Thank God , Only 1 more loss to go before trying to erase the results of this football season. I thought ECU learned their lesson after the John Thompson era in the early 2000’s. At least we had a couple of winning seasons before Houston’s couching went South. From 8-5 to 2-10, that’s quite a drop off. Just wonder who the next coach will be and hope he knows something about offense and how to score points besides kicking feel goals.

Well, FINALLY they're making a move, announced this AM. I genuinely feel badly for DK and the young men who are competing. I've seen no evidence of bad faith on the part of any of them, but it's about time; there's a lot of work ahead to turn this ship around.

We’ve got another game to play. With another effort like yesterday, the Pirate offense might get all the way to 130… ARRRRGH!!

The Pirate Nation grousing over DK, et al is widespread, and I'm certainly not arguing, but of course the buck stops with MH, and he gets paid a very hefty salary for the privilege. My attitude is more of a "I don't care WHAT you do to fix it, Coach, but fix it, and make sure you have a bowl team in 2024." How does a team have a no. 25 ranked run d (no. 37 overall d) and yet a 2 - 9 record (one of the wins being vs. an FCS program)?? By having a no. 128 ranked offense! (Thank God for Eastern Mich. and Iowa.)

While I’m not ready to scuttle the Houston era just yet, I believe it is long past time to address the issue of not having even a semblance of a run game. Up front, the only consistency shown by the offensive line is their inability to properly block for the RPO scheming to which DK and MH remain stubbornly wedded, even after a major shuffle in personnel didn’t work. Granted, having your #1 quarterback prove to be a game time bust requires some major adjustments. When Garcia flopped, the RPO should have been scrapped. He brought the physical capabilities to the field which everyone knew Flinn didn’t have. Granted, Flinn understands the RPO concept probably better than Garcia. But, he doesn’t possess the physical talent of Garcia. That’s not a knock on Flinn, just a fact everyone knew from the jump. Where Garcia could overcome some of the o-line’s deficiencies, Flinn cannot. So, if Flinn is the man, why not change up your run scheme to a quicker hitting, north and south concept which could benefit both him and the o-line? It’s a fair question, and one which hasn’t been answered. If you’ve tried it in practice, and it didn’t work, tell us. Pirate Nation won’t like it any better, but at least we will know you tried. As it is, Garcia can’t get on the field, and Flinn struggles to be mediocre. And the o-line, God bless them, because I know they are trying. The sad summary of this season should include the dismissal of most, if not all, of the offensive staff. That begins with DK. Also, the talent evaluation process needs a major overhaul.

...like it would mean anything, whatsoever, had ECU managed to kick a field goal late to avoid the shutout? That even being in the discussion is a measure of how bad things have gotten. To get the NIL bs out of the way, yeah, sure, I’ll call that a factor; some Pirate Nation citizens seem to derive comfort from that. …but dozens of teams will be playing in a post-season game whose NIL position is no better than ECU’s, and plenty are worse. Every time I hear that excuse, I feel like it’s probably a cousin of Mike Houston behind the keyboard to whom he’s paid a few bucks to comment. It’s a little unfair to judge Flinn based on the OL in front of him and the receiver corps in front of them, yet there’s nothing to suggest that it would make enough of a difference even given the huge improvements needed in those other areas. Still, I would think that even if only out of desperation, we’d by now have seen Garcia (again) or Jeter, begging the question exactly what the heck is really going on with this team? The offense that Coach has brought to this his 5th season, in combination with his hefty salary, entirely validates the question of his fitness to stay on; undoubtedly, much better than a .421 winning percentage at this point in his tenure was anticipated when he was hired at a very healthy salary. He has put himself in a true bind, needing a complete offensive overhaul (save maybe for Sowell and a couple of RBs), such that making a bowl in ’24 (though a low bar) will be very difficult nonetheless (assuming he survives the Debacle of ’23), and IMPOSSIBLE if out of frustration some defensive players bail, but if ECU doesn’t make a bowl in ‘24, a dismissal will be the only responsible course to take.

