Photos by MATT GENTRY The Roanoke Times

Virginia Tech tailback Ryan Williams (34) splits through the Georgia Tech defense on the way to a 66-yard touchdown run earlier this season.

It's all about pride now for Virginia Tech's football team.

After a humbling two weeks in which their once promising season has taken a serious tumble, the floored Hokies hope to get up off the canvas and finish the season with a rumble. The first round of that fight comes tonight at dangerous East Carolina.

"It's definitely pride now," senior linebacker Cody Grimm said. "We just want to come out and show everyone that type of team we can be. If we play the way we're capable of, I don't think we'll lose."

The Hokies (5-3) still have a shot at finishing with at least 10 wins for the sixth consecutive season. To pull it off, they will have to win their final four regular-season contests, plus a bowl game.

It's not exactly the scenario the Hokies envisioned. The unexpected U-turn started Oct. 17 in a 28-23 loss at Georgia Tech and continued last Thursday at Lane Stadium, where they were stunned 20-17 by 15-point underdog North Carolina.

Will the Hokies spit the bit? Well, they'll find out tonight against the 13-point underdog Pirates (5-3), who will be hoping to defeat Tech for a second straight season.

"Coach [Frank] Beamer told us that he didn't want to see anybody quit, that he didn't want to see anybody put their head down," cornerback Rashad Carmichael said.

"Hey, it's nothing else to lose now. The national championship, the talk is done. Now, man, I actually feel like it's easier for us to play big-time ball because there's no pressure. Nobody holds those high expectations for us. So I'm telling some of the younger guys 'let's relax and go out and have some fun and play the game right.' Put it on us and we can make the season whatever we want it to be."

In its current 16-year bowl run, Tech has lost three consecutive games only twice -- 1997 and 2003. While his team is not officially eliminated from the ACC's Coastal Division chase yet, Beamer said the mentality now is playing for pride.

"Pride in each other and all the work we've put into this thing," Beamer said. "I told [the players] we were in the same exact same position as last year as far as our record. We kept working, we stayed together, kept getting better and ended up the season feeling good about ourselves. That's what needs to take place.

"You're going to have disappointment, you're going to have disappointment in life, and how you come back from it is what's important. That's where we are right now. We've got to move forward. I think they understand that this is a football team that beat us last year and we need to play a great, great game at their place to have a chance to win it."

The Hokies found that out in last year's season opener in Charlotte, N.C. In a shocking finish, ECU pulled off a 27-22 upset when T.J. Lee blocked a Brent Bowden punt and returned it 27 yards for a touchdown with 1:52 left.

ECU coach Skip Holtz expects to see a Tech club in a foul mood tonight at sold-out 43,000-seat Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.

"The last couple of years, as this game has gone on, I think it is starting to turn into more of a rivalry game for both teams," Holtz said. "I've always said in a rivalry game, both teams have a chance to win, and that hadn't been the case until last year. That's some fuel on the fire to what we're going through right now."

The Hokies haven't forgotten what transpired a year ago. ECU outgained Tech 369-253 in the contest and erased a nine-point deficit in the final 3 ¹₂ minutes.

"I know our guys are going to be ready," said Carmichael, who made his first college start in that game. "I know everybody remembers how we felt last year and we don't want to lose to those guys again."