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Spring Drills Conclude on Productive Note
From ECU Media Relations
GREENVILLE — Four weeks of spring practice concluded with the final
session on Thursday afternoon for the East Carolina football team.
Head coach Steve Logan called the drills "productive" in his program's
quest to replace 20 departed seniors including two All-Americans and the
school's all-time leading passer.
"We've had a very upbeat, positive spring practice — one of the best I've
had a chance to be a part of," Logan said. "I had a lot of anxiety about the
quarterback situation and I feel very strongly that Paul [Troth] and Desmond
[Robinson] can play the position at a level that we're accustomed to. The
new defensive model that we put in showed us a lot of positive returns. Now
we've got to go play a game. I know that we're going to put a much faster
unit on the field."
Much attention has been drawn to the competition at quarterback, where
Troth, a 6-4, 217-pound sophomore, has emerged as the likely starter. Troth
gained national recognition as an all-star in high school, but saw only
limited action in his first season as a collegian, completing one of four
pass attempts while playing in three games. Robinson, who is more of an
option-style quarterback, enters his third season with the program but has
not seen any game action.
"Having gone through spring ball twice, having seen some game action and
gone on the road with us, Paul's experience puts him ahead of the normal
first-year starter. He's very eager and very confident and looking forward
to getting out on the field," Logan said of Troth.
"Desmond is real active and very quick and can stay alive in the pocket
for an extended period of time," said Logan on Robinson. "I've gained a lot
of confidence in him. He'll be taking series as we did with Richard Alston
behind David Garrard two years ago."
The Pirates did incur significant injuries to two players during the
spring drills. Sophomore letterman Damarcus Fox, who was slated for action
at H-back, and redshirt freshman Travis Cox, a cornerback, both suffered
knee injuries that required surgery. Both could possibly be ready to play by
the season opener, Aug. 31 at Duke.
Following the university's spring break next week, the Pirates will begin
their offseason conditioning program, which includes 6 a.m. workouts, on
March 18.
Visit ECUPirates.com.
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