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Holtz still a commodity
There is no longer much shock value to hearing Skip Holtz’s name uttered on ESPN.
As the network’s massive roster of analysts ponder endlessly the best candidates for college football’s coaching vacancies, the East Carolina’s coach’s name has clearly fallen into the regular rotation.
On Monday, ESPN named Holtz as a leading possibility for the Syracuse job.
On one hand, Holtz isn’t staying around forever no matter where he goes next or when. Even a national title run won’t keep Holtz from exploring new and different opportunities at some point.
On the other hand, big deal.
Hearing Holtz’s name mentioned in regard to a coaching vacancy means only one thing to me — it’s November. It’s the time of year when things that might not have been working a month ago at a handful of programs across the country definitely aren’t working now.
No matter who they are each year, this is the season of the scapegoat. Across the nation, losing coaches are bracing to take the fall for their failures.
Holtz has had interest coming from numerous directions the last couple of years, incuding West Virginia last season.
Having his name on the ESPN experts’ lists and having his famous father’s face on the network all day every Saturday are reasons to expect much more of the same. ECU’s upset-filled start to the season added even more fuel, and even going 3-4 since then doesn’t extinguish all the flames.
The fact is, ECU’s coach is on the cool list in college football.
Want proof? Last week I did an interview with 950 KJR in Seattle. They certainly didn’t want to talk about me or the Pirates. They wanted to ask me how good of a fit I thought Holtz would be at Washington.
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Tuesday practice notes
Skip Holtz admits this is the time of the football season when a team generally practices less and less in full pads.
But the importance of this weekend’s game at Southern Miss had the Pirates going at it in full gear Tuesday night.
After the session ended, Holtz continued to stress to his team that the only way to beat Southern Miss, the team’s longest standing rival, is to be more physical than the Golden Eagles.
In the same, breath he reminded his players just how often ECU teams have failed to do that.
“I keep talking about over the last 12 years, we’ve beaten this team two times, we’re 2-10,” Holtz said. “It’s going to be a heck of a battle. The Rock is not an easy place to play. We’ve got to get it in our mind that this is going to be a physical football game and we’re going to have to play a complete game to go down there and be competitive.”
Holtz contended there were numerous rivalries developing in Conference USA’s East Division, where ECU is the current front-runner at 4-1. Overtime wins over UCF and Marshall the last two weeks likely solidified that notion.
Still, even at 2-4 in the league, Holtz knows Southern Miss is the team the Pirates have faced the most, often with disappointing outcomes.
The teams are set to square off for the 34th time Saturday at 3 p.m. EST.
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Marshall midweek
East Carolina coach Skip Holtz seemed to be feeling the rush of a short week after Wednesday night’s practice.
The season’s most critical game comes this Saturday after the Pirates played last Sunday night at UCF. Looming Saturday is Marshall, the Pirates’ 2007 Conference USA nemesis, and Holtz was trying to keep the momentum up in the midweek practice sessions.
“We’ve got an awful lot we’ve got to get done,” Holtz said Wednesday. “We came out here with an awful lot of fire and energy, but we kind of tapered as the day went on, and we didn’t quite finish with the spirit that I’d like.
“These guys are tired a little bit with the short week. As late as they got back (Monday morning after Sunday night’s 13-10 win at UCF), and with all the pressure that’s being put on them right now with academics, I think getting our sleep is going to be important.”
Holtz said one of the stresses as a coach is getting in as early in the morning as the team did Monday and knowing that many of his players were obligated to be in class later that same morning.
“The short work week doesn’t bother me near as much as getting home at five in the morning and then getting the emails that I got about how many players were in class at 9 o’clock,” Holtz said. “I’m really proud of them for the commitment they’re making to getting their degrees, but they’re tired right now.”
Holtz recalled last season’s long journey to El Paso to play UTEP in a Saturday night game and how the long return affected the team’s schedule for the following week, a home loss to N.C. State.
During a traditional game week cycle, Holtz and his staff spend a large portion of Sunday grading the film from Saturday’s game. That’s always followed by a Sunday night practice which Holtz said allows the staff to put to rest the previous game.
