The Hokies got everything they wanted in this game. They muddled through a worrisome 17-7 first quarter to get there, but once all was said and done, this one checked off all the boxes — an impressive win that got the notice of the pollsters, big steps forward for Josh Jackson and the offense, a few individual and program records. no injuries and lots of playing time for the backups.

Beware fool’s gold, though. East Carolina is a really bad football team. I watched two really bad football teams on Saturday — ECU vs. Virginia Tech and UConn vs. Virginia — and with ECU, it’s not so much a lack of talent as it is a program spiraling out of control.

(You’re still wondering who the bad football team is that I’m talking about in the UConn-UVA, matchup, aren’t you? It’s the Huskies. UVA’s not good, but they trucked UConn.)

East Carolina will have to end the Scottie Montgomery experiment at the end of the season. While he might have a hefty buyout (I’ve seen it reported at $1.6 million) just two years into his contract, they can’t afford not to let him go. They have now given up 357 points in their last seven games, an average of 51 points a game, and they have lost those seven games by an average of 29.7 points.

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