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News Nuggets, 08.13.06
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Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

Dye goes into college football hall of fame

Former East Carolina coach Pat Dye (1974-79) was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame on Saturday. Dye, who went on to coach at Wyoming and Auburn after his tenure in Greenville, compiled a 48-18-1 record in six seasons at ECU.

Dye is scheduled to be inducted into the ECU athletic hall of fame on the weekend of Oct. 7, when the Pirates host Virginia in football. Dye was selected for induction into the ECU hall last year but was prevented from attending because of health reasons.

The list of 2006 College Football Hall of Fame inductees included 20 former student-athletes and coaches from all levels of NCAA football. The Enshrinement Festival Activities began Thursday in South Bend, Indiana, home of the Hall of Fame and the National Football Foundation.

This year's induction class joins 900 legendary players from all NCAA divisions and subdivisions.

Players inducted included Cornelius Bennett, Alabama; Tom Curtis, Michigan; Anthony Davis, Southern California; Keith Dorney, Penn State; Jim Houston, Ohio State; John Huarte, Notre Dame; Roosevelt Leaks, Texas; Mark May, Pitt; Joe Washington, Oklahoma; Paul Wiggin, Stanford; David Williams, Illinois; Kevin Dent, Jackson State; John Friesz, Idaho; Ronnie Mallett, Central Arkansas; and Jerry Rice, Mississippi Valley State.

Coaches enshrined included Dick Farley from Williams College; John Gagliardi, who began his career in 1949 at Carroll College and currently coaches at St. John’s University (Minnesota); Vernon “Skip” McCain from Maryland State; Dye; and Don Nehlen who split his head coaching career between Bowling Green and West Virginia.

The celebration included a golf event, parade and dinner ceremony.

ECU scrimmage helps shape depth chart

An efficient offensive rushing attack and a physical, turnover-forcing defensive unit highlighted East Carolina's first intra-squad scrimmage of preseason camp Saturday afternoon at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, according to a report from ECU's athletic media relations department.

The controlled contest, which was played in pleasant conditions under sunny skies with temperatures in the upper 70's, consisted of 12 10-play possessions and a brief series of goal line situations.

The Pirates' top offensive unit, engineered by senior quarterback James Pinkney, turned in the day's most impressive effort as it drove into the redzone on three of its four possessions and cashed in two of the drives with a field goal and a two-yard touchdown run by junior Chris Johnson.

ECU's defense kept the second and third offensive levels out of the endzone and netted four of its five turnovers during those matchups, which included interceptions by sophomore Leon Best and freshman Melvin Patterson, and fumble recoveries by rookie Chris Atkins and junior Durwin Lamb.

"We wanted the second and third teams to get a bunch of work to help us develop our depth chart," head coach Skip Holtz said. "This scrimmage will allow us to get more reps and focus specifically on the first and second teams as we head into next week as well as starting our preparations for Navy (season opener at Navy, Sept. 2)."

Redshirt freshman Brett Clay guided the second unit while sophomore Patrick Pinkney and redshirt freshman Rob Kass each took turns leading the Pirates' third team during the 10-play series.

"I thought the hitting on defense was good," Holtz added. "We didn't give up too many big plays, which was encouraging. On the flipside, we still missed a lot of tackles and had some costly penalties. Those are things that we are going to work on."

In all, the second and third defensive units surrendered just two plays over 20 yards with the longest coming on a 59-yard strike from Patrick Pinkney to redshirt freshman Alex Taylor during the scrimmage's opening possession. Two of the Pirates' 14 penalties, a pair of holding calls, negated long touchdown runs by senior Brandon Fractious.

Johnson, Fractious and sophomore Dominique Lindsay averaged over five yards per carry on a combined 32 attempts to pace a revitalized ECU rushing attack.

"I thought our running backs did a great job today," Holtz summed up. "Chris Johnson broke some big tackles and is looking really good. We were able to run the ball north and south for about 4-5 yards a carry. Brandon Fractious and Dominique Lindsay also ran extremely well. Right now we have three good running backs on our two deep and that obviously will make for some good competition."

Sophomore Quentin Cotton led a defensive effort with 10 stops and recorded three of East Carolina's total of eight tackles which resulted in lost yardage.

The Pirates will take a day off from the field Sunday before returning to the Cliff Moore Practice Complex Monday for their second two-a-day schedule of camp. ECU will conduct the pair of workouts beginning at 8:45 a.m. and 3:50 p.m.

Memphis works out at Liberty Bowl

The Memphis Tigers donned shoulder pads and shorts Saturday for an early morning practice at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, according to a report on the university's athletic website.

It was the Tigers' third preseason workout in preparation for their season opener at 4:30.p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 3 at Ole Miss (ESPN). East Carolina will play Memphis in the Pirates' first home game of 2006 at 7 p.m. on Sept. 16.

At Memphis on Saturday, the squad split off for drills early on and then the offenses and defenses worked a bit against each other with light contact.On Monday, the Tigers are expected to be in full pads.

The team worked out for 18 periods before breaking for six periods of specials teams work. Following practice, the players went back to the Murphy Athletic Complex for photos that will be used for this season's game program and for television broadcasts.

Coach Tommy West expressed some displeasure in the focus of the team today in their first trip to the stadium.

"This team is going to have to be close to perfect to be good," West said. "We are going to have to be extremely disciplined."

West did single out sophomore defensive lineman Clinton McDonald for his work ethic.

A native of Jacksonville, AR, McDonald was one of six true freshmen to see action last season. He played in all 12 games and totaled six tackles after working on the defensive front and as a dominant special teams player.

The squad will practice Sunday afternoon and Monday morning before the first two-a-day session on Tuesday.

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 other sources. Copyright 2006 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Page Updated: 02/23/2007 12:50 PM