Hokie fans have to be happy to see their team back in the win column. It wasn't really ever pretty, and it wasn't really very exciting, but it was a win. Winning heals everything, or in this case, the bruised ego of a frustrated fan base. Hit the jump for thoughts on some game specifics.

Win or lose, this game was nearly unbearable to sit through. Between Lou Holtz and his spitfest, and his blatant (and obviously expected) favoritism for his son's ECU Pirates, I wanted to just cut the game off all together. That doesn't begin to explain my disgust with some of the things happening on the field. While I've been one to jump on the Fire Stinespring bandwagon, and tonight didn't do a lot to sway me from that seat, some players just didn't come to play. Here are some of the things I observed from tonight:

• Ed Wang is absolutely terrible. I've done my share of trashing the big Asian in the past, but tonight it was 100% deserved. The kid looked slow, took a bad leg whip penalty to kill a good drive, and just played like total garbage. He seemed to resort to diving at the right defensive end on every snap just to prevent an immediate rush on Taylor. Bad chop block in the final minutes as well. Cut your hair jerk.
  
• Tackling was atrocious. The main culprits were Dorian Porch and Kam Chancellor. They seem to think they can score the big hits like the Aaron Rouse/Brandon Flowers-type players of the world, but they looked undisciplined and cost the Hokies several key stops. Porch was so bad that he was partially benched for Davon Morgan, who looked better overall.
• I also thought the corners looked a little lost and out of position. Had Patrick Pinckney been able to remove his head from his sphincter, ECU could have had a big night through the air.
• Nekos Brown continues to look very solid and like one of the most consistent players in the entire program.
• So does Cody Grimm..that strip/recovery combination was just filthy.
• Ryan Williams is a beast. He didn't need an offensive line worth a damn to run for his 6th 100 yard game. I feel for the kid's fumble against UNC even more now, because you can just see that he's working his butt off back there, and not getting a ton of help. 179 yards at 6.9 ypc PLUS he took the final interview with his helmet on. B. A.
  
• Tyrod Taylor was very up and down. He had some nice third down passes, but held onto the ball too long, and took unnecessary sacks. Nothing that would shock the average Hokie fan there. He's also lost control of the ball the last four times he's been around the goalline...luckily three of those have gone for touchdowns.
  
• Stiney's supposed scheme was destroyed when ECU consistently sniffed out his screens and draws. It's turned back into the "who can tweet the play before he calls it" game again. His predictability almost cost him an interception deep in Hokie territory in the third on a bubble screen.

Overall it was a pretty uninspiring performance by the masses, with a few strong individual performances that pushed the Hokies over the top. At this point, I'll take a win any way we can get one, but tonight didn't do a whole lot to put any Hokie fan at ease going into the final three conference games. I'll go ahead and attempt to end this night on a happy note. So without further adieu, I give you the best of Lou Holtz from tonight:

• Lou insisted that Xavier Boyce had touched the ball before ECU recovered it in the second quarter, completely ignoring the fact that the ECU player was out of bounds when he gained control of the ball.
• He then said that Tyrod was beyond the line of scrimmage when he pitched the ball, which was obviously untrue.
• He called Tyrod, Tyron Tyler at one point, and repeatedly stumbled when he said #5's name.
• He said Skip should have taken the 13-0 deficit into halftime. Then all Skip did was send his offense out and watch them march all the way down the field for a field goal.
• He ignored Cody Grimm's strip and recovery as he was talking about how wonderful ECU's program has developed (along with Davis and May).
• Pirate Crunch, as opposed to Captain Crunch...
• The best: My best friend texted me with this gem..."Lou kind of reminds me of Dick Clark...post stroke. Not demeaning Dick Clark or anything."

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