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Duke ends drought, drowns
Pirates
By Denny O'Brien
©2002 Bonesville.net DURHAM —It took Duke nearly three years to win a
football game. It took its students just a few moments to tear down the
goalposts.
The dark clouds hovering over East Carolina thickened on Saturday.
Facing an opponent — Duke — that hadn't tasted victory since it defeated
Wake Forest in November 1999, the Pirates were ripe for an upset in the City
of Medicine.
The Blue Devils, spurred on by a bruising fullback and four ECU
turnovers, took full advantage of the rainy weather to end the drought that
has plagued the campus in more ways than one.
Duke (1-0), which entered the game losers of 23 straight, bolted to an
early 20-0 lead and held on for a field-storming 23-16 victory amidst
quagmire-like conditions. The loss marked the fourth straight for East
Carolina (0-1), which has also lost three consecutive games to in-state
opponents.
A humble Steve Logan refused to blame the loss on the weather, though the
Pirates' head coach did suggest his team had difficulty with the conditions.
"They played well and took advantage of our mistakes," Logan said. "They
took care of the ball, we didn't, and that was just about the end of the
game right there.
"The rain — we didn't handle it very well. We need to throw the
football, they did not need to. They pounded on us pretty good with their
running game, and they had an advantage on the field tonight. To their
credit, they took advantage of it."
Alex Wade, Duke's 250-pound fullback, pounded the Pirates for 109 yards
on 24 carries, most of it coming in a fourth quarter that saw the Devils
hold the ball for almost ten minutes. During a crucial drive that began
with almost 11 minutes to play, Wade carried the pigskin on nine consecutive
plays, as Duke chewed up almost eight minutes of game clock.
That 13-play, 33-yard drive culminated with a 41-yard field goal by Brent
Garber, boosting Duke's lead to 23-16. The Pirates did have one last gasp
of hope, but that was diminished when Matt Zielinski sacked quarterback Paul
Troth on fourth-and-four from his own 40.
Despite the loss, Logan did see a few bright spots, especially the play
of his young quarterback.
"I really like a lot of the things I saw with Paul," Logan said. "He
made one bad read when he threw the interception that went for a touchdown.
That was really his only big mistake.
"He showed very good mobility. He moves around in the pocket well. I
think he's going to be a really, really fine quarterback. I'm highly,
highly encouraged with what I saw tonight."
Troth started slowly, as an ineffective ground game often placed the
Pirates in long-yardage situations. That, along with numerous drops by his
receivers, kept the ECU offense out of rhythm for much of the night.
East Carolina, which averaged over 400 yards per game of total offense
last season, was limited to just 155 total yards on Saturday, including an
uncharacteristic 25-yards rushing.
"The ground game wasn't there tonight," Troth said. "We just didn't
execute. We turned the ball over too many times and gave them the chance to
score. We just shot ourselves in the foot tonight."
Troth, who was making his much anticipated debut as the Pirates' signal
caller, finished the evening with 130-yards passing on 13-of-31 attempts,
with a touchdown and three interceptions.
Despite his modest numbers, the sophomore from Davidson gained the
respect of his teammates, including senior receiver Richard Alston.
"I thought he played well," Alston said. "He didn't have as much help as
he could have gotten from guys like me. He may have made one mistake all
night."
The Pirates' revamped defense did show promising signs on Saturday,
limiting Duke to just 241 total yards, 86 of which were through the air.
Twice, the Pirates held Duke to field goals, despite being backed into a
corner following offensive miscues.
Among the rising stars were linebackers Chris Moore and Josh Chisolm, who
combined for 12 and 8 tackles, respectively. Moore chipped in with three
tackles for losses, including 1 1/2 sacks.
Logan regarded the defensive effort favorably, even though Duke's
straight-ahead ground game took over late.
"I was really pleased with the defense," he said. "I saw them give up
one touchdown and maybe a field goal. All of that was off offensive
mistakes. I'm real encouraged."
Trailing 20-10, the Pirates stormed out of the locker room behind the
right arm of Troth, who directed a nine-play, 65-yard drive, highlighted by
a 33-yard scoring strike to Torey Morris to cut the Duke lead to 20-16.
Kevin Miller's extra point try was wide right, keeping the Duke lead at
four.
After three consecutive scoring drives, it appeared the Pirates had found
their beat offensively and were poised to take control of the game.
But it just wasn't to be.
"We had the momentum going into the half," Troth said. "We came back and
put six on the board.
"But once again, we go out and turn the ball over. I go out there and
throw an interception, which I take responsibility for. We just turned the
ball over, and that was the story of the game tonight."
Duke got on the board first with 9:35 left in the first quarter following
a fumble by running back Art Brown deep in ECU territory. The Pirates'
defense didn't yield a touchdown, however, limiting the Devils to just eight
yards on the possession that culminated with a Brent Garber 27-yard field
goal.
The Devils struck again following an interception by Troth that went in
and out of the hands of a wide-open Alston, giving Duke the ball at their
own 48-yard line. Eight plays later, backup quarterback Chris Dapolito
scampered in from four yards out to push the lead to 10-0 after Garber's
extra point attempt split the uprights.
Duke upped its lead to 13-0 at the 9:42 mark of the second quarter when
Garber nailed a career-best 56-yard field goal. Seconds later, linebacker
Brendan Dewan intercepted a Troth pass intended for Torey Morris, returning
it 28 yards to give the Devils a 20-0 lead.
The Pirates finally cracked the scoreboard with 2:29 left before
intermission when Brown plunged in from two yards out. The drive — 13
plays-65 yards-6:15 — marked the first time East Carolina penetrated Duke
territory on the evening.
One possession later, the Pirates trimmed the lead to 20-10, after Miller
nailed his 12th-consecutive field goal, this one from 31 yards.
"We just never got a turnover," Logan said in summation of the game. "We
really need to get a turnover to balance that out. Never got it, and that
was about the game."
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02/23/2007 01:50:53 AM
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