Mistakes are accounted for and any team punishments for in-game mistakes are rendered. It’s also the first night of preparation for the following week’s opponent. This week, that wasn’t an option.
“We came in Tuesday, and we’re putting on the UCF film,” Holtz said of the non-traditional week.
Holtz said all of the UCF business was laid to rest by Tuesday, and the Marshall game-planning began then as well.
Suspension update
Junior wide receiver Jamar Bryant, who was suspended for the rest of the season prior to the Virginia game due to a violation of team rules, has been a regular at Pirate practices the last several weeks, but he has been demoted to the scout team.
At the time of Bryant’s suspension, Holtz said it would last for at least the remainder of the season, and that he would reevaluate the receiver’s status with the team during the offseason.
Sophomore running back Jonathan Williams, meanwhile, made an appearance in court Wednesday to address assault charges. Williams, suspended indefinitely from the team following the Memphis game, was also spotted at practice Wednesday night.
Though Williams was not participating in drills or wearing a practice uniform, he walked off the practice field with the team.
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Sudden impact
East Carolina is a late bloomer on the football field this season.
Last Sunday night, a game that seemed destined to go the way of host UCF, even after the Pirates rallied to tie it 10-10 late in the fourth quarter, suddenly slanted in ECU’s favor.
From quarterback Patrick Pinkney’s fourth-and-10 connection with Davon Drew to keep the game-tying drive afloat to the Pirate defense’s snuffing out of an odd fake punt call from Knight coach George O’Leary in the waning minutes when field position seemed the most valuable commodity, the Pirates have made winning late a new trait.
On the defensive side, cornerback Emanuel Davis not only forced and recovered a late fumble that stifled UCF’s attempt to somehow make a 10-0 halftime lead stand, he then snared the interception on the first play of overtime that gave the Pirates the ball to win the game.
Like it did in a week three win at Tulane, the light suddenly went off for the ECU offense after being blanked in the first half. With time ticking away in the fourth quarter, the Pirates seized the momentum when the Knights seemingly thought they were destined to win.
Having forced a fourth-and-10 on ECU with less than four minutes to play and clinging to a 10-3 lead, UCF was suddenly defenseless as Pinkney, from the Knights’ 36-yard line, connected with Drew to send the drive to the UCF 23 with a fresh set of downs.
Then, with 2:10 to play on a third down, Pinkney was rushed to his left and fired a pass against the grain to Drew over the middle, and the tight end rumbled to inside the UCF 5-yard line.
From there, Norman Whitley plowed into the end zone to tie the game, 10-10, with 1:51 to play.
The teams traded turnovers during a couple of frantic sequences in the dying minutes of regulation, but neither led to a decisive score.
UCF running back Brynn Harvey fumbled, but a booth review showed his knee hit the ground before losing the ball. But then quarterback Michael Greco lost the ball for the Knights under pressure from Davis, and ECU covered it on the UCF 22 with less than a minute to play.
But when ECU co-quarterback Rob Kass took the field, he promptly tossed an interception to Johnell Neal, ending the threat and allowing UCF to take a knee and force overtime.
Still, head coach Skip Holtz said immediately after the game he was thrilled with his team’s never-say-die attitude.
“I’m really proud of the way this team hung in there, the way they kept competing,” Holtz said. “They never gave up. They played together. It’s a great win, a conference win.
“(UCF) only lost two games at home, to Texas and South Florida, so I’m certainly not going to sneeze at it.”
