Posted by ESPN.com’s Heather Dinich

This one hit the Hokies particularly hard.

It was widely reported that star tailback Ryan Williams didn’t attend class last Friday because he was so distraught over his fourth-quarter fumble, and even quarterback Tyrod Taylor seemed unusually despondent following his team’s 20-17 loss to North Carolina last week in front of a nationally televised audience.

Apparently, they weren’t the only ones.

“This one stuck to us because of the fact we’re not used to losing two games back to back,” said receiver Dyrell Roberts. “That’s a big decrease in our confidence because of the fact we did lose this one in a close one, a heart-breaker type of loss. Really, no team wants to go out and think that we’re going to lose, or whatever the case is, but after taking that loss, it’s still in our minds, and we’re still thinking about it. We don’t want to feel that feeling again, so right now all we’re doing is putting in the time and effort so we don’t have to go through that again.”

Unfortunately for the Hokies, this Thursday night presents an eerily similar situation to last week’s with the potential to be a trap game despite the fact Virginia Tech is again facing an unranked opponent in East Carolina. The difference this weekend, though, is that the Hokies’ egos have been bruised and their collective mentality is more fragile than it was a week ago. Last week, Virginia Tech seemed almost invincible, as UNC had yet to win a conference game and the Hokies still had hopes of a BCS bowl. Now, they’re playing more for pride than the postseason, and they’ll have to leave Lane Stadium to get it back.

“We certainly had a tough loss, but what we’re playing for is pride in each other, pride in our football team,” said Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer. “You just go out trying to get a win, that’s what we need to think about right now. We’ve got a good group of players here. We’ve got good kids, we’ve got good leadership. It’s just a tough loss and you have to go on to the next week. We’re playing for the pride of each other and all the work we’ve put into this thing.”

There haven’t been any team meetings, or collective reassessment of goals, though a 10-win season is still possible. Virginia Tech was 5-3 at this same point last year and went on to win five of its last six games to finish with 10 wins. A win would make the Hokies bowl eligible for the 17th straight season, but a loss would mark the first time since 2003 that Virginia Tech lost three straight games. Since then, Virginia Tech is 4-9 in nonconference road games, and ECU has confidence from last year’s season opening 27-22 win over the Hokies in Charlotte.

“It’s a big game just to try to get back on track and things like that, because right now, our season’s not going the way we wanted to go and the way we hoped for,” Roberts said. “Thinking back to this game last year, starting off the season with a loss to the same team, what we’re trying to do is go out there and get our season going in the right direction, and also try to get our confidence back up and showcase what it is that we can do.”