The way I see it the Pirates are down to their last bullet
Saturday in Houston. A win puts East Carolina at 3-1 in league play and
keeps alive the dream of that elusive conference championship banner. A loss
and the conference title hopes get postponed for another year.
If ECU loses at Robertson Stadium Saturday, the only
motivation left is to win the last four to become bowl eligible and put
another non-losing season in the record books. That’s certainly a worthy
goal, but let’s be honest, if this team is 2-6 Saturday night, it’s going to
be tough to win those last four in a row.
The Pirates are playing for their lives this weekend and so
is Houston. In addition, Cougar Coach Dana Dimel is playing for his job, and
he’s making it more difficult for the Houston administration.
UH is a surprising 4-4, and if Dimel can squeeze out a
couple more wins he certainly deserves to stay. Even if he doesn’t, can you
really justify firing him after just three years? You need to give these
guys at least four seasons.
Who will win on Saturday? I really think it’s a toss up.
Going into the Louisville game I thought the Pirates had a chance if they
didn’t turn the ball over. They had only one turnover in that game and still
got whipped.
This week it’s up to the defense. Somehow this Saturday, Tim
Rose’s bunch must play better and force some turnovers.
The offense should score some points, but it needs need some
help from the defense, plus the Pirates can't go three downs and out and
give up field position.
When teams are struggling, it’s usually a case of too many
holes in the dike. One week it’s the offense, the next week the defense,
then comes special teams problems, etc.
The Pirates have had a season full of challenges, and to
this point they’re working hard to find some solutions. Maybe Saturday will
be the day that things start to click. This team played a solid game in
beating Tulane in September. They’re capable, but time is running out.
News ‘n Notes From Pirate
Land
Vonta Leach continues to make strides in practice as a
running back. Don’t be surprised if the Pirates even start throwing the ball
to him out of the backfield.
H-back Demarcus Fox is still only about 85% following his
knee injury in the spring. The former D. H. Conley star tells me he still
doesn’t have that burst. Fox is confident that it will come back in time.
Kevin Miller is up for the Lou Groza Award again. The
Virginia Beach senior has had a great career that’s been overshadowed in
Conference USA thanks to Jonathon Ruffin at Cincinnati and Seth Marler at
Tulane. This year Nick Browne at Texas Christian is having a spectacular
year.
Former Pirate and now Pittsburgh assistant Coach David
Blackwell was a happy man Saturday night in Blacksburg, VA. Pitt at times
manhandled Virginia Tech and when was the last time you saw that? It was
only a matter of time for the Pitt program. The Panthers share an incredible
training facility with the Steelers and play their home games now in the new
NFL Stadium. Talk about a great recruiting tool. Everyday those Pitt kids
are practicing on the next field while the Steelers are working out. Walt
Harris is a fine coach, too. I’m not surprised that their program is back.
The good news this week is that Conference USA will go with
one fourteen-team league for basketball next season. Think about it if
you’re Bill Herrion. No longer do you have to play the likes of Cincinnati,
Louisville and Marquette home and away. Those six games now go to three and
you pick up the likes of Southern Miss, Tulane, South Florida, TCU, etc.,
every year. That’s a better competitive situation for ECU basketball. This
move could really help the Pirates on the hardwood.
Did you catch Louisville Coach Rick Pitino’s comment about
ECU’s home. Pitino said, “It’s really not an arena, it’s like a college
gym.” Rick, the gym awaits January 16th.
This week’s radio-television schedule looks like this.
Saturday’s game will be televised on WITN Channel 7 at 3:00 p.m. Billy
Weaver and Amanda Ross join me for the telecast from Houston. Doctor Tim
Moreland slides over for radio play-by-play with Carlester Crumpler, Marty
Feurer and Henry Hinton beginning at 2:10 p.m. on the Pirate Sports Radio
Network.
Steve Logan joins me twice on Sunday. The television show at
12:00 noon on WITN Channel 7 and at 1:00 p.m. on WRPX Channel 47 in Raleigh.
The Radio Call-In Show is back in the studio this week at 7:00 p.m.,
presented by Logan’s Roadhouse Restaurant.