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Hartman a joker, not a choker
Another horrible joke, another game-winning kick for East Carolina’s Ben Hartman. Much like he did last season before booting game-winning field goals against North Carolina and Boise State, Hartman and ECU head coach Skip Holtz tried to settle each others nerves with a pre-kick joke Sunday night in Orlando, Fla. The tradition continued in overtime as Hartman was on the hook again, sending a 39-yard field goal through the uprights for a 13-10 comeback victory over host UCF. Despite the growing legend of Hartman and his winning kicks, the jokes seem to be getting worse. “This one I found in the student newspaper,” Hartman said of the joke he told Holtz. “It was by far the corniest one I’ve ever told the man. Why did the skeleton not cross the road? He didn’t have any guts.” This time, the junior kicker from Winston-Salem said Holtz was critical of his joke choice after the game. “After I made (the kick), he came over and gave me all this hogwash, saying that joke was terrible, that was corny,” Hartman said of Holtz. For a kicker, Hartman persistently stays involved on the sidelines, cheering his teammates while contemplating his next kick. On Sunday night, Hartman had missed two first half attempts, but converted both of his second half tries. He said he knew he could make the overtime kick if given the opportunity. “I told (defensive end) Zack Slate, you get them to turn over the ball and I’ll make the kick and we’ll walk out of here with the W,” Hartman said. Hartman said he’s like all players in that he wants the ball when the game is on the line, but he lamented that fact his early misses were the difference between the Pirates winning in regulation and winning in overtime.
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UCF midweek update
East Carolina’s defense has been trying to do more with less lately, and it seems to have quietly been working.
Many times this season, the Pirates have lined up for battle in their nickel defense, leaving senior Pierre Bell and junior Nick Johnson as the only linebackers on the field so the Pirates can load up on defensive backs.
It can be a little stressful for that tandem, especially when an opponent runs instead of passing against the big secondary, but both linebackers have excelled as loners in the middle.
“When we add another DB to the mix, it just gives me and Nick another chance to make plays,” said Bell, who has combined with Johnson to make 94 total tackles and rank second and third in that regard on the team. “It adds a lot more speed to the field, especially in our league.
“All teams want to do is sling it around in these weird formations. The added speed just helps us get to the ball faster.”
The duo has also made 13 combined tackles for loss, a couple of interceptions, three pass breakups, three fumble recoveries and forced two fumbles.
Johnson said the nickel look is something he Bell are suited to doing, especially against the tall and fast teams of Conference USA.
Return of J.R.
According to ECU head coach Skip Holtz, one of the rescues for the running game in the absence of Jonathan Williams could be junior J.R. Rogers, who has recovered from a nagging high ankle sprain that limited him since August camp.
Although he is stuck behind sophomore Norman Whitley and senior Brandon Simmons on the depth chart, Rogers has steadily been picking up steam in practice. With Williams out of the picture with an indefinite suspension, Holtz said Rogers is emerging.
“I don’t know if it’s because he’s got his legs under him now, but he comes out here and he’s quick … and he’s bringing an excitement and an enthusiasm,” Holtz said of Rogers, a Raleigh native who transferred to ECU in 2006 from California’s Bakersfield Community College. “He’s waited, coming from a junior college to sitting out and redshirting last year and then getting injured and having to wait through six or seven games.”
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Williams facing charge
East Carolina running back Jonathan Williams’ future and playing status are in limbo following his early October arrest.
According to Pitt County court reports, Williams was charged Oct. 5 with resisting a public officer in Greenville.
“We have just been made aware of the situation and we are certainly going to gather facts from an internal standpoint and let the judicial system take its course,” ECU coach Skip Holtz said in a statement Tuesday. “Any charge filed against an ECU football player is something that we take very seriously, but since this is a legal matter, any further comment on our part would be inappropriate at this point.
“Our basic expectation for every member of our program has always been that they must earn the right to represent East Carolina University on the football field every week and that they will be held accountable for their actions on and off the field. Any player charged with a crime will not represent ECU in any manner until cleared to do so by university and athletic department administrators. We always work closely with those entities to ensure that student-athletes are disciplined in a fair and consistent manner within the expectations for all ECU students as well as the expectations for all student-athletes.”
Williams, who is the Pirates’ leader in rush yards (380) and touchdowns (5), was released on $1,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court Nov. 5. Williams played a significant role in each of the team’s last two games, a 35-20 loss at Virginia and last weekend’s 30-10 home win over Memphis.
The former J.H. Rose High star was also arrested last April and charged with driving while intoxicated and underage consumption.
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Tuesday night notebook
Don’t envy East Carolina kicker Ben Hartman.
