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BAILEY'S TAKE
ON PIRATE SPORTS
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From the Anchor Desk
Tuesday, September 15, 2008
By Brian Bailey |
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Second half blues
beating Pirates
By
Brian Bailey
©2009 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
East Carolina hasn't
experienced this kind of
blues since its Liberty
Bowl outing in Memphis,
the home of the blues.
There were second half
blues in that game and
that doesn’t include the
great blues on Beale
Street. In the matchup
with Kentucky, the
Pirates were outscored
22-3 in the second half
of
that 25-19 loss.
In game one this year,
the Pirates were
outscored 17-2 in the
second half of their
29-24 win
over FCS opponent
Appalachian State. The
two points were courtesy
of a botched punt
attempt by the
Mountaineers.
Last Saturday, ECU
trailed West Virginia
21-20 at the half, then
was outscored 14-0 in
the second half and
lost 35-20.
The Pirates are
suffering from the
“second half blues.”
Maybe they should get
B.B. King on the line.
He knows a little about
Blues.
Or we could call our
buddy Silky Sullivan at
Silky O'Sullivan’s Pub.
Maybe he could get one
of his Beale Street
neighbors to put out a
spell to rid the Pirates
of those second half
blues!
Two outings, two lackluster
finishes
Many are putting the
blame squarely on the
shoulders of Patrick
Pinkney. Pinkney isn’t
playing his best
football, for sure. This
is a team game, though,
and Pinkney isn’t
getting great help
either.
Still, some are calling
for a change at the
quarterback position.
The Pirates could move
Rob Kass back in as a
backup. Kass has had
success before coming
out of the bullpen to
aid Pinkney.
"We talked about our
other options,” said
East Carolina coach Skip
Holtz at his weekly news
conference on Monday.
“At this point, I don't
think this is all
Patrick. If the four
drops are caught, he's
20-for-40 . If the
defensive tackles don't
get to run free, Patrick
completes five more
passes to go 25-for-40
and we're talking about
how he had a heck of a
day and we're not having
this discussion.
"Patrick is going to
take the brunt of it
when the offense is not
going well and a lot of
the credit when the
offense is doing well. I
don't think this is all
Patrick. But it's
something we've
considered and talked
about.”
Pinkney is completing
over 60 percent of his
first half passes. The
second half has been a
much different story.
The coaches say it’s not
just Patrick who has
struggled in the second
half. But the staff also
may change some halftime
philosophies to try and
correct the second half
issues.
“We’ve talked about it
as a staff,” ECU
co-offensive coordinator
Todd Fitch told me on my
weekly radio show last
night. “We are planning
to spend more time with
our players at halftime,
to try and give them a
better feel for our
second half game plan.”
Fitch says there isn’t
much time during the
intermission.
“It’s a small window,”
Fitch noted. “It’s very
hectic. When it comes
down to it we really
only get two or three
minutes to go over
things.”
The Pirates need to find
an answer for those
second half problems
this week. North
Carolina
is ranked nationally
and has a defense that
may be as good as ECU
faces all season long.
"Defense is the strength
of this football team,”
said Holtz. “They have
nine returning starters
from last year; five of
them we played against
here two years ago. It's
not that their only year
starting is last year —
they've been starting
for two years. There are
some really good players
in the bunch.”
It’s a great instate
rivalry. Many of these
players were recruited
by both schools.
Some, though, were not.
Coach Fitch said one of
the Pirate coaches asked
Conference USA preseason
defensive player of the
year C.J. Wilson how his
visit to North Carolina
went when he was
recruited. Wilson said
he wasn’t recruited by
the Tar Heels. The seed
was planted.
The Tar Heels are
favored by a touchdown,
mainly because of their
defense.
East Carolina has to get
something done on first
down and has to figure
out a way to put a
complete game together.
It’s a tall order, and
there’s little time.
The Pirates hope this
week’s halftime blues
don’t turn out to be a
“Carolina” shade of blue.
BB
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