View from the East Thursday, September 12, 2013 By Al Myatt

Pirate depth gets a test

By Al Myatt
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It was for weeks such as this one that East Carolina football coach Ruffin McNeill realized the value of developing depth.

Virginia Tech is as physical as any college team in the region and will be coming in for a noon kickoff at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium on Saturday.

"They will be very talented," said McNeill on Wednesday morning after a meeting with special teams coordinator Kirk Doll. "Coach (Frank) Beamer and his staff have done a great job recruiting. They have some really good athletes from the Tidewater Virginia area. There's not too many kids from outside that area, maybe D.C. or Florida, but they really have some athletic kids and they're well-coached.

"Offensively, of course, the run game, they've always featured that. (Quarterback) Logan (Thomas) has done a great job of advancing his craft. He can throw the football and he has mobility. They move the pocket with him. They've added some new offensive thought processes with their offensive philosophy. Running the football with some motions and those things, like an Auburn-type team.

"Defensively, it's a Bud Foster-stamped defense. Up front, they'll be very active. A lot of movement and explosion and quickness up front. The linebackers always have great speed and can cover. The DBs always seem to be really rangy."

Hokies special teams have been just that.

"Special teams are what Coach Beamer brought to the national limelight," McNeill said. "He is the reason special teams get so much emphasis across the country, in my opinion.

"They have a team that's very talented and well-coached. I know they had a tough game against (No. 1) Alabama (35-10 loss). Alabama had two returns on special teams so you look at the score, you take those 14 (points) out from the offense versus defense.

"They are a really good football team."

ECU will be without linebackers Jeremy Grove and Kyle Tudor due to injuries. That would have presented huge problems two or three years ago.

"You can't replace two experienced veterans like Kyle Tudor and Jeremy Grove with their battles, but the depth helps," McNeill said. "Zeek Bigger and Brandon Williams and we've brought Devaris Brunson off of redshirt. Ty Holmes, of course, has been a fixture on sub teams. He's played quite a bit. This is a time where you count on depth for those two reasons — not only for competition but in case someone gets nicked you have to have someone to step up.

"Carry the flag as we say around here. Pick up and carry the flag. We expect them to produce and play at a high level."

The teams have contrasting offensive styles. In simplified terms, Virginia Tech prefers to pound teams on the ground. ECU throws the ball for a living as McNeill, former defensive coordinator at Texas Tech, likes to say.

"When you get your opportunity, you have a certain vision in mind," McNeill said. "I knew what I wanted to run as a head coach and I decided that about 12 years ago going against Coach (Mike) Leach in practice (at Texas Tech). Defensively, I've been around Tom Harper and Danny Ford, Pat Hill and the late Dan Brown at Fresno. I knew what I wanted defensively. ... I knew we wanted to be multiple, athletic and have depth because of the offenses.

"With recruiting on both sides of the ball, offensively and defensively, I knew it would have a direct reflection on special teams."

Doll has access to personnel on both sides of the ball as needed for the myriad of special teams units.

Extra time beforehand

If there is a team that it's good to have some extra time to prepare for, the Hokies readily qualify. Being rested, ready and focused can only benefit East Carolina for the nonconference matchup.

"It was welcomed by me, particularly from our team point of view," said Coach McNeill of the extra time created by the Thursday night game on Sept. 5. "Two Division I games in five days is hard. ... We needed the days. We gave the players the days off and resumed Sunday. Coaches got on the road recruiting on Friday. ... I thought we needed the break. It was well-timed."

The Pirates got two extra days of recovery and preparation time for the Hokies since the 31-13 win over Florida Atlantic in the Conference USA opener.

"Having that time off helped get our bodies back right," said ECU receiver Justin Hardy, who has 20 catches for 227 yards in the Pirates' 2-0 start. "We got a lot of treatment in and got guys back right. The extra time is going to help us out a lot."

Hardy had three catches for 31 yards in a 17-10 home loss to the Hokies in the second game of the 2011 season. ECU only had 112 yards of total offense in that game.

"They're a very good defense," Hardy said. "They do a lot of different things and they're really good at it. They mix it up, man and zone, blitzing here and there."

What will be important for the Pirates?

"Start fast and play fast," Hardy said.

Back in black?

McNeill gave a thumbs-up on the blackout by ECU fans last week and the new black uniforms and helmets the Pirates wore for the occasion.

"It was time for us to do that," said the Pirates coach. "The kids wanted it and it always revolves around the kids. Secondly, for the recruits. Everybody around the country has new uniforms and different uniforms. I thought ours were very classy. The kids liked them and enjoyed them. It's not just a one-night wonder. I want to use the different combinations we have. Now we can blend in the black combinations, too.

"Our fans came out in support the way that I expect them to. I was proud of our fans and I was proud of our team."

McNeill said he was going to check with the older players Wednesday to find out their preference on uniforms for the game Saturday.

"It goes back to that old saying, McNeill said, "Look good, feel good, play good."

The movie for Friday night is "The Family," with Robert DeNiro and Michelle Pfeiffer. Because of the early kickoff the following day, the Pirates will be catching the early show on Friday night.

What's important

McNeill wants to get back to the team hotel for some meetings and a good night's sleep.

"We want to make sure we have clear minds so we can play fast, not just offensively with up tempo but making sure we play fast," he said. "We have kids that can run and they have kids that can run. We can't neglect fundamentals. It doesn't go away from that. The fundamentals of blocking and tackling, making sure we do that. We need to have a great execution day, cut down our penalties. Make sure we have great ball security and get some takeaways to give our offense great field position.

"That will be the keys, and special teams, of course. We've got to make sure we prepare for a great day for special teams for East Carolina because I know they will."

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PAGE UPDATED 09/12/13 04:11 AM.