Even when the game isn’t hanging in the balance, the junior kicker regularly hangs his reputation with his teammates on whether or not he successfully kicks a field goal.
What’s on the line on non-game days? Sprints.
Every ECU practice finishes with field goals, and it’s often on Hartman’s shoulders to make a kick, or kicks, in order to keep his team from running sprints. On Tuesday, the wager being offered by head coach Skip Holtz was four or none — make a kick from 47 yards out, and the team got off without running a single sprint. Miss, and every man runs four.
Hartman missed. Wide right.
Like at a craps game or roulette table, the miss was accompanied by cries of, “Double or nothing!”
Some of Hartman’s teammates showed plenty of faith in their kicker, urging Holtz to consider letting Hartman kick again for greater stakes. Others had less faith, groaning at the thought of running twice the number of field lengths they originally would have.
Holtz took the gamble. The kick? The Pirates ran double the sprints.
Practice
Holtz lauded his team’s effort in the second of consecutive practices to start the preparation week for Saturday’s noon kickoff against Memphis.
He seemed happy with the effort in what he said was the final of two vital evaluation days for the 3-3 Pirates. Holtz said the ECU staff would spend Wednesday — an off day for the team because of fall break — studying the practice film, including a 50-minute team session Tuesday that pitted the team’s top two offensive units against the top defensive units.
“We’re kind of back to a camp mentality, where we’re doing a lot of offense versus defense,” Holtz said.
Because Memphis plays similar schemes to the Pirates’, the top units have not practiced much against the scout team, the guys who normally spend the week mimicking the following week’s opponent.
On Monday, Holtz said he was mulling some personnel changes for the Memphis game in order to break the Pirates’ three-game losing skid. Any changes should be made by Thursday as the team rolls through its main game preparation phase.
Holtz said sophomore running back Jonathan Williams should be fine despite spending Tuesday’s practice on the sideline with a cast on his lower leg. Holtz called the cast the result of Williams’ 19 carries for 95 yards last Saturday at Virginia, and said he expected the team’s new top running back to be on the field to face the Tigers.
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Bryant suspended, Campbell sidelined
They were thin enough at wide receiver, but East Carolina shed some more serious pounds by losing junior Jamar Bryant to an indefinite suspension Wednesday.
While indefinite can be a careful way of leaving things up to question, word around this campfire is indefinite might mean the rest of this year, if not longer.
ECU head coach Skip Holtz confirmed Bryant’s suspension after practice Wednesday, where Bryant worked out with the scout team. Junior Alex Taylor played in Bryant’s place.
“It’s painful, but you’ve got the obligation to do what’s in the best interest of the program first,” Holtz said. “We’re not going to try to sell this program down the river for a win. We’re going to build this thing on a solid foundation.”
Back in the lineup at receiver is T.J. Lee, who Holtz notes is still more famous for his blocked punt against Virginia Tech than he is for any catches he’s made. While Taylor’s move from the Z over to the X post is to replace Bryant, it will be the shuffle behind them that makes an impact.
Holtz has steadily worked redshirt freshman Darryl Freeney into the roatation, and now the pressure will be turned up on freshman Joe Womack as well. Along with them, junior Reyn Willis and redshirt D.J. McFadden will be forced to take on greater roles to help Lee and Dwayne Harris.
Also lost, at least for the short term, is junior offensive tackle Terence Campbell because of some unfavorable reports from his doctor. Campbell returned to full duty this year after a heart attack in February of 2007 knocked him out of football for a full year.
“Terence is questionable,” Holtz said in reference to the Virginia game this Saturday. “We’re going learn a little more, and they’re running some tests on him. Right now, it’s precautionary. It’s not anything that’s thrown up a red flag … they’re just a little bit concerned with his lab work.”
Campbell is subjected to constant monitoring since his return during spring practice.
With braces on both knees, senior left tackle Stanley Bryant legged out another important practice Wednesday, including a long session of simulated plays and movements after practice with line coach Steve Shankweiler.
