|
-----
'Painting
'em Purple'
-----
|
 |
From the Booth
Thursday, August 29, 2002
-----
By Jeff Charles
Voice of the Pirates |
 |
©2002 Bonesville.net
It’s game time! Let’s match ‘em up. The Pirates and the Blue
Devils are set to bang heads Saturday night at 6:00 p.m. at Wallace Wade
Stadium in Durham.
A lot has been made of the fact that Duke has lost
twenty-three in a row. You know that Duke has competitive players with
pride, many of them young, fresh blood players who desperately want to end
this string of futility.
East Carolina should expect nothing but Duke’s very best
shot. You would expect the Blue Devils will come out like wounded dogs
backed in a corner.
The first thing that jumps out about Duke is the size of
their offensive line. Shouldn’t these guys be at Cameron Indoor Stadium
playing for “Coach K?” The tackles are 6’7” and 6’8”. Four of the five are
over 300 pounds.
The Pirate defensive line that will matchup with these guys
in the trenches will be an interesting group to watch. They have the
potential to be good and the outside linebackers can hopefully get pressure
on Duke’s quarterback. Give a slight edge to the Pirates.
The quarterback matchup is a huge mystery. Duke is not
saying who will start. Will it be Rutgers transfer Chris Dapolito or
Californian Adam Smith? Neither have much experience. Last year’s starter
Dee Bryant was an academic casualty, leaving fourth year head coach Carl
Franks in a quandary.
I talked with ECU quarterback Paul Troth Monday and he’s a
very mature young man. He’ll be okay. And yes it is a dream come true for
him to be the starting quarterback. He’s been a Pirate fan all his life. His
father and mother went to school at ECU and his dad, Mike, played football
here.
The quarterback matchup has too many inexperienced questions
on both sides to give an edge.
We’ll give an edge to the Pirates in the running game with
Art Brown, Marvin Townes, and an offensive line led by Brian Rimpf. Duke has
a fine running back in Chris Douglass, a 190 pound junior from Sherrills
Ford, a second team All-ACC performer, and Alex Wade is a 250-pound
fullback.
Defensively the Pirates had trouble stopping people the
second half of last season while Duke had trouble stopping people all year.
Both teams need to make vast improvements on that side of the ball. The
Pirates should have better and more athletes on the field Saturday night.
Edge to ECU.
The Pirates may win the special teams matchup every time
they step on the gridiron this year if kicker Kevin Miller, punter Jarad
Preston, and returners Richard Alston and Marvin Townes play up to their
potential — again give the edge to the Pirates.
On paper East Carolina looks like the stronger football
team. The game, however, is not won or lost on paper. The final exam results
will be in about 9:00 p.m. Saturday night.
Have fun!
News ‘n Notes
The
Pirate Sports Radio Network hits the air
Saturday night at 5:10 p.m. Carlester Crumpler joins me for our fifteenth
year of working together. Crump was inducted into the North Carolina Sports
Hall of Fame in May.
Henry Hinton also joins us in the booth, while Marty Feurer
patrols the sideline for his tenth season and conducts our post-game locker
room report. Paul Rogers will be twisting the dials as our network
engineer-producer.
The Steve Logan Show will air again Saturday at twelve noon
on WITN Channel Seven. The show also airs Saturday in the Greensboro market
on WXIV Channel 14 and in the Tidewater, VA, and Northeast North Carolina
area on SKY 4 WSKY. Both Stations air the show at 11:30 a.m. Time Warner
Cable in the Raleigh-Durham market airs the show Saturday morning at 10:30
a.m. Sundays, WRPX Channel 45 airs the program at 1:00 p.m. in the
Raleigh-Durham market.
Remember, Steve Logan’s Radio Call-In Show Sunday nights
this year at 7:00 p.m. Logan’s Roadhouse Restaurant is the network sponsor
and home of the Steve Logan Show.
 Send an e-mail message to
Jeff Charles.
Dig into Jeff Charles' Bonesville Archives.
02/23/2007 10:23:41 AM
----- |
