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Game 5: ECU 31, Virginia 21 |
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The Slants of the Game
Sunday, October 8, 2006
By Denny O'Brien |
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Pirates nearly complete
against Hoos
©2006 Bonesville.net
All Rights Reserved.
GREENVILLE Terry Holland should schedule
his former employer more often. Perhaps that would produce results similar
to East Carolina's victory over Virginia.
And make no mistake, the 31-21 final was in
no way indicative of how soundly ECU handled the Cavaliers. Save for three
special teams miscues, the Pirates dominated every aspect of the game and
never were in danger of a loss.
That East Carolina did this without top
playmakers Aundrae Allison and Chris Johnson made the performance all the
more impressive. Against an ACC opponent that is one year removed from a
bowl, the Pirates clearly were the better team.
"It's a huge win for our program," Pirates
coach Skip Holtz said. "It's a huge win for the season.
"But you know what, these players have been
close. We lined up and we played with West Virginia. We just turned the ball
over too many times and didn't take advantage of our opportunities.
"Tonight, we didn't turn the ball over, and
we made the most of our opportunities. I really thought some guys stood up
and made some great plays for us tonight."
Sure did.
For starters, there was receiver Bobby
Good, whose 102 receiving yards left few discussing the impact of Allison's
absence. Not to be outshined was the running back tandem of Brandon
Fractious and Brandon Simmons, which produced 159 yards and several bruised
Cavaliers.
And of course there was quarterback James
Pinkney. With a steady 224 yards passing, he took yet another step forward
as a game manager.
"I thought James really did a great job of
managing this football game," Holtz said. "I didn't ask him to stand in the
pocket and throw the ball all over the yard.
"I talked all week about the confusion that
they've given in the secondary, all the different coverages. Same thing
tonight, they never ran two of the same coverages in a row."
If there is an area the Pirates must
address before taking their next step, it's the ability to maintain a
sizeable cushion. After leading the Wahoos by a comfortable 24-7 halftime
margin, ECU provided a crack in the door when it surrendered a blocked punt
and quick touchdown to open the second half.
That, combined with a brief stall by the
Pirates' offense in the third quarter, left the score somewhat respectable
for Virginia longer than would otherwise have been the case.
But an encouraging sign was ECU's ability
to relocate the throttle and firmly press it. Its final scoring drive
consumed 16-plays and 79 yards, exhausted more than nine minutes of valuable
clock, and completely deflated the Wahoos.
"Unbelievable," Holtz said of the Pirates'
marathon fourth-quarter drive. "We started milking the clock a little bit.
We got two backs and ran down hill.
"I told the offensive line, if we wanted to
win the game we were going to have to be able to run the ball. We were kind
of going hit or miss in the second half there."
It was pretty remarkable given ECU's recent
track record. For much of the season the Pirates' have been running uphill
behind an offensive line that's been mostly amiss.
But the changes ECU made up front proved a
solid hit against a sound defense. Down to two backup running backs, East
Carolina broke out for 208 yards, including 102 from Fractious.
More than anything, that's a testament to
the depth Holtz has quickly created. And the Pirates will need many able
bodies as they dive deep into the toughest stretch of the Conference USA
gauntlet.
The most difficult challenge occurs next
week when league favorite Tulsa makes its visit.
If ECU can build on its performance against
Virginia, perhaps it can script one complete enough to defeat the Golden
Hurricane.
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02/23/2007 02:03:46 AM |