“He’s moving around really well with his knee,” Holtz said of Bryant, who was lost in the Tulane game. “We’ve been really careful in what we’ve done with him. We came out and let him do a little bit (Tuesday) and a little bit more today and we’ll push him a little bit more tomorrow.”
Holtz confirmed the return of redshirt freshman fullback Kevin Gidrey from thumb surgery, along with senior safety Leon Best from a lower leg injury. Junior defensive end Scotty Robinson, who played with a broken bone in his foot for three weeks, has been shut down for the week and spent practice on the sideline wearing a protective boot.
Holtz said he would be in the boot for two weeks, and could likely miss the Memphis game as well. Because of it, Holtz said walk-on lineman Josh Smith and redshirt Maurice Mercer are stepping into the rotation.
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The J. Williams experience
It’s remarkable how much players with the surname Williams, who also happen to have the letter J as their first initial, have impacted East Carolina’s season.
Jonathan, Jeremy, Jarvis and Julian have all managed to figure into the Pirates’ roller coaster 3-2 start to the 2008 campaign.
Julian Williams, N.C. State’s junior offensive tackle, was one of the unsing heroes in the Wolfpack’s 30-24 overtime upset of ECU. He and the State front line started dominating the Pirates’ front four when it counted most.
State rallied in the second half behind the powerful running of Andre Brown, up to and including Brown’s game-clincing overtime touchdown, and Julian Williams was part of the plow which drove Brown.
Wide receiver Jarvis Williams, meanwhile, made three catches in ECU coverage that day, but one stood out from the others. He leapt into the air to snag a 20-yard third quarter touchdown to tie the game briefly, 14-14.
Like teammate Julian, Jarvis Williams was romanced heavily by the Pirates on the recruiting trail. ECU head coach Skip Holtz, in fact, said he remembered sitting on the terrace at the Murphy Center with Julian during his visit with the Pirates.
The week before the loss to State, Tulane’s Jeremy Williams began finding holes in the Pirate defense and seemed to unearth some weaknesses later exploited in ECU’s losses to State and Houston.
The Green Wave’s junior wide receiver had a field day on the Pirates, including eight catches for 138 yards and a 47-yard touchdown. He also reeled in a 50-yard catch to set up another Tulane TD.
The Pirates’ own Williams, sophomore running back Jonathan, hasn’t been flawless but his impact stands to be the biggest.
Williams appears poised for a big game that could help jump-start a powerful trio with fellow sophomore Norman Whitley and senior Brandon Simmons.
Fumbles are a running back’s bane, and Williams has two, one at at Tulane and one against Houston.
But Williams, in his first true year as a running back after limited duty last season, stands to make an impact far greater than the other Williams from here on. Despite his pair of miscues, Williams has carried the ball with ferocity, and has proven not only a strong runner through the middle, but one who can find the end zone in short-yardage situations.
Focus seems to have faded steadily for the Pirates in its last three games, and offensive fumbles have certainly been a part of that, ballooning to 12 already. While Williams has played a small part in that, he and Whitley could combine to put up better career numbers than their predecessor now playing for the Tennessee Titans.
Though no one, certainly not me, would argue the dream season of Chris Johnson was what carried the 2007 Pirates to their 8-5 finish, Johnson’s overall impact at ECU was limited to his senior year.
Despite some of those other Williams stealing some of the early headlines this year, the one in Greenville stands a chance to do even more.
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A third of the way there
Thirty-three and a third percent of the football season is in the past for East Carolina, and the Pirates have accrued some statistics thus far that seem just about as surprising as a 3-1 start.
One of the most surprising is how well the Pirates really have played the pass. True, they were suspect in trying to interrupt Jeremy Williams’ big day at Tulane, and the N.C. State Wolfpack was able to use its pass game when it counted most — Russell Wilson’s touchdown strike to Jarvis Williams was a sign of the impending Wolfpack takeover.
But the ECU defensive backs and linebackers have actually been very efficient. They boast the 36th best pass defense in the nation, in fact, allowing 176 yards a game. Combined with the defense’s 121.5 rush yards allowed, the Pirates are 31st in total defense.
