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GAME DAY CAPSULE NO. 6 -
DENNY O'BRIEN
East Carolina vs. Army
Saturday, October 13, 2001
Michie Stadium (39,929), 12:45 p.m. EDT
Television: Fox Sports South and ESPN Plus
Weather Fx: Fog early, then partly sunny with temps in the low 70s.
Pirates and Black Knights at a Glance
Amidst heightened security at the United States Military Academy, the
Pirates and Black Knights will tee it up for the fifth time on Saturday,
before a regionally televised audience.
East Carolina enters the contest reeling over two consecutive
heartbreaking defeats, both of which the Pirates actually won in the
trenches. Army is fresh off its first win of the season, a 28-14 conference
victory over hapless Houston.
ECU head coach Steve Logan and Army skipper Todd Berry have quite a
history together, dating back to their days at Tulsa.
Army Facts and Notes
Record: 1-3. The Black Knights are much more competitive than last
year's 1-10 outfit.
Head Coach: Todd Berry. 2-13 at Army (2nd year), 26-37 overall
(6th year).
Venue: There is no finer place in college football than Michie
Stadium (39,929), overlooking the banks of the Hudson River.
Last Week: Beat Houston, 28-14. Though the Cougars moved the ball
with relative ease, the Black Knights limited them in the red zone.
The Series: East Carolina leads, 4-0. The Pirates scored 30 or
more points in each of the previous meetings.
Last Meeting: 2000. Trailing 21-14 in the third quarter, the
Pirates rallied for a 42-21 victory.
Last Bowl Game: 1996 Poulan Weed Eater Independence Bowl. Lost to
Auburn, 32-29.
Familiar Faces: Berry was offensive coordinator at ECU from
1992-95. During Berry's tenure, the Pirates made two trips to the AXA
Liberty Bowl, including a victory over Stanford in 1995. Running backs coach
Junior Smith is ECU's all-time leading rusher.
Football Claim to Fame: Army has a rich and storied football
history, including three consecutive national championships from 1944-46.
The Black Knights have also produced three Heisman Trophy winners: Felix
"Doc" Blanchard ('45), Glenn Davis ('46), and Pete Dawkins ('58).
The Breakdown
Quotes of Note: "The focus on winning the conference, which is
where we are right now, is legitimate. That is not any kind of an emotional
fall-back, it is reality. That's what it is we're all about, and it's
something we haven't done yet. So I think it's a very real pursuit and a
very worthy pursuit. Again, it's going to be one week at a time, and if you
look up two weeks in advance, you're going to get in trouble in a hurry.
We've got our hands full this week at Army and that's what we have to get
taken care of." -- Steve Logan, East Carolina's head coach, on conference
play.
"Todd is a close friend of mine, dating back to the 1970s. He was a
quarterback at Miami (Oklahoma) High School and I was playing some football
at Broken Arrow America, and those two schools were in the same conference.
Todd is younger than I am, but his father recruited me a little bit. His
father was a college coach at Northeastern Junior College in Miami,
Oklahoma, which is where Todd is from, and he also became the head football
coach at Missouri Southern, which is a I-AA school in southwestern Missouri.
That's where his father recruited me a little bit. Todd came to Tulsa
University as a wide receivers coach when I was the quarterbacks coach
there. We hit it off immediately. We both had very curious minds -- we
wanted to do some things that a lot of people weren't doing. We were working
for Coach Cooper. We were an option offense -- split-back veer was a vehicle
that allowed us to begin to throw the football, because it was a two-back,
pro-type set. We began to experiment with a shallow cross and those types of
things and we kinda drove Coach Cooper crazy. Of course, Todd went his way
and I went my way. We stayed on the phone a lot, comparing ideas. Of course,
when I got this job here, he was one of the first men I called. He did a
wonderful job the time he was here. Just as you would suspect, he got a
chance to be a head coach and he's been successful. He will be successful at
Army once it's all said and done." -- Logan on Army coach Todd Berry.
"I do not enjoy it at all. Last year, I was relieved we won the football
game but I did not enjoy it. Ninety-nine percent of the coaches I coach
against, at the end of every football game, if we happen to win I have a lot
of empathy for the other man. There's lots and lots of pressure in this
profession on everybody who happens to be running a college football
program. When you know someone and are close personal friends with them, it
just makes it that much more uncomfortable." -- Logan on coaching against
Berry.
"There are still ways you can run the football. If someone's going to go
ahead and just declare eight people all the way down inside when, in fact,
we've got three or four wide receivers in the game, we'll throw the ball
quick, deep, often. Football 101 would dictate that; that's not giving away
a game play, but that would happen quickly." -- Logan on facing Army's
eight-man front.
