managed to eventually get its offense in gear, tying the game at 21 with 1:20 left on an 18-yard touchdown pass from Brewer to wide open freshman receiver Cam Phillips. His seven catches for 89 yards led Tech.

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No. 17 Virginia Tech suffers demoralizing letdown in 28-21 loss to East Carolina