News, Analysis and Opinion from Bonesville's Denny O'Brien

Pirate Notebook No. 142
Thursday, September 11, 2003

By Denny O'Brien
Staff Writer and Columnist

With his team entrenched in a "deep, dark hole" after blowout losses to Cincinnati and West Virginia to open the season, John Thompson says a date with No. 2 Miami Saturday is not his primary concern.

Though he insists that East Carolina will invade the Orange Bowl with thoughts of winning — much like it did in 1996 — the first-year Pirates coach is more interested in addressing issues internally than worrying about the Hurricanes.

"The focus is on getting us going in the right direction," Thompson said. "I think we made a step that way Saturday. We are going to be better."

For a team outscored 88-10 in its first two outings, it would seem that things can only improve at this point. However, that is something Thompson knows may take time — especially against such a daunting schedule — so patience will be paramount.

Nonetheless, Thompson has identified some primary concerns he thinks the Pirates must deal with immediately.

"Obviously there are three areas we've got to continue to get better," Thompson said. "Two are of major concern and one we've just got to keep our thumb on.

"The first is turnovers. We cannot turn the ball over and be a productive football team. We had five turnovers and then our defense had to go out there and put out the fire. All five of those turnovers resulted in touchdowns and that's a team effort."

In addition to a costly interception that led to a West Virginia score, starting quarterback Desmond Robinson has had difficulty holding onto the football. Twice, the Rock Hill, SC, junior bobbled snaps Saturday, to go along with another fumble on an attempted pass.

But as bad as the turnovers were against the Mountaineers, the next item on Thompson's agenda was even more perplexing.

"The second thing is our tackling," Thompson said Tuesday. "We tackled yesterday, we'll tackle today, we'll tackle tomorrow, and on Thursday and Friday.

"That doesn't mean we will go out there in pads everyday, but we can practice and improve our tackling every single day. The work that we're going to do and the things we'll get corrected will show up on Saturday night. I have all the confidence that it's going to happen. We've got to become a better tackling football team."

In fact, if the Pirates are to have a chance to avoid another blowout loss, they will have to make major strides in their tackling proficiency relative to what was displayed against West Virginia. Mountaineers running back Quincy Wilson got many of his 147 yards after initial contact, often carrying Pirates defenders along for long, humbling rides.

Aside from linebacker Chris Moore and safety Mickey McCoy, who are 1-2 for the Pirates in tackles, there have been few bright spots for a defense advertised as a unit that made great progress fundamentally in the off-season.

Thus far, that progress has been invisible, which is why keeping the players in a healthy frame of mind is the third most prominent blip on the coach's radar.

"I believe in this team and they believe in each other." Thompson said. "We're not going to crack. We'll stay tight and keep improving."

After lopsided losses to Cincinnati and West Virginia, you would think the date with Miami Saturday would present an intimidating scenario for East Carolina.

The Hurricanes are ranked No. 2 nationally in both major polls and are stockpiled with talent three-deep at all positions.

"That's a great challenge, great team, great atmosphere," Thompson said. "I'm looking forward to going to Miami. I'm looking forward to taking this football team down to Miami and play in the Orange Bowl against Miami and those great players.

"Last year when I was on the other (Florida Gator) sideline against them, it was the best looking football team I've ever seen. The talent that they have is a lot of guys that are going to be playing for a long time on that field. They've got some unbelievable weapons on both sides of the football."

But don’t think for a second that the Pirates aren’t looking forward to the challenge.

"I don't think there's a man in our locker room saying, 'Oh me, what we got,'" Thompson said. "We're ready to go."

Despite frequent questions about the quarterback situation, Thompson insists there is no controversy at quarterback. In fact, the first-year Pirates coach went out of his way Saturday to reaffirm his faith in starter Desmond Robinson.

"I thought Desmond performed well," Thompson said. "I've got confidence him. I've got confidence in Paul Troth, too, but we're not going to have two quarterbacks.

"There's not a quarterback controversy. We've got one quarterback and it's Desmond Robinson. That's where we are at this moment, right now."

Midway through the Pirates 48-7 loss to West Virginia last Saturday, Thompson made a noticeable change on special teams. Instead of sending both Demarcus Fox and Edwin Rios — neither of whom crack the 5’10" barrier — running back Marvin Townes fielded the final three kickoffs.

"Marvin can do that," Thompson said. "I like Edwin and Demarcus back there, but they're just smaller guys and they get knocked down pretty easy. We just need a bigger body back there."

Townes was among the nation's best as a freshman and also has a touchdown to his credit.