In Conference USA, it looks even better, as ECU ranks second in pass defense, scoring defense and total defense.
And despite seeming to struggle at times to pressure opposing quarterbacks, ECU’s 2.3 sacks per game ranks 33rd nationally.
On the other side, senior quarterback Patrick Pinkney has only been picked off twice, putting ECU at No. 24 in that regard. Pinkney is also 26th in pass efficiency and 25th in passing yards.
Yet, turnovers have been the biggest negative difference between this season and last so far.
The Pirates have coughed up 10 fumbles and forked six of them over. That puts them at a distant 108th in the national picture.
ECU’s 43.1 percent effectiveness puts them right in the middle of the national pack at 48th. The Pirates’ total offense ranks them 66th — 82nd on the rush and 50th on the pass.
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Houston week begins
East Carolina football coach Skip Holtz seemed to get the reaction he was looking for Tuesday night, as the No. 23 Pirates returned to practice in preparation of Houston’s arrival this weekend.
Holtz has said the way his 3-1 team responds to its first loss of the season last week at N.C. State will be critical to bouncing back.
The fourth-year coach said he saw a very spirited answer to defeat.
“They were really quiet on Sunday, and I was a little bit worried how they were going to come back,” Holtz said of his team, which endured a 30-24 overtime loss to the Wolfpack last Saturday. “There was just so much riding on the game. It’s not only the rivalry and being close and the bragging rights. There was more than that riding on it, and it hurts to lose.
“Hopefully, if we can learn something from it, we can turn it into a positive. It hurts to lose the way we did, as close as it was and with everything on the line.”
Holtz said Sunday night’s practice was a somber affair. The team’s academic day is Monday, meaning no practice, so Holtz said he was relieved at Tuesday’s results.
As usual, the scheming process began for the 1-3 Cougars, a seeming offensive machine despite their poor results to date.
While the execution of defending Houston is far from easy, the set-up is pretty simple, Holtz said Tuesday night.
“The preparation, you’ve got to throw the ball around a lot in practice, because that’s what you’re going to see on Saturday,” he said.
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Sneak peek at Saturday’s Gameday
One of the most detailed football conversations you can have is one with East Carolina assistant head coach and secondary coach Rick Smith.
No one I’ve dealt with has a keener idea about how teams and players match up with one another, or has a better way of conveying the information.
As promised, when possible, I will use this space to give further detail on stories that will run in The Reflector and on the web site.
In this case, here is a sneak peek at Saturday’s Gameday story on the ECU secondary, as seen through the eyes of Smith. Contained here is a good deal more of my conversation with Smith this week about N.C. State and his ever-tough approach to coaching defensive backs which didn’t make the story.
On N.C. State’s quarterbacks
“(Russell) Wilson is like West Virginia (quarterback Pat White). They’re going to use him on the bootlegs, the sprint-outs, he’ll take off and run if they’re covered. He’s a real good athlete with a real strong arm. But he’s young, he’s still got to learn what to do.
“We’re approaching it like they’re going to move the pocket when he’s in there.”
“(Daniel) Evans, last year, had a real big day against us. He hasn’t had a successful season yet, but we could see him, (Harrison) Beck. You don’t know which one you’re going to get, but they’re all three good quarterbacks. We’ve just got to do a good job of whichever coverage package we carry into the game.”
More on the play of Tulane’s Jeremy Williams
“That was a great catch. You’ve got to give (Williams) credit for that.”
“The other one, I felt like Hewett just went to sleep. You take those two plays right there — one of them was for 50 and one of them was for 47 — that’s 97 yards on two plays.
“You have to give (Williams) credit for the one. I don’t get upset when I’ve got guys in position. They either make a play or they don’t.
A player-player report card
“Van Eskridge has done an outstanding job at free safety. He’s making tackles, making plays. And he has not given up up a deep ball yet. Very few mental errors. I would like for him tackle better. We try to tackle at 85 percent, and he’s at about 81 percent.
“Van has taken almost every snap at free safety, and I’ve got to get Chris Mattocks more reps. Chris is a good player, and I’ve got to make myself put him on the field. He’s doing a great job on special teams.
