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Notes, Quotes and Slants
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Pirate Notebook No. 83
Wednesday, September 11, 2002

By Denny O'Brien
Staff Writer and Columnist

Despite INT's, Troth impressing

©2002 Bonesville.net

Don't judge Paul Troth on statistics alone. 

Even though numbers don't lie, gauging an athlete's performance based solely on percentages can be deceiving. 

That's certainly the case with the young East Carolina quarterback.

Through two games, the Pirates' blue-chipper has completed just 34-of-72 passes for 403 yards, while tossing three touchdowns and seven interceptions.  Those aren't exactly the numbers the ECU faithful expected from the former high school All-American, especially against in-state foes Duke and Wake Forest, neither of which is a perennial power.

Nonetheless, head coach Steve Logan is upbeat about the progress of his young prodigy, who is making tremendous strides on the field, both physically and mentally.

"This young man is amazing me," Logan said.  "With what we're asking him to do, and where he is now after two football games mentally, it's frightening."

As for the implications for ECU's slate of future opponents, Logan's message is clear.

"They better get their licks in while they can, because those interceptions are going to stop."

Those interceptions almost came to a complete halt in the second half of the Pirates' 27-22 loss to Wake Forest Saturday, as Troth rallied the Pirates from a 20-3 deficit. 

After the intermission, the Davidson native showed poise in the pocket and bulls-eye precision, completing 14-of-23 attempts for 200 yards and two touchdowns.  But with less than five minutes to play, Troth's toss into four-deep coverage was intercepted, ending a promising drive that could have given the Pirates the lead.

As Troth approached the sideline, he expressed his disgust to Logan, noting the momentum killer could have been avoided had he located his safety valve, fullback Art Brown.

"Just like last week, you get in a rhythm and start completing passes and the offense just clicks," Troth said.  "It just feels like you can't stop us.

"Then we go out and shoot ourselves in the foot and throw interceptions.  There's no excuse for that.  Four interceptions is unreasonable for me."

With much of a team's success riding on the shoulders of the quarterback, it would be tempting to worry about Troth emotionally following back-to-back losses, but Logan doesn't seem concerned. 

In fact, the Pirates' 11-year head coach is so impressed with the mental aspects of Troth's game that he is giving him larger portions of the offensive menu, which is one of the most comprehensive offerings in the college game.

"We are giving him more plays," Logan said.  "Mentally, this guy is going to be one of the most fun guys I've had a chance to work with, because he understands what we are doing.

"At some point, when it all comes together for him, its going to be a lot of fun.  He's got the right stuff emotionally."

Troth's progression was increasingly evident on Saturday.  Though original plans had the young signal caller throwing 18-20 times per game while juggling an abbreviated version of the Pirates' playbook, Troth's understanding of Logan's concepts has him involved in all phases of the Pirates' offensive package.

He has a strong handle on the short, intermediate, and deep passing game, and has also caught Logan's eye with his ability to make good decisions when when executing the option.

"The pleasant surprise is that he runs the option very efficiently," Logan said.  "He moves in the pocket much more efficiently than I thought he would and he sees the field about as well as you can see the field."

That vision, along with his rifle arm and pocket awareness, is probably Troth's most valuable asset.  When he doesn't lock in on receivers, he's shown the ability to pick a defense apart. 

But just like most quarterbacks, Troth will occasionally zero in on his primary receiver, a hard-to-break tendency reflected in his interception total.  Chalk that up as a growing pain, but don't expect the Pirates field general to offer youth as an excuse.

"I'm not a rookie anymore, and I don't expect people to make excuses for (me)," Troth said.  "Four picks is unreasonable for me.  It'll stop."

And when it does, Troth and the Pirates' quick-strike offense should be a force to be reckoned with.

Walk-on stepping up

After dropping several passes in a rain-soaked loss at Duke in the season opener, Logan issued a serious challenge to his receiving corps.

It was a challenge which the Pirates' receivers took to heart, especially walk-on Richard Hourigan, who played a prominent role in ECU's near-comeback victory in Winston-Salem.

Against the Deacs, Hourigan hauled in a game-high five passes for 48 yards.  His touchdown on third-and-eight with 7:55 remaining in the third quarter cut Wake's lead to 20-10 and provided a major shift in the game's momentum.

According to Logan, Hourigan's significant jump in playing time has been the result of his blue-collar effort on the practice field.

"Richard has been a work in progress," Logan said.  "He walked on and catches the football very well.

"He has had trouble with some of the route running that we require and making adjustments. One of the highlights, which happened on the first touchdown that Paul threw, was a route adjustment on his part.  He saw the adjustment, Paul saw the adjustment and those are the kinds of things that get you excited."

A junior out of Cary, Hourigan wasn't courted by Division-I suitors, despite his all-star efforts on Friday nights.

In 1998, he led the state with ten interceptions as a junior at Cary High.  As a senior, he set the school marks for receiving touchdowns (11) and yards (950), while collecting the conference player-of-the-year award for his labors.

But when it came down to it, Hourigan fell victim to the stereotypes.  He was too small, too slow, and couldn't jump.  Nobody had room for the gritty, hard-nosed, overachieving receiver.

Now, the Cary Kid is proving his doubters wrong, reminding the Pirates contingent of former standouts Hunter Gallimore and Pete Zophy, two possession-type receivers that embodied the program's us-against-the-world swagger and excelled in third-down situations.

"Richard Hourigan just came in with that chip on his shoulder and showed everybody that even without Richard Alston, we can come and play and throw the ball around," Troth said.  "He gives probably the best effort I've seen, along with Torey Morris. He's a very underrated player on this team."

A pretty good one at that.

Send an e-mail message to Denny O'Brien.

Click here to dig into Denny O'Brien's Bonesville archives.

02/23/2007 01:47:11 AM
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