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NEWS, NOTES &
COMMENTARY
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The
Bradsher Beat
Friday, October 13, 2006
By Bethany Bradsher |
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Pieces of running game puzzle
falling into place
©2006 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
There was a time, not too long ago, when Brandon
Fractious would flip on the Weather Channel and look to the west side of the
big map to get his forecast.
But this California boy — East Carolina's second
most productive running back so far this season — is officially feeling like
an East Coast transplant these days. Likewise, the running back corps he
belongs to is finding a home in the backfield.
“We already knew we could run,” said Fractious,
who has 188 yards this season to Chris Johnson’s 190. “We knew as a team, an
offensive staff, we knew we could run the ball. It was just going out there
and really showing it.
“We’re taught these techniques every day, all
day. It just clicked, I guess, for us.”
The people in Greenville have embraced him, said
Fractious, a native of Rancho Cucamonga and a transfer from Chaffey
Community College in California. And his teammates, who he calls “my boys,”
have helped create a bond of unity on this Pirates team that has helped make
every mile of his cross-country trip worthwhile.
In the Pirates’ 31-21 victory over Virginia last
week, Fractious and freshman Brandon Simmons were the two primary
contributors for a season-high 208 rushing yards. It was the best ground
outing of the season for a unit that has been depleted by injury and
discouraged by criticism.
When first Dominique Lindsay, then Norman
Whitley, and then Chris Johnson went down with injuries, the remaining backs
knew that the challenge before them was amplified. But even so, they had
seen the pieces fit together in practice enough times to keep their
confidence intact.
“Back to minicamp, we felt that we could have
the same effect that we displayed in the last game,” said Simmons, a
sophomore transfer from Elizabeth City State. “It was just putting all of
the pieces together.
"Hearing everybody talk
about how we can’t run the ball or whatever, quite naturally due to the fact
that myself and the rest of the running backs put so much energy into
practices, it was kind of heartbreaking.”
The dynamics in the
backfield will change this week with the slated return of Johnson, who has
missed two weeks with a turf toe sustained in the West Virginia game.
Johnson, a junior, has been back to mostly full speed in practice this week,
head coach Skip Holtz said, but time will tell whether Johnson’s foot is
healthy enough for him to reclaim the starting job he held when the season
opened.
“Right now it’s Brandon’s
job,” Holtz said, speaking of Fractious. “Chris is doing well, but we don’t
want him to take two steps forward and one step back. I didn’t want to start
moving everybody around and all of a sudden he comes out here gimping around
a little bit.”
The running back corps is
close-knit, Simmons said, and they are glad to have Johnson back just as
they look forward to the return of Lindsay and Whitley.
“We really can’t wait to
have everybody back so that we can be the complete corps that we want to
be,” said Simmons.
The two Brandons know
that more firepower equals more opportunity to produce against Tulsa, the
4-1 defending conference champs and an opponent that will sorely test the
Pirates’ newfound mettle. Tuesday and Wednesday’s practice sessions, always
the most intense of the week, were sparked by the knowledge of the
worthiness of the Golden Hurricane, Holtz said.
“It hasn’t been hard to
motivate them this week, obviously, with the conference champs coming in,
and the Liberty Bowl champs, and the team that’s 4-1 right now, and the team
that beat us 45-13,” Holtz said, alluding to the score of Tulsa's pasting of
the Pirates last season.
“They understand how good
this football team is," Holtz added, "and they understand the challenge that
we have.
“This is the best in the
league right now.”
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02/23/2007 01:13:22 AM |
