I don’t suggest MG will come around. He does have better RPO skills. Flinn has better pocket presence. I’m saying alter the offensive set away from RPO for Flinn. I think he could be more effective from under center, with Harris and Bond in the I-form. I completely agree with you about MG coming in on the goal line. All that did was tell Rice that Garcia was going to run the ball.

Where the evidence that MG will come around? There is evidence that AF can do something if they can establish a run game to help him out. The Pirates' penchant this season for disappearing late in the game is becoming thematic; last night it happened particularly on offense. Bluntly, that move to replace AF with MG when they were driving (late in the first half, I think) was profoundly boneheaded; they ended up getting points only because of the pass interference call. ...totally inexplicable. Questions abound in Pirate Nation.

Sadly, this year is a bust. Too many “new” guys trying to find their way in a very competitive environment. The athletes ECU can recruit, by and large, require more time to climb the learning curve than major conference players. With that in mind, some thoughts on how to move forward. Alex Flinn clearly has some talent. And, he is a wonderful example of what a “student-athlete” should be. However, he’s also inexperienced at a position which exacts a high price for poor decision-making. You can’t just throw a screen pass because it “was called”. Unfortunately for the Pirates, and we fans, the situation isn’t going to change this season. The offensive line isn’t consistent enough to sustain Flinn through his learning curve, as the O-line has their own issues with inexperience. Let’s face it, Mason Garcia was supposed to be The RPO Guy. Big, strong, definitely a run threat, and has a howitzer for an arm. On paper, he had better credentials than Ahlers. Well, Garcia has been a bust. Not physically, but mentally. We knew mistakes would be made. But, I don’t think any of us thought “the moment” would be too big for him. Sadly, it seems to be. Unfortunately, the offense has been recruited to support and succeed with a QB like Garcia, not Flinn. Flinn is willing, but he doesn’t have the physical skill set possessed by Garcia. What we do have, is Javious Bond. He knows how to go north and south. The O-line has shown they can give him a seam to squeak through. Flinn, imo, could benefit from a quick-hitting, I-formation run attack, with Harris and Bond/Gunn/Edmonds behind him. Flinn could be a sneaky good pocket passer with Johnson, Sowell, and Calhoun to play pitch-and-catch in the short/medium range attack. Otherwise, bite the bullet, and play Garcia through his misery. Make the RPO work with the QB who is built for it. Defense… still a work in progress, with a few players who haven’t learned how to play under control. The Pirates must stay committed to the mission. Overall, the defense has progressed much further than the offense. Coaching decisions… so you choose to kick the field goal and not go for the first down on a 4th and two, inside the five yard line. Okay. Then you GO FOR IT on a 4th and goal, and don’t kick a field goal that would GIVE YOU A LEAD when the team really didn’t need to come up empty. As Arsenio Hall would say… HMMMM? Finally, can we PLEASE just kick the ball into the end zone on kickoffs. No more cutesy placement kicks, that somehow don’t get covered very well.

2-6 on 4th down is the main (and most unusual) stat on an otherwise ECU should win results sheet. I didn’t get to see the game, but that is a crazy number of times to go for it in a close game unless your punter got hurt. Rice was 0-0 on 4th down.

From my observation, it looked like ECU played well enough to win against Marshall and App state, until the fourth quarter. We obviously miss Holton and Harris from last year, but I thought that we had them covered. I hope we do not have a letdown against Rice. LET"S GO PIRATES!!!

I am cautiously optimistic after the Pirates shutdown of Garner-Webb. The weather dictated a mandate on taking care of the football, and the Pirates did that for the most part. Even the one fumble appeared to touch the Pirate receiver laying out of bounds, but Replay didn’t agree. The offense went about their business in a workmanlike manner, nothing flashy or spectacular. Semi-boring is good when you keep your side of the scoreboard dinging. Great job by the defense. G-W gave them a lot of help, and the “D” took advantage of it. I believe we’ve got a couple of winners in the secondary… but still to early to judge. Special teams were okay, but nothing to shout about. Bottom line, the Pirates did what they should have done. In a season where wins are going to be hard to come by, it’s a solid W. Enjoy it for a day - you earned it - and get back to work. Football gets tough again next week.

