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Pirate Notebook No. 26
Monday, November 19, 2001

By Denny O'Brien
Staff Writer and Columnist

Much of what East Carolina had been playing for this season, that outright C-USA title and a return trip to the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, was lost at the hands of Louisville last Thursday night.

But with an upcoming game this Friday against rival Southern Miss and a likely bowl bid still looming, there is still plenty of time for the Pirates to salvage what some would deem a disappointing season.

That's what head coach Steve Logan tried his best to drive home to a heartbroken locker room just moments after quarterback David Garrard's last gasp for glory fell just short.

Junior H-back Richard Alston, who leads the Pirates in receptions with 27, echoed that sentiment moments later.

"It's (Southern Miss) definitely a big game for us," Alston said. "We feel like we can still accomplish a lot of our goals.

"I think this is a team that is going to bounce back, because we are a mature group. By Sunday, I think we will be focused on Southern Miss."

The Pirates showed earlier this season their ability to mend a broken heart. Following a disappointing loss in the season opener to Wake Forest, East Carolina put together its best offensive performance to date in a 51-24 drubbing of Tulane.

Then, after consecutive losses to Syracuse and North Carolina, both of which trailed East Carolina in the second half, the Pirates reeled off four consecutive conference wins.

With the exception of second-half lapses against TCU and Cincinnati, the Pirates were dominant over that four-game stretch.

Still, picking up the pieces from their shattered title dreams may be the biggest challenge this group has faced to date. Winning the conference championship is what seniors Garrard, Leonard Henry, and Pernell Griffin have been talking about since the moments following a victory over Texas Tech in last year's inaugural galleryfurniture.com Bowl.

Now the Pirates have to muster enough energy and enthusiasm for an 11 a.m. home match-up this Friday with Southern Miss, which up until last year had been the Achilles heel for a senior class that will be playing its final game at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.

Beat the Golden Eagles, and the Pirates will probably return to Mobile for the GMAC Bowl, the site of another bitter memory. The likely opponent will be nationally-ranked Marshall, with its highly-touted quarterback Byron Leftwich.

A win there would give the Pirates eight for the season, marking the third consecutive year that East Carolina has notched eight or more wins. That would be an accomplishment no other senior class has achieved since the Pirates joined the Division-I ranks back in 1977.

Prior to the season, the receiving corps was thought by the coaching staff to be a strength for East Carolina. With a nice mixture of size and speed, it was a group that offensive coordinator Doug Martin thought had the potential to be one of the most dynamic in school history.

But nagging injuries took their toll, as Torey Morris, Aaron Harris, Terrance Copper, and Marcus White all missed significant action at one point or another during the season, which prompted Logan to elevate three freshmen from the scout team to varsity.

Now, ten games later and after several position changes, the receiving corps is finally starting to gel.

Arnie Powell, maligned at times during his career, was moved to tight end, giving the Pirates a threat over the middle and further extending the field. The shorter routes give Powell a decided advantage over linebackers, and the softer throws have proven easier to catch.

Alston, a converted quarterback with just ten games of receiving experience, has used his knowledge of the offense to improve his route-running, while using his superior speed to get behind defenses.

And Derrick Collier, a junior-college transfer in just his second year in the program, now runs very precise routes, while making sure to first catch the ball before turning up field to mount a big gain.

It all came together Thursday night, when the Pirates' receiving corps put together its best game to date. According to Logan, the performance came as the result of a challenge that was issued in the days leading up to the game.

"I challenged theme all week long, "he said. "The nature of their defense suggested that we execute our three-step drop almost methodically, and we basically did that tonight."

Though it may have been a long time coming for the Pirates' emerging receivers, Garrard has remained confident in them over the course of the season. Thus, the performance came as no surprise to the Durham senior.

"They (receiving corps) played well tonight," Garrard said. "If the ball hit them in their hands, they caught it.

"I knew they could do it all year long. I knew they would step up in a big game like this. They did everything tonight that I could ask of them."

Garrard hopes to get another fine performance out of his receivers this Friday, his last chance to shine in front of the home crowd.

With 14 minutes remaining in their season opener against Big East opponent Rutgers, things weren't looking good for East Carolina in the opening round of the BCA Invitational.

But then, at the most crucial of times, ECU head coach Bill Herrion had some important words for his young basketball team.

"Coach told us to play like 'Junk Yard Dogs,'" said sophomore wingman Jonathan Moore, who finished the game with 23 points and seven rebounds. "We just pressed as hard as we could, that's all there was to it."

From that point, the bigger, stronger Scarlet Knights were out-played and out-hustled by the smaller, leaner Pirates. Led by a smothering defensive effort by guards Travis Holcomb-Faye, Kenyatta Brown, and Brandon Hawkins, the Pirates did just about everything they could to win.

"We don't have Gabe (Mikulas) and Moussa (Badiane), so we've just got to play with heart, like junk yard dogs," said ECU forward Erroyl Bing. "When we go small, we just play a little harder. It's going to be great when Gabe and Moussa get back, but right now, we're just going to hold it down for them."

Bing, who averaged 15.3 points and six rebounds in the three-game tournament, was selected to the All-Tournament team and was quick to acknowledge that the defensive prowess of the three-guard line-up propelled the Pirates to a second-place finish.

In fact, when it comes to defense, Bing puts Brown, Hawkins, and Holcomb-Faye in a class of their own.

"Those are three of the best guards defensively that there are in the state of North Carolina," Bing said. "That's just my opinion."

At times during the season-opening victory over Rutgers, the Pirates even went to a four-guard line-up, with the six-foot-six Bing the tallest player on the floor. Though undersized, the Pirates proved much quicker than the Scarlet Knights, and it was that quickness that paid off in the end.

"We have to go to it (four-guard line-up)," Herrion said. "With a couple of guys out, we just don't have a lot of places to go inside.

"Over the course of 40 minutes, I thought we wore them down a little bit. I thought the press really did its job."

Herrion doesn't want to use the four-guard line-up too much longer, though, as the Pirates hope to soon receive word from the NCAA on the status of Mikulas and Badiane, both of whom played on foreign club teams in which some of their teammates were paid.

But until two-thirds of the Pirates' starting frontcourt returns, Herrion won't be making any excuses.

"We don't talk about it much," Herrion said. "I don't think it's fair to the kids that are putting the uniform on right now. "It's the hand we are dealt. I think these kids have accepted that hand, they understand their roles, and they understand their situation."

Prior to this season, East Carolina had never beaten a Big East or Big 10 opponent. In their first two games this season, the Pirates, first-year members in Conference USA, defeated Rutgers (Big East) and Northwestern (Big 10).

Though neither Rutgers nor Northwestern figures to be in the hunt for their respective conference titles, wins over programs from power conferences of such stature could be pivotal toward the end of the season.

"I think that's a real program win for us," Herrion said following the win over Rutgers. "We beat a team from the Big East. We've moved into Conference USA this year, so I think it's a great win for the league early in the year."

The triumph certainly had to be an eye-opener for the rest of East Carolina's C-USA brethren, many of which were opposed to the Pirates joining the league.

But when the season winds to a close, and the conference power ratings become crucial, the Pirates' first two victories could be the deciding factor in C-USA getting an additional bid into the NCAA tournament.

Who knows, the Pirates may just use those two wins to help propel themselves into the postseason. Now wouldn't that be something?