GREENVILLE - Mauling, overwhelming and certainly old school, East Carolina sprinted back to its good old days Saturday night, physically bashing Virginia en route to a 31-21 victory -- perhaps the program's most prestigious home win in nearly a decade.

"It was a great win for the program, a great win for the season, a great win for this football team ... I couldn't be more proud of these players," Pirates coach Skip Holtz said. "... This is one that needs to be celebrated by these players."

Playing without record-breaking receiver Aundrae Allison and starting running back Chris Johnson, the Pirates (2-3) didn't sail past the Cavaliers (2-4), they ran through and over them, gaining their first victory over a BCS team not named Duke since 2000. The last time a Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium crowd witnessed a win this sexy was ECU's 23-6 win over N.C. State in 1999.

But more important, the Pirates now know just where they stand -- and it's a long way from the bottom. The Pirates were 2-9 in 2004 and 1-10 in 2003 under former coach John Thompson and were one of the worst programs in the nation.

"It's been a long trip. We were pretty bad in the past, but we keep working," senior left tackle Eric Graham said. "It's about time."

The Pirates -- 5-6 last year -- implemented a tougher schedule this season as they wanted to gauge themselves against strong competition. After coming up short in losses to Navy and No.4 West Virginia, ECU finally got a big-boy win by bullying Virginia.

Ironically, some of the Pirates' biggest bullies were backups. Playing without Allison and Johnson for the first time in each player's career, ECU relied heavily on walk-on running back Brandon Simmons and a platoon of unheralded receivers.

Simmons joined with reserve Brandon Fractious to rush for 159 yards and two touchdowns.

"This is what you get recruited for. This is what you live for," said Fractious, whom Holtz now will consider for a starting job after the running back rushed for 102 yards. "There wasn't any pressure."

The pair's weaving and running, along with a suffocating defense, allowed the Pirates to survive several miscues -- including two missed field-goal attempts and a blocked punt.

"They out-kicked us, out-coached us, out-defended us, outran us," Virginia coach Al Groh said. "So we got the result we got."

Entering the game, ECU's defense was ranked 94th in the nation. But facing Virginia's 115th-ranked offense (218.8 yards per game), the Pirates did more than hold their own, holding UVa to 298 total yards.

But it was ECU's offense that shocked the Cavs, totalling 304 first-half yards -- the most in a half since 2001 when it generated 376 against Cincinnati.

Simmons started the Pirates' party in the first quarter when he burst through the Cavs for a 5-yard touchdown. After sending UVa three-and-out, ECU quarterback James Pinkney engineered a drive that ended in a 32-yard Robert Lee field goal, giving East Carolina a 10-0 lead.

While the Pirates used short passes, some big plays by receiver Bobby Good and a mashing running attack to jump to the lead, UVa was all finesse.

Faking an end around, Virginia receiver Emmanuel Byers pulled up and threw a perfect pass to Deyon Williams, who caught the ball at the back of the end zone for a 22-yard score.

The score narrowed ECU's lead to 10-7 late in the first.

But in the second, the Pirates made their statement. Not losing momentum against the ACC team, the Conference USA Pirates scored 14 points in the second quarter as Pinkney's 5-yard touchdown gave ECU a 24-7 lead late in the period.

With the scoreboard showing a 17-point halftime deficit, there seemed little hope for the Cavs as halftime ended. But it didn't take long for the Pirates to give the hopeless some hope.

A UVa player stepped in front of Ryan Dougherty's punt, blocking it and allowing Virginia to recover at the ECU 17-yard line early in the third quarter.

Two plays later, UVa running back Jason Snelling plunged into to the end zone from a yard out, cutting ECU's edge to 24-14.

It would be the only time UVa would threaten, as Pirates cornerback Travis Williams broke up two long fade routes.

The Pirates sent Virginia home with an embarrassing exclamation point -- a 2-yard touchdown run by Dougherty off a fake field-goal attempt.

Good, who shined in Allison's absence with five catches for 105 yards, said getting better by beating good teams -- not also-rans -- is how ECU will make its new name.

"We want to get this team back into the top 25," Good said. "We want to play against the best. We want the harsh challenge."

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