“J.J. Milbrook has played really well. He was limited somewhat last week by the shoulder injury, but he’s back at full speed. He’s tackling at 89 percent, which is good, and he’s made some big fourth down hits for us. On the two goal-line stands this year, he’s the one that has made those hits. Both of those two safeties have graded out winners.
“Herman Best, the reason he didn’t grade out a winner was because he was in on that 47-yard completion (at Tulane). He should have made that play.
“We need more depth at safety. I’m bringing Julian Carter along a little bit, and he’s going to be a heck of a player down the road. And I’m working Devon Wallace at strong safety. That’s what I’m worried about, we don’t have enough depth at safety.
“Hewett has played great this year except for that one play last week. He should have had a pick for a touchdown and dropped it.
“Travis Simmons has played well. He was in on the deep one (at Tulane with Best). He went for the pick and didn’t get it. But both of those two kids have played well at the field corner.
“In the boundary, I’m just tickled to death with the way Dekota Marshall is playing. Dekota graded out 100 percent against Tulane. He had 14 chances to make a play and he graded out plus every time. And he’s also working at nickel.
“And Emmanuel Davis is playing great. I am so excited about the boundary position. Those two kids are playing great, and then we’ve got a kid that nobody knows named DeAndre Jones. He is going to be another exceptional player, so that position is solid.
“I’m pleased with them overall as a unit. We’re 3-0. We don’t have any picks yet. I used to worry about that when I was a young coach, but they’ll come when they’re supposed to. I was in NFL Europe, we played four ball games and didn’t have any, but we ended up with 19. They’ll start coming.
“Last year, I thought that the secondary wasn’t as bad as some people made out. This year, our linebackers are playing great pass coverage, and that’s helped us out.”
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Injury update for N.C. State
Injured ECU offensive lineman Stanley Bryant will remain a large question mark over the next several weeks after sustaining a knee injury that sent him limping out of the Tulane game last Saturday.
Head coach Skip Holtz marched his team into another preparation week Tuesday, this time for the No. 15 Pirates’ tilt with N.C. State in Raleigh. He did so without his senior left tackle, who helped to bolster the Pirate running game and protect quarterback Patrick Pinkney in the Pirates’ unbeaten start to the season.
“They told me four to eight weeks,” Holtz said of Bryant’s prognosis. “That’s at least four games or maybe eight games, so that’s a huge difference.”
Holtz also confirmed wide receiver and special teams ace T.J. Lee fractured his foot against the Green Wave.
He said it’s unsure which direction the team will take to Lee’s recovery.
“There’s a couple of ways to approach him with his broken foot,” Holtz said. “They can either do a surgical procedure or put a screw in it, and then maybe it’s a four-week thing. But I don’t know at this point.”
Holtz said he doesn’t expect to see either player back for at least two to three weeks under the best of circumstances.
In terms of replacing Bryant, Holtz kept junior Terence Campbell on the right side and put sophomore D.J. Scott on the left. While both have ample playing time already, Holtz is expecting some of the players behind that duo to start earning some playing time.
“Travis Melvin has been here for three years, it’s not like he’s a true freshman,” Holtz said. “He may have to get thrown into the fire. A guy like Doug Polochak is in the same situation. He’s been here for a while rehabbing shoulder injuries, but now he’s getting in there. We’re trying to cross-train some guys, guys like (starting right guard) Doug Palmer who can play tackle and guard.”
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More of Mitchell, Ross and Hudson
Here’s a little more of what ECU defensive linemen Khalif Mitchell and Jay Ross, and defensive coordinator Greg Hudson had to say during this week’s interviews.
Mitchell
On his transfer from UNC
“Chapel Hill gets a lot of exposure just because of the history of it. It’s a great program and a great school. Butch Davis is a good coach. When you come from over there to here, and you see where East Carolina has been — I can remember when I was at Chapel Hill looking at East Carolina and thinking, well that’s a win for whoever plays them. But not anymore.”
“Five years later in my life, and I’m here in a position to make history and it’s a blessing. I never experienced anything like it.”
