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News Nuggets, 11.29.05
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Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

Pinkney claims ECU's 5th player of week award

The win-loss ledger is not the only place East Carolina's football renaissance is making itself apparent. The Pirates' resurgence is also being validated in terms of recognition for individual players.

Quarterback James Pinkney's selection as Conference USA Offensive Player of the Week for a league-high third time this season is the latest example.

Pinkney, who led ECU to a 31-23 upset win over UAB on Saturday, was announced as the recipient of the award Monday by the C-USA office in Irving, TX, which also tabbed Southern Methodist defensive tackle Adrian Haywood and Memphis kicker Stephen Gostkowski as the defensive and special teams players of the week, respectively.

A junior from Delray Beach, FL, Pinkney completed 21 of 33 passes for 286 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for a career-high 47 yards, including a 24-yard scoring run, to help ECU claim its fifth victory of the season while solidifying his own credentials as a candidate for the soon-to-be-announced All-Conference USA squad.

Pinkney's honor — he also was named player of the week after leading the Pirates to wins over Duke and Rice — was the fifth such accolade this season for an ECU player. Markeith McQueen captured the special teams award for his performance in the Duke game and Pierre Parker was named defensive player of the week after the Pirates defeated SMU.

The five weekly honors earned by ECU players amount collectively to an impressive accomplishment relative to the conference as a whole. During the course of the 13-week regular season, only 39 such awards are dispensed among the league's 12 teams, though the tributes are sometimes shared by more than one player.

ECU players won only one weekly award in each of the past two seasons: Pinkney, offense, in 2004, and running back Marvin Townes, offense, in 2003. In addition to a sparsity of individual awards during that span, wins were also scarce, with the Pirates gaining only three victories in the two years combined.

In addition to playing a major role in ECU's five-win season, Pinkney also began an assault on the ECU record books. He equaled a single-season record for most 200-yard passing games (10) and passed Jeff Blake to move into third-place in career passing yardage with 5,390. Pinkney finished the 2005 campaign with 2,773 passing yards, second-highest in school history.

Conference USA Player of the Week thumbnails:

OFFENSE

James Pinkney
Junior QB, East Carolina, Delray Beach,FL

Pinkney completed 21-of-33 passes for 286 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Pirates to a 31-23 victory over UAB. He also rushed for a career-high 47 yards, including a 24-yard TD run. In all, Pinkney accounted for 333 yards of total offense and three of the Pirates' four touchdowns. His 286-yard passing effort was his 10th of the season, which set a school record.

DEFENSE

Adrian Haywood
Junior DT, Southern Methodist, Mesquite, TX

Haywood led the Mustang defensive effort in a 40-27 upset victory over Texas-El Paso on Saturday. He collected 9 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and 2 sacks. He also forced a pair of fumbles, made an interception and broke up a pass.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Stephen Gostkowski
Senior PK, Memphis, Madison, MS

Gostkowski became the league's all-time leader in field goals — 67 made — after going 4-for-4 in a 26-3 victory over Marshall on Saturday. All four of his field goals were more than 40 yards long, including a school-record 53-yarder in the third quarter. For the season, Gostkowski was 10 of 10 on 40-plus yard field goal attempts.

C-USA Basketball Standings, Scores & Schedule

C-USA Football Standings, Scores & Schedule

News Nuggets are compiled periodically based on material supplied by staff members; data published by ECU, Conference USA and its member schools; and reports from Associated Press and other sources. Copyright 2005 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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