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ECU looking to relearn art of the winning streak
By KEITH PARSONS
Associated Press Writer
GREENVILLE — East Carolina's last winning
streak was a beauty. The run of four consecutive victories included three
away from home, and led to a spot in the GMAC Bowl.
It also came four years ago.
Since then, the Pirates have gone 43 games and
three coaches without stringing together wins. Their latest chance comes
Saturday at Southern Methodist, a week after East Carolina rallied past
Rice.
``Right now, we've got one in a row,'' coach
Skip Holtz said Monday. ``I'm not really a statistics guy. I don't use a lot
of that for motivation.''
Holtz took over in December when John Thompson
was let go following two seasons and a 3-20 record. Thompson had replaced
Steve Logan, whose 11-year tenure featured five trips to the postseason and
that four-game winning streak in 2001.
Yet Logan was fired following a 4-8 mark the
next season, and East Carolina (2-3, 1-1 Conference USA) is just beginning
to show some signs of recovering. The come-from-behind victory over Rice was
the second under Holtz, and he needs only one more in his first season to
match Thompson's total.
``I would say we're ahead of where we
initially thought we'd be right now, because of how many guys have stepped
up and been pleasant surprises,'' Holtz said. ``I've really been pleased
with the progress. When you feel like you're getting better, you're always
going to have a positive attitude on your football team.''
The improvement comes at a great time, with
C-USA enjoying one of its more competitive seasons. Longtime power Southern
Miss lost to newcomer Tulsa last week, leaving four teams — including the
Pirates — tied for second in the East Division.
At the top is surprising Central Florida,
which had lost 17 consecutive games until winning three in a row. Those
victories include wins over Marshall and Memphis, two of the ``marquee''
schools in the conference.
The West Division is equally jumbled, with
five of the six teams within one game of each other. For the first time,
C-USA has a title game, and the division champ with the highest winning
percentage will host it.
As odd as it sounds, East Carolina isn't out
of the running yet.
``This is a very competitive conference, and
that's what makes a conference great,'' Holtz said. ``When anybody can beat
anybody on any given night, it makes for some terrific games all season.''
One factor in the Pirates' resurgence
certainly has been a favorable early schedule. An opening victory over Duke
might look good to fans and to alumni, but the lowly Blue Devils might not
beat a Division I-A opponent this season.
Rice remained winless after the loss to East
Carolina, and ordinarily, SMU would be in similar shape. But the Mustangs
knocked rival Texas Christian out of The Associated Press' media poll
earlier in the year, then added another upset last week at UAB.
Throw in the fact that SMU runs much of the
same offensive and defensive schemes as the Pirates, and Saturday's game
should be close.
``Both teams will be comfortable lining up,
because it will be like looking into the mirror,'' Holtz said. ``They're not
going to give up a lot of big plays on defense. They keep it in front of
them and make you earn it. We are going to have to work hard at being
consistent.''
Copyright 2005 The Associated
Press. All rights rights reserved.
Bonesville.net contributed to this report. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
02/23/2007 10:43:21 AM
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