The 27-22 season-opening upset of 17th-ranked Virginia Tech isn't the only motivation the East Carolina Pirates will have for Saturday's home game against No. 8 West Virginia at Greenville, N.C.
Coach Skip Holtz hasn't forgotten the 48-7 beating at the hands of the Mountaineers a year ago in Morgantown. He recalled that defeat with specific details in his Monday press conference, apparently to remind any of his players who might not remember.
"The challenge that we have is to go play a football team that gave us our worst defeat since I've been here," the Pirates' four-year head coach said. "When you look at them, they had 600 yards against us last year to our 160. They were 70 percent third downs to our 20.
"They punted once; we punted seven times. They rushed for 400 yards as a team. They completed 88 percent of their passes. I don't think we'll have to go far past putting the film on of the West Virginia team we're about to play to have our team's attention."
However, Holtz admittedly has great admiration for the Mountaineers' program and what they do. He thinks WVU has difference-making speed on the field, he noted, and poses an even greater challenge than Virginia Tech did.
"To go out and be able to beat a team like Virginia Tech was just huge for our players' confidence and the image of our program and what we're trying to do," he said. "But I don't think you need to look far to get these players' attention.
"Hopefully, we will handle this in a very mature way. We have to stay humble and hungry with where we are right now and have a great week of practice. It's going to take a better effort than what we had last week in order to come out here and be competitive against a team like West Virginia."
Trailing 17-2 in this rivalry, the Pirates know the odds are stacked against them, according to Holtz.
"But the advantage is that the players know just how good this team is," he reasoned. "What's really going to be the key as we go into this is that we do understand how good they are and the monumental effort it's going to take for us to be victorious."
Holtz publicly thanked ECU fans for creating an "unbelievable atmosphere and environment" especially for the fourth quarter of the Tech game in Charlotte. With a capacity crowd of 40,000 for Saturday's game, he hopes for a similar situation in Greenville.
He believes that great victory will have a tremendous impact on his football program and that the Pirates probably gained a lot of respect nationally.
"I was really proud of what this football team accomplished Saturday," Holtz continued. "On the inside, it's one game. On the outside, it has huge implications for image and how we're viewed. And how we view this one game and where we go from here is a lot more important than what happened in the game itself."
Coach Skip Holtz hasn't forgotten the 48-7 beating at the hands of the Mountaineers a year ago in Morgantown. He recalled that defeat with specific details in his Monday press conference, apparently to remind any of his players who might not remember.
"The challenge that we have is to go play a football team that gave us our worst defeat since I've been here," the Pirates' four-year head coach said. "When you look at them, they had 600 yards against us last year to our 160. They were 70 percent third downs to our 20.
"They punted once; we punted seven times. They rushed for 400 yards as a team. They completed 88 percent of their passes. I don't think we'll have to go far past putting the film on of the West Virginia team we're about to play to have our team's attention."
However, Holtz admittedly has great admiration for the Mountaineers' program and what they do. He thinks WVU has difference-making speed on the field, he noted, and poses an even greater challenge than Virginia Tech did.
"To go out and be able to beat a team like Virginia Tech was just huge for our players' confidence and the image of our program and what we're trying to do," he said. "But I don't think you need to look far to get these players' attention.
"Hopefully, we will handle this in a very mature way. We have to stay humble and hungry with where we are right now and have a great week of practice. It's going to take a better effort than what we had last week in order to come out here and be competitive against a team like West Virginia."
Trailing 17-2 in this rivalry, the Pirates know the odds are stacked against them, according to Holtz.
"But the advantage is that the players know just how good this team is," he reasoned. "What's really going to be the key as we go into this is that we do understand how good they are and the monumental effort it's going to take for us to be victorious."
Holtz publicly thanked ECU fans for creating an "unbelievable atmosphere and environment" especially for the fourth quarter of the Tech game in Charlotte. With a capacity crowd of 40,000 for Saturday's game, he hopes for a similar situation in Greenville.
He believes that great victory will have a tremendous impact on his football program and that the Pirates probably gained a lot of respect nationally.
"I was really proud of what this football team accomplished Saturday," Holtz continued. "On the inside, it's one game. On the outside, it has huge implications for image and how we're viewed. And how we view this one game and where we go from here is a lot more important than what happened in the game itself."
