After all, East Carolina's 27-22 victory over No. 17-ranked Virginia Tech on Saturday created a rumble that rippled across the college football landscape.

"It was a great win for our program, a great win from the image standpoint when you look at it on the national stage,'' Pirates coach Skip Holtz said Monday. "I think it got a lot of people's attention around the country. ... Maybe [people] will say: 'Wow! what they are doing in Greenville is for real.' "

While vexing Virginia Tech might have seemed surreal, ECU out-Hokied the Hokies in every significant department. Now the perfect Pirates sequel would be to upset No. 7 West Virginia's Mountaineers on Saturday at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.

To begin with, Holtz hopes the 23 Pirates on Monday's injured list will recover. Quarterback Patrick Pinkney (sprained left shoulder) was among the aching but is expected to be ready.

In addition to helping his players get over their bumps and bruises, Holtz is prepared to do some psychological maneuvering as well.

There's a sudden media blitz, more interviews and outside distractions than usual. And everybody's patting his Pirates on the back, telling 'em "Great job!" and "Atta boy!" which is fine, if it is kept in perspective.

"This is what we want, the arena we want to play in; this is big-time college football,'' Holtz said. "Part of learning how to handle winning is learning how to stay humble and stay hungry along with all the media attention."

East Carolina has had big, emotional victories before.

Last year, the Pirates defeated rival North Carolina 34-31 in a game drenched with drama and suspense. Two weeks later, the Pirates suffered the most lopsided loss in Holtz's three-plus seasons, 48-7, in Morgantown.

Be sure, Holtz will review that scenario with his team this week.

The Mountaineers, who defeated Villanova 48-21 Saturday, are still ...well, the Mountaineers. They have back 17 starters and feature one of the nation's premier players, quarterback Pat White, plus a coterie of speed-burning receivers.

They have a new head coach, Bill Stewart, and a new offensive coordinator, former Wake Forest assistant Jeff Mullen. So ECU expects to see some Deacon dazzle in the Mountaineers' attack, including more passing.

Defending WVU's quickness and speed is " like trying to herd cats," said Greg Hudson, ECU's defensive coordinator.

Still, playing an elite opponent is what the Pirates like.

After they lost a nationally televised game at Virginia Tech last year, Holtz told his players they belonged in that atmosphere, on football's national stage.

He also told them to gain respect around the country, it would take beating a power program.

This past Saturday, the Pirates did just that. This Saturday, they might do it again -- if they are healthy, "humble and hungry" and hitting on all cylinders.

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