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BAILEY'S TAKE
ON PIRATE SPORTS
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From the Anchor Desk
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
By Brian Bailey |
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Football gods even out
the tally
By
Brian Bailey
©2008 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
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This one had all the
makings of one of those
“close, but no cigar”
losses.
East Carolina had closed
the gap against Virginia
Tech to 22-20 with
Patrick Pinkney’s 4th
quarter touchdown.
The difference for Tech
was the 2-point
conversion return by
Rocky Mount’s Stephan
Virgil off a blocked
extra point attempt.
Pirate fans had seen
this before.
On October 17, 1998,
Alabama beat ECU 23-22.
The difference in that
game was another 2-point
conversion off a blocked
extra point.
History couldn’t repeat
itself, could it?
The Pirate defense
stuffed Tech one more
time, and East Carolina
would have plenty of
time to try and drive
for a potential game
winning field goal.
The problem, though, is
that rookie kicker Ben
Ryan had struggled in
his first game and was
shaky at best.
One of the signs at Bank
of America Stadium said
it best. The sign read,
“If you can’t run or
pass, just SKIP.” That
phrase rang true, as the
Pirates would indeed
SKIP to another win.
Skip Holtz brought a
team to Charlotte that
absolutely refused to
give up. There were
plenty of chances to
quit, but the Pirates
never did.
As the Hokies lined up
to punt on that fourth
down, I immediately
thought of the reverse.
How many times had
“Beamer Ball” come
through with a blocked
kick or another special
teams play late in a
game to pull out a win.
This time, though, it
would be the Pirates
that came through with
one of the biggest
special teams plays in
the program’s history.
T.J. Lee broke through,
blocked the kick, then
picked up the pigskin on
the bounce to give the
Pirates an unbelievable
win.
After the game, Lee was
one of the last Pirates
out of the locker room.
By that time, every
media member in
attendance was waiting
to hear T.J.’s version
of the winning play.
Lee emerged from the
locker room and was
directed across the
corridor to face the
cameras and microphones.
The lights flashed on,
and T.J. had a quick
look of fear on his
face. It was like he
thought he had gotten
caught doing something
wrong. After a first
question though, T.J.
warmed up to tell
everyone how he was able
to pull off the stunning
play.
“He (Coach Holtz) said
punt block, so we went
after it,” said Lee. “We
got a good push, I saw a
little opening, blocked
it, scooped and scored.”
Holtz had this to say on
Monday about the play:
“Virginia Tech only
punted three times. We
tried to set up a return
on the first one and
couldn’t block the
outside guys. We tried
to double those guys the
second time, and got
seven yards. I called
for the punt block, but
I told every one of
those guys that they had
better not touch the
punter, or that would be
the game. T.J. made a
great individual play,
for sure.”
T.J. Lee made the big
play, but the stars were
many for East Carolina.
Patrick Pinkney was a
leader at quarterback.
Davon Drew showed he’s
the main threat to help
the Pirates on third
down. The offensive line
gave Pinkney plenty of
time. Dwayne Harris,
despite the huge blunder
early in the game,
showed his value on that
key fourth quarter
drive.
On defense, give the
entire squad an “A.” The
defense kept East
Carolina in the game
early on. When the
Pirates needed a stop in
that fourth quarter, the
defense was again up to
the challenge.
Holtz gave his charges a
lot of credit.
“What a great win. I’m
so proud of these
players," he said. "I
can not say how proud I
am of them. The way they
competed, the way they
hung in there. The way
that they tried, they
never gave up.
"It would have been so
easy at so many times to
just give up. We kept
making (it) so hard on
ourselves. We come back
at halftime and I told
the team, we’re giving
it away. Let’s just make
them beat us and try to
eliminate the mistakes.
"It was just a roller
coaster, going back and
forth, up and down. I’m
just so proud of these
players, the way that
they competed. They
never gave up, they
never quit, they kept
believing. The
leadership was awesome.”
Next up, it’s 8th-ranked
West Virginia.
Coach Holtz knows his
team has plenty to work
on this week. East
Carolina will not be
able to make the same
types of mistakes this
week and win.
It should be the hottest
ticket in years.
BB
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09/22/2008 04:11:03 AM |
Replay
last night's
Brian Bailey Show with guest Todd
Fitch. The show, Eastern North
Carolina's longest running sports radio
call-in show, airs every Monday night at 7
p.m. on Pirate Radio 1250-AM and 930-AM.