Army Players to Watch: QB Chad Jenkins (615 yds, 7 int), RB Josh
Holden (6 yds per carry), WR Omari Thompson (27.4 yds per kick return), LB
Brian Zickefoose (42 tackles).
Striking Stats: The Black Knights are yielding 281 yards per game
through the air.
Phase-by-Phase
When the Pirates have the ball:
Army will stack eight men on the line of scrimmage, so look for the
Pirates to spread the Black Knights out. Offensive coordinator Doug Martin
will most likely try to get the passing game back on track, utilizing short,
safe passes, to receivers in the flat, as well as the running backs out of
the backfield.
Don't expect the Martin to abandon the run, however, as the Pirates are
much bigger up front than the Black Knights. ECU will give the Army a good
dose of trap-option football, and try to out-bully the smaller Army defense.
Expect a spirited effort from the Army defense, but give the nod to the
Pirates here, who are much bigger and faster than the Black Knights.
Advantage: East Carolina.
When the Black Knights have the ball:
Berry did a good job of attacking ECU's weakness in last season's
contest, pounding the ball up the middle early and often. This year the
Pirates have a different weakness, and look for the Black Knights to exploit
that.
Both Syracuse and Carolina took advantage of the Pirates' soft zone
coverages, moving the ball at will through the air. Pirate DBs have given
opposing receivers plenty of room to operate, and have not reacted quickly
to the ball.
Though the Pirates may have more talent here, Army will be more than
happy to take what it can get on Saturday. And the Pirates have been awfully
generous of late.
Advantage: Army
Special Teams: Again, this game boasts a couple of dynamic return
specialists in ECU's Marvin Townes and Army's Omari Thompson. Thompson will
get his opportunities, though the Pirates have done an excellent job in
their downfield coverages this season. Expect the Black Knights to kick away
from Townes, following the mold of the Heels last week.
Kicker Kevin Miller and punter Jarad Preston have performed day in and
day out for the Pirates, solidifying a kicking game that was filled with
question marks going into the season.
Army kicker Derek Jacobs has connected on just two of five field goals,
with a long of 28 yards.
Advantage: East Carolina
Coaching: Berry has assembled a cohesive staff of up-and-coming
coaches. Logan's staff is just as cohesive, and boasts much more experience.
Advantage: East Carolina
Intangibles: In the wake of the 21st century's first war, Army has
the nation on its side every time it takes the field. The Black Knights will
play with plenty of emotion and are fresh off a conference win last week.
The Pirates claim to be focused on a C-USA title, but could come out
stale against the unheralded Black Knights.
Advantage: Army
What East Carolina must do to win:
- Tighter coverage. The Pirate secondary has been giving opposing
receivers plenty of room to operate, which has proven costly. CBs Brandon
Rainer and Jerome Steward must do a better job of reacting to the ball.
- Make the catch. The Pirates had a case of the drops against Syracuse
and Carolina, which proved costly in both cases. With Aaron Harris joining
Torey Morris on the injury list, ECU has had to re-shuffle its receiving
corps. The Pirates haven't had problems getting open, but the inability to
make the routine catch is a whole different story.
- Pressure Jenkins. Defensive coordinator Tim Rose's blitzing defense
has been pretty ineffective at pressuring opposing quarterbacks this
season. A shaky secondary could benefit greatly from a solid pass rush.
- Make Army beat you. The Pirates did themselves in against the
Orangemen and Tar Heels. They can ill-afford to beat themselves down the
conference stretch.
- Create turnovers. The Pirates haven't created many turnovers on
defense the past two weeks. The offense could benefit greatly from an
opportunistic defense.
What Army must do to win:
- Win field position battle. Syracuse and Carolina were both successful
when the Pirates had long fields with which to work.
- Stack the line. Given ECU's recent inability to move the ball through
the air, the Black Knights should take their chances and stack the line of
scrimmage.
- Limit turnovers. In losses to UAB and Boston College, the Black
Knights had trouble holding onto the football.
- Sustain drives. The Pirate offense can't score if it isn't on the
field. The Heels kept the ball for virtually the entire second half last
week.
- Match Pirates early. If Army is to have any chance, it can't afford to
fall behind early. The Army offense hasn't shown it can come from behind.
Prediction: Look for the Black Knights to hang with the Pirates
for three quarters. Barring an emotional hangover from last week's loss to
the Heels, the Pirates should pull away at the end. Take the Pirates, 31-17.
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02/23/2007 02:05:42 AM
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