The day fiction came to life

By Brian Bailey
©2015 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.

I have seen that movie before.

Ronnie Bass had just come in at quarterback in "Remember the Titans." Bass told the line to let a lineman through. Bass fired a pass and flipped the lineman over in one move.

In the movie, the Titans' assistant coach came over to the head coach, played by Denzel Washington, and told the coach, ‘We’ve got ourselves a football player.’

East Carolina offensive coordinator Dave Nichol may have repeated that scene with ECU head coach Ruffin McNeill on Saturday.

James Summers flipped a Virginia Tech defensive player in a similar fashion in the Pirates win. Summers sprinted to the end zone for a touchdown in one of the key plays of the upset victory over the Hokies.

The Pirates ‘have themselves a football player.’

Summers was just what ECU needed to kick-start the running game in a downpour at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. Summers galloped through the Hokies defense like a true mudder in leading the Pirates to the triumph. He rushed for 169 yards, coming close to breaking Leader Green’s all-time mark for rushing yards in a single game by a quarterback. Green, operating out of Pat Dye's wishbone offense, ran for 178 yards in 1979 against Richmond.

But don’t forget the job Blake Kemp did in getting the Pirates back in the game.

Summers didn’t forget, crediting ECU’s starter for rallying the Pirates after a terrible start.

“Blake got us back in the game,” said Summers. “If he doesn’t do what he did then I might not have gotten my chance. This was a team effort.”

Kemp had a fumble on his first play. He followed that up with what looked like two interceptions. The second pick was actually ruled a fumble, but the damage was done as the Pirates trailed 14-0 in the game’s first minutes.

Kemp regrouped nicely and led his team on two scoring drives to even things up. That set the stage for Summers.

“I just want to do whatever I can to help this team win,” said Kemp. “He (Summers) did a great job. He’s a great player.”

The only quarterback controversy that I see was when Cody Keith decided to leave the team. The Pirates could have used the added insurance. Injuries cost Keith any chance to pressure Kemp or Summers in the quarterback race.

Coach Ruff was non-committal in naming a starter for this week’s American Athletic Conference game at Southern Methodist.

“We will keep integrating both in practice and games, “said McNeill at his weekly news conference. “You’re talking about two guys who had no idea they would be playing quarterback right now and both have stepped in.”

The coach was alluding to the knee injury suffered by designated starter Kurt Benkert days before the season opener, forcing a reshuffling of the depth chart and a reevaluation of the possibilities at the quarterback position.

Summers came to East Carolina with a reputation as an outstanding athlete. That athleticism certainly showed in the win over Virginia Tech.

McNeill warns, though, that you can’t rush Summers.

“You have to be patient with James," he said. "Everyone was trying to rush that. You don’t rush that. You want kids to have as much success as possible. He was ready, but Dave Nichol did a great job of prepping him in practice.”

Now the Pirates take newfound momentum to Dallas this weekend for the matchup with SMU. The Ponies were upset at home last week by FCS member James Madison. Still, Coach Ruff says this Mustangs team will be ready on Saturday.

“They have a lot to lose,” said McNeill. “They played non-conference games and look at who they played. Chad (Morris) is a good football coach and that’s the only way I look at it and I watch the ball film. They’ve got a good team, a good quarterback and athletic skill positions. The offensive line has great pad level. They stretch you vertically. Chad runs an up-tempo offensive."

The Mustangs opened their 2015 slate against Baylor, North Texas and Texas Christian.

McNeill put this Saturday's game in perspective.

"They’re playing at home," he said. "We play SMU. It’s not about them, it’s about us. We don’t control them, we control us. We must have great prep this week.”

For the first time since week one ECU will be favored. McNeill said last week that there was a lot of football to be played.

The Pirates sure played some football despite the rain this past Saturday.

They made it five in a row against the ACC.

Here’s hoping there is a similar winning streak to come in the AAC.

BB

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