If you have 2 quarterbacks, you have none.

We should also consider our 3 opponents have a combined record of 7-1, and each is expected to be contending for their respective conference titles. They have not lost to low quality teams. Clean up the penalties, tighten up our blocking schemes, the quarterbacks start reading the field and hitting the open receivers instead of forcing into tight coverage, the O start possessing the ball to allow the D a chance to breath and this team should be just fine. These young men have never shown a tendency to quit. They deserve our patience and support as they grow. Also looking up. Arrrgh, GO PIRATES!

Calm down folks. Lets remember when we made a poor decision to make a change and let Ruff go. Deep breath folks. I still believe we have a good coach. College football environment these days is as tuff as it has ever been. NIL, transfer portal, $$ deficiencies, conference shakeups, the long term foundational things still matter and perhaps now more than ever. Houston has those! It takes time. We lost a 5yr QB, two very talented receivers, a homerun back, ( wish he had stayed ) and those are not easy to replace. Seems now with two games to review, one played by each QB that we at least have some idea of who can give us the best chance at being competitive. I'd like to see more of Gunn and Bond at back. Just seem to have a little more speed and wiggle. We must block better, but a good back with a burst can find creases sometimes that others can't. Got to catch the ball!!!! Captain obvious I know, but. Look around, lot's of big time programs struggling. It's not easy even when you have unlimited resources. I believe we'll get there. These are 18-20 year old young men. Looking up. Go Pirates!

Penalties are a discipline problem. That’s coaching. line play on both sides of the ball will dictate how many wins the team will have. I love the spunk in our D-line butt 5 of them are 6’1” . No way they can pass rush against 6’5” guy. Good o line is like being married, it takes time to figure out, o line is a dance, there’s a rhythm to it. I doubt Nick saban could do much better with same budget and NIL we have. I love my Pirates, I’m going to support them no matter how bad it gets. The team with better players win 90% of the time. We’ve got to go after the best, it’s hard work , especially in Greenville. That is when the Coach is worth $2,000,000.00

Agree on the run game. The overall inexperience of the team is most telling on the O-line. This includes a lack of discipline - too many penalties - regardless of experience. By the third game, you shouldn’t be making all of the unforced errors we are seeing. Also agree on the defense, for the most part. The Pirates have some decent players sprinkled throughout the D. There is a flaw in our scheming, as App St used the same run play over and over, without much of an adjustment by the Pirates. When someone doesn’t make a tackle, that’s easy to see. More often than not, there wasn’t a Pirate near enough to contest the edge. I don’t know what nimrod decided to use the short kick at the 2 min mark in the 1st half. Your kicker has been doing a good job up to that point, so why get cute. We paid for it. Bad coverage, combined with poor defense after, gave momentum back to App. I was hoping for a 5 or 6 win season, even with all of the the new personnel… not now.

Once again, the defense is serviceable, the offense not so much; ECU has virtually no run attack. Unless and until that changes, the final result won’t change, no matter who’s under center.

Why would App State switch? Their operating costs would go through the roof in the AAC compared to the Sun Belt. App State gets decent exposure as is, because they have a winning tradition. The Mountaineers, for more than a few years, have outperformed the Pirates in football. The AAC would definitely benefit from having App State, but I don’t see it happening.

Appalachian or Costal should replace SMU.

NCAA has ruined yet another beautiful thing! As pirates we keep fighting and overcoming but the NIL isn’t winnable. Trying to raise $ for indoor facility, nil what next? App st will make us 0-3 then come home to Gardner Webb with 18,000 fans . Can’t recruit and keep kids under these conditions. No telling what conference will will land in, but folk aren’t coming to see the alphabet schools from Texas. It’s hard being a Pirate, but I love ‘em !!!