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BAILEY'S TAKE
ON PIRATE SPORTS
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From the Anchor Desk
Tuesday, April 21, 2008
By Brian Bailey |
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Ol' man Pinkney
shines in spring game
By
Brian Bailey
©2009 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
There are redshirts and
greyshirts in college
football. With a sixth
year of eligibility,
does that make you a
greybeard?
East Carolina
quarterback Patrick
Pinkney laughs at the
thought. Pinkney threw
for 229 yards and two
touchdowns in Saturday’s
spring football game.
His "East Carolina" team
beat the "Pirates" team
31-10.
“I thought it was the
best spring game since
I’ve been here,” said
Pinkney. “We never put
up 31 points on any
team. When you see that
you get a lot of
confidence.”
“Patrick is playing
really well and its nice
to have a guy out there
that can do the things
Patrick can do with the
experience he has,” said
head coach Skip Holtz.
“It was nice to see him
run the ball a little
bit today. I want to see
Patrick scramble out of
the pocket and turn and
do a better job running
than he did last year. I
thought he did a nice
job of that today
(Saturday).”
Pinkney hit Michael
Bowman on a couple of
touchdown passes,
including a 59-yarder in
the second half. Pinkney
also scored on a
bootleg, a play on which
he took a lick and
fumbled just after
breaking the plane of
the goal.
“I got hit after I
scored and I’m going to
talk to someone about
that this week,” joked
Pinkney.
Backup quarterback Rob
Kass missed the spring
game after a death in
his family. Freshman
Josh Jordan stepped in
and threw for 202 yards
in the game.
“I thought Josh Jordan
went out there and did
some really good
things,” said Holtz. "At
times he looked really
good and at times he
looked like a freshman.
You see flashes of his
talent, but you also see
times where he may be
swimming a little bit.”
Certainly nothing is
written in stone after a
spring football game,
but Coach Holtz seemed
to send a message about
his running back
situation.
Kentucky transfer
Brandon Jackson will be
part of the mix when
August comes. Jackson
led all rushers in the
spring game with 55
yards.
“Brandon Jackson has
shown that he is capable
of being an every-down
player in this offense,"
said Holtz. "He’s
physical, runs hard and
did a nice football of
hanging on to the
football today.
"J.R. Rogers showed some
flashes today and is
trying to run more
physical and doing some
good things. We know
what Dominique Lindsay
can do coming back. When
you look at those guys,
we have some talent
there. I feel very
comfortable with their
development.
"Brandon Jackson has
definitely solidified
himself as a guy who is
going to be competing
for the starting job and
is definitely going to
play in the opening
game.”
Rogers also had a good
day in the Pirate
backfield with a 50-yard
touchdown run.
Holtz also hopes to have
Jonathan Williams and
Norman Whitley back for
2009. However, the ball
is apparently in the
players' court.
“There are a lot of
question marks
surrounding them both,”
said Holtz. “I know they
have both expressed an
interest and they both
have some things they
still need to do to make
that happen. They are
good young players and
they are very talented
but they’ve got to
continue to develop in
their actions both on
and off the football
field.
"Right now, if I have to
play with the two we
played with today and
Dominique Lindsay, I
feel very comfortable
where we are.”
Bowman was one of the
other stars on Saturday.
Bowman caught the pair
of touchdown passes and
has quickly emerged as
another weapon in the
East Carolina arsenal.
In fact, Bowman may
emerge as a favorite
target of Pinkney this
fall.
“We’ve got some
weapons,” said Pinkney.
“Michael Bowman, what
can I say, he has really
come on.”
The Pirates have a
number of injured
players that missed the
spring, but that gave
many of the younger
players more reps and
that much more
experience. Those that
did play stayed
relatively healthy.
“I’m encouraged with our
skill players and I
think we have some
playmakers," said Holtz.
"One of the things that
we’ve lacked, especially
the second half of last
year, was a big play
threat. Some guys are
starting to step up and
show that they have the
ability to do that. I’m
encouraged to turn and
put the puzzle together
now that spring is over.
"We had about 15 guys
standing on the sideline
for this game that
either started or played
a prominent role for us
at some point in time.
When you add those 15
guys to this football
team and merge them
together, I think they
have a chance. We’re
just not going to be
able to see that
finished product until
we come back for
August.”
That finished product
opens the year hosting
Appalachian State on
September 5th.
The arrival of August
and the start of summer
practice just can’t get
here soon enough.
BB
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