AL MYATT: Collapse leaves bitter taste for Pirates

INSIDE GAME DAY

Tulsa 45, East Carolina 13
Saturday, November 12, 2005

By Al Myatt

Story posted Sunday, November 13, 2005

THE VITALS

POST-GAME AUDIO: HOLTZ & PLAYERS

• Game Center: Tulsa 45, ECU 13

• BOX SCORE & STATISTICS

• Myatt: Collapse leaves bitter taste for Pirates

• AP: Hurricane strikes in second half

• ECU Schedule, Scores, Attendance, Links

• C-USA Standings, Scoreboard, Schedule

TULSA, OK — Chris Moore exhaled and contemplated the implications of a 45-13 loss to Tulsa at Skelly Stadium on Saturday. The outcome assured that the Pirates will have a fourth straight losing season and canceled hopes for a bowl berth in 2005.

"It's disappointing," Moore lamented. "We had 'em first half. Second half, we started off good but we made some mistakes that hurt us. It just hurts losing like that."

ECU trailed 10-0 as its offense struggled in the first quarter against a head wind that was gusting southward as strong as 24 miles per hour. The teams changed ends of the field and the momentum shifted, too, with junior quarterback James Pinkney directing the Pirates to a 13-10 lead at intermission.

Pirates coach Skip Holtz opted to take the wind to his back in the fourth quarter but by the time the final 15 minutes arrived, ECU's postseason chances were in effect gone with the prairie wind.

On a Tulsa fourth and 10 at its own 46, Brandon Fractious of the Pirates raced in and bowled over Golden Hurricane punter Chris Kindred. Fractious was flagged for roughing the kicker and the 15-yard penalty meant that Tulsa maintained possession with a first down at the ECU 39-yard line.

Holtz wouldn't comment on the penalty except to say, " We gave them a chance to make the call. We teach our players not to leave their feet beyond the point of blocking."

Fractious, a junior college transfer who had a costly fourth quarter fumble in the loss to Central Florida, has been in Holtz's doghouse before. He lost a fumble against Southern Miss and after a practice week where protecting the football was emphasized, Fractious lost the handle in warm-ups and was benched for the following game.

The Golden Hurricane gave the penalty yards back with two flags of their own but on third and nine at the ECU 38, Tulsa quarterback Paul Smith hit senior tight end Garrett Mills, who shook free in the open field for a touchdown and a Tulsa lead at 17-13 with seven minutes left in the third quarter.

Playing his last home game, Mills rose to the occasion with nine catches for 127 yards.

ECU still had plenty of time to rectify the mistake by Fractious but a turnover led to another Tulsa TD just one minute, 11 seconds after the Hurricane's go-ahead score. A Chris Johnson fumble was recovered by Tulsa and the hosts capitalized to lead 24-13.

"He was just trying to get another yard," said quarterback James Pinkney of the play on which Johnson lost the handle and the game slipped further from ECU's grasp. "He was just trying to make a play and the ball came out."

Three fourth-quarter scores by Tulsa — the only points scored in the endzone into the wind — turned an opportunity for an ECU victory into a blowout defeat.

"The momentum went their way," said a disconsolate Moore. "They kept on putting points on us."

Tulsa rolled up 495 yards of total offense, including 238 yards rushing. The Golden Hurricane didn't commit a turnover.

Smith, whose style resembles a young Roger Staubach, completed 21 of 31 for 257 yards as Tulsa finished with a healthy average of 7.5 yards per offensive snap.

"Our defense was on the field for what seemed like eight or 10 minutes at a time in the second half," Holtz said. "We were making the same calls as in the first half (when Tulsa managed just 10 points and nine first downs), but we couldn't get our defense off the field."

Tulsa finished with 26 first downs, 31 minutes of possession and became bowl eligible on Senior Day with its sixth win. The Golden Hurricane offense ignited like gasoline on a wild fire with the opportunities ECU's miscues provided.

ECU faces a trip to Marshall next week and a season-ending home game with UAB without the incentive of playing for the postseason that had motivated the Pirates during the open date prior to the trip to Tulsa.

Despite the downturn in the second half on Saturday, Holtz said the program will continue to move forward. The coaching staff will identify the players who want to compete and will move forward with that group.

"Ninety-five percent of those guys gave us all they had," Holtz said. "I don't mean to include everybody in the group that hung their heads and didn't give full effort."

Holtz said in August that the way to build programs was through deletions and additions. Those who don't buy in to the level of performance he expects will no doubt be exiting from any sort of meaningful opportunity to contribute and selected recruits will be brought in.

The upside of not making a bowl trip is that the ECU coaches will have more time to recruit in December. Holtz said linebackers and offensive linemen are the most urgent needs.

As disappointing as the second half became at Tulsa, it will still be a tool for advancing the program. Holtz will evaluate the players from the standpoint of who put forth a winning effort and will adjust personnel accordingly.

There were some special moments such as Aundrae Allison (8 catches for 74 yards), who surpassed Terrance Copper for the ECU single season receptions yardage record, a 51-yard punt into the wind by Ryan Dougherty and a 45-yard field goal by Robert Lee that gave the Pirates the lead at the close of the first half.

The second half deviated significantly from the script Holtz planned at the locker room break but the program is still on course to make a turnaround under his leadership.