GREENVILLE — The East Carolina offense provided two leads Saturday against Virginia Tech and the Pirates defense was not able to protect either one of them.

But the ECU defense wasn't to blame. The Hokies won, 15-10, because of who they are in terms of coaching, talent and tradition.

They didn't beat themselves, other than a bad day for kicker Cody Journell, who missed two field goals and an extra point that might have sealed the outcome well before a safety accounted for the final points and gave Virginia Tech the ball with 1:31 to play.

The Pirates, on the other hand, could not overcome problems that culminated at the quarterback position — seven sacks and three interceptions.

Shane Carden seldom had time to go through his receiver progressions as the pass pocket continually collapsed and Carden was quickly apprehended when he tried to scramble.

"That was a rough one," Carden said. "That's a good team."

Virginia Tech played to its strengths, which on this fall-like afternoon were quarterback Logan Thomas's ability to execute on third down and the efforts of defensive coordinator Bud Foster's unit to shut down ECU's passing attack.

Thomas converted nine of 20 third down situations compared to three of 11 for ECU. The Hokies completed 25 of 43 for 258 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

The Pirates had trouble getting pressure on Thomas on obvious throwing downs and the 6-foot-6 senior often was able to find open receivers.

The afternoon started brilliantly for ECU with a 75-yard scoring drive. Vintavious Cooper had an 11-yard run to get the series going. Carden had a modest 3-yard pickup but was hit as he went out of bounds, resulting in a 15-yard personal foul penalty that put the ball at the Hokies' 46-yard line.

A screen pass to Cooper went for 24 yards before Carden connected with sophomore Bryce Williams for a 22-yard touchdown. The Pirates led 7-0 and the game wasn't two minutes old.

"We didn't take the back out of the backfield and we helped them a little bit in that first series and they don't need help," said 27th-year Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer. " ... After that, our defense played great."

The Pirates had 75 of their 204 total yards on their first possession.

Virginia Tech (2-1) didn't make adjustments, according to Beamer.

"After the first series, Coach Foster said we don't need to correct anything but we need to play the way we practiced, the way we are supposed to execute," Beamer said. "Again, if you don't make your assignments against these guys, they will hurt you. They're good."

The Hokies have already faced the top of the measuring stick in college football, losing 35-10 to No. 1 Alabama although Virginia Tech had more total yardage. The Tide returned two kickoffs and an interception for touchdowns.

It says something about the Hokies' confidence and focus that they don't mind playing ECU in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. Maybe it's a good sign for the Pirates that they were a little more competitive than in a 17-10 loss to Virginia Tech in Greenville in 2011. ECU was limited to 112 total yards in that game.

The net result for ECU (2-1) was still a disappointing nonconference loss.

Pirates coach Ruffin McNeill was proud of the effort. He said that the game film would be evaluated and that mistakes would be fixed.

Among the items to be repaired are pass protection for Carden.

ECU's pass defense also needs to get some sandbags in place or it will be flooded in two weeks by North Carolina senior quarterback Bryn Renner, whose second half passing allowed the Tar Heels to expand a 10-6 halftime lead to a 27-6 win over the Pirates last season.

Thomas made it look like a Tuesday afternoon against the scout team when he hit Demitri Knowles for a tying 30-yard touchdown with 3:42 left in the first quarter. The Hokies converted three times on third down on the 70-yard drive.

ECU got as deep as the Tech 33 late in the first half but a sack and a penalty took the Pirates out of possible field goal range.

Warren Harvey's 44-yard field goal with 8:49 left in the third quarter gave the Piratesa 10-7 lead. A 23-yard punt return by Danny Webster provided the field position that resulted in the go-ahead boot.

The Hokies answered with a 75-yard drive to take a 13-10 lead on Thomas's 3-yard pass to D.J. Coles. Virginia Tech seemed to be able to do what it needed to do when it had to do it.

"It's disappointing," said Cooper, who ran eight times for 28 yards and had five catches for 32 yards. "We worked hard. We expected to win."

The 24-hour rule and the bye week will give the Pirates plenty of time to regroup for another upset bid. But ECU will need to make more of its opportunities than it did Saturday.

"Montese (Overton) and I dropped interceptions," said Zeek Bigger, who started for the injured Jeremy Grove and contributed nine tackles. Brandon Williams, who filled in for Kyle Tudor, was in on 12 stops.

"I played well but I can play better," Bigger said. "I've got some things to work on."

He could have been speaking for everyone in purple.

There were some anxious moments as defensive back Josh Hawkins was taken off the field by rescue personnel in the third quarter. The report from Vidant Medical Center was that he was alert and responsive.

"They will compete for a championship in their conference (ACC) and we'll compete for a championship in ours (Conference USA)," McNeill said as he put Saturday's battle in perspective.

The Pirates competed Saturday. It just wasn't enough for an upset.

View box score and statistics on ecupirates.com

Read game recap on ecupirates.com