No QB at all. So difficult to watch. OC needs to be seriously evaluated. Portal needs to be our friend and we need to get a QB. D has played well enough to have won several games. OC has zero imagination. And he is the catalyst for the QB. Sometimes you just don’t understand when we throw short of the line of gain on a 3 rd down attempt?!?! Play Garcia next week. Can’t do any worse.

Mentioned in third paragraph

Failed to mention SCU's scoring guard had 20 points, anytime he wanted to score, he did. We had no answer to stop him.

One of our Pirate football players is receiving an award tonight from the Chesterfield County Va Education Foundation (cefva.org) for outstanding tenure and accomplishments as a HS football coach and AD for 29 years+. The Bravo Award is being presented to Ted Salmon who played FB for ECU from 1968 through 1971. Ted was inducted into the VA HS Athletic Hall of Fame in 2015. Great recognition for an ex-Pirate footballer and long-time HS coach from the Richmond Metro area.

“I think we just got to … maximize our possessions.” I’m sorry, but that’s a very lame understatement of the offensive challenge against Navy. True enough, but lame. The Pirates rank as “pitiful “ on offense, among ALL FBS teams. The Pirate offense has hung the Pirate D out to dry numerous times this year, including the FAU game. Only the almost perfect performance by the defense, timely special teams work, and a very accurate Andrew Conrad bailed out the offense. Navy routinely eats up the clock on offense, even if a defense can keep them between the 20 yard lines. It’s a big ask to expect the Pirate D to keep Navy out of the end zone all day. The D must use scheming to be effective, not having the personnel to line up in “base D” an go toe-to-toe for 25-30 minutes a game. Coupled with the inability of the Pirate O to repeatedly sustain drives to within scoring distance, this could be ugly to watch. Navy won’t panic and go for it on suicide fourth downs like FAU did. Quite the opposite, I expect the Pirates will have to earn every trip inside the Navy 40 yard line. I would love to be wrong, and watch the Pirate O take the heat off of the defense for a change… one can hope.

Great write -up. Thanks for your work, Sammy

I think that the Pirates have a legit chance to win out due to a) the defense and b) a "cooperative" late season schedule. ...so, while taking a 3-win streak (far from guaranteed, of course) into the offseason would normally be grounds for hope for the near term future, that prospect is muted in this case, based on what they have for an offense, being a problematic OL and Q, and a questionable receivers corps, with the notable exception of Sowell. My opinion is that that have several legit backs with remaining eligibility that just need some basic blocking. I also fear losses to the portal; will Sowell be a flight risk, to a place where he could showcase his talent? What about key defensive players, who might be tired of their unit having to do all of the work? Interestingly, the broadcasters yesterday several times stated that the Pirates have the AAC's no. 1 incoming recruiting class; if so, let's hope that the bulk of it is on the offensive side, and they're quick studies.

Green and bonds. More please!!! Clearly best of the backs. They can get yards In bigger numbers than 47 as I see it. Look at the stats, and just look at the burst by comparison. Harris is 5th out of the group IMO. He just doesn’t seem to have “it”! We desperately need a QB , portal?? Yeah for a win but frustrating to watch. I agree, this was a good win but easily could have been a blow out.

Credit the young men under Blake Harrell and his Staff for continuing to step up, time after time. Credit young Conrad, who, like all kickers (and d-backs), require a short memory. He was pure money yesterday. I don’t bet, but I will bet somebody made some “ca-ching” on his performance. He should be considered for a player-of-the-week award of some kind. Never curse a win, no matter how frustrating the journey is to on the way to the reward. But, once again, the offense disappoints Pirate Nation. On a day when the defense turned the Owls over time after time, it seemed as if Coach and the OC themselves lost confidence in the offense to produce meaningful drives. If that’s not the case, then the play-calling for the final 21 minutes was absolutely p!$$ p@@r. Maybe Flinn staring down the post route for another interception became one too many mistakes. Or, perhaps the continued frustration in the run game was just too much. Fortunately for MH and DK, Andrew Conrad stepped up, BIG!!!