On being ranked
“Being No. 14 in the country doesn’t feel any different. Practice is no different this week than it was last week. It’s great that they picked us 14th, and we’re honored to be there, but we have to keep working. If keep working as hard as we did to get to 14th, there’s no telling where it will go.”
On his mother’s influence
“My mom is my greatest inspiration. She raised me, my brother and my sister growing up, and I’ve a got a new baby sister. She runs the house and she keeps me grounded. She talks to me all the time. She used to tear my butt up when I was younger. Even being a man as big as I am, she still tore my hide up when I did wrong and she always made sure she taught me good morals and values. I came this far under her wing and her guidance. I’m here now because of the sacrifices she made.”
On Ross
“When I first got here, ironically, he was roommate then, too. He’s right next to me on the field, and he’s even next to me in the meeting room.”
“I try to learn my get-off from his because he gets off the ball so fast.”
Ross
On his coaches
“This coaching staff is over here all day working, studying film. I think watching film is an edge. You can pick up a few of your opponents’ flaws, things you can beat them on. It’s been about coaching and us coming out here and executing every day.”
On being ranked
“It’s all about confidence, and the more you win, the more you want to work to keep winning.”
Hudson
On Mitchell and Ross
“Defending the run and push against the pass, from a penetration point they’re giving us everything we asked for.”
On the depth of the defensive line
“Linval Joseph and Josh Smith allow the guys out there at the beginning to have a full tank because they have been able to play 20 or 25 plays a game, which now, has turned into half the game. We’ve got four guys we can really count on. (Assistant coach) Rock (Roggeman) has gone above and beyond the call of duty with coaching them, especially from a mindset and an explosiveness standpoint.”
On defensive intensity
“When you can see on film the type of intensity they have, that makes you have to prepare very well. Anybody can be loud, but the guys you can see on film that bring it every play, those are the ones you spend some extra time figuring out how you’re going to beat them.”
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Tulane tune-up
Great teams are measured in many different ways.
As the shock of East Carolina’s consecutive upset wins over Virginia Tech and West Virginia start to sink in on players and fans, 0-1 Tulane looms as a whole new kind of challenge.
ECU coach Skip Holtz and his No. 14 Pirates are now the favorite, and Saturday’s 3 p.m. EDT kickoff in New Orleans will measure something Holtz has talked about since his first season in 2005. Can the Pirates learn how to handle winning?
Holtz reiterated after Wednesday night’s practice that the Tulane game would be very telling about his team’s future. Holtz said week one was about determining whether or not this ECU team was one of the same ilk of Virginia Tech. Week two was about repeating the task a second time and against a much tougher opponent in No. 8 WVU.
Now, it’s about winning as the favorite.
“That’s what the good teams do, they go and play each and every week,” Holtz said. “They don’t have the ups and the downs and the highs and the lows of the roller coaster. The Southern Cals, and Texas and Florida, they go out every week and play their game. They practice on Tuesday and Wednesday, they polish it up on Thursday, they get ready to play on Friday and they go out there and play extremely hard on Saturday.
“We’re going to have to get into this mindset that we can’t worry or let who we play control the level of play.”
In keeping with that philosophy, Holtz continued to laud his team’s practice efforts from Wednesday night, saying the team started slow in the steady rain but finished strong.
Injuries
Defensive tackle Khalif Mitchell (ankle), linebacker Jeremy Chambliss (ankle) and strong safety J.J. Millbrook (shoulder) made returns to the practice field Wednesday night, meaning all will likely return to their starting posts for Saturday’s kickoff.
“We limited J.J.’s collisions a little bit, but they practiced,” Holtz said. “Everybody’s sore with bumps and bruises, but they’re pushing through it because they want to play.”
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Midweek notes
With the weather, even in Greenville, serving as a constant annoyance to the 2-0 East Carolina football team, Skip Holtz admitted Tuesday night he was excited by what he saw in the stormy evening practice sesssion.
As the No. 14 Pirates prepare for Saturday’s game at Tulane, and attempt to continue a dream start to the season, the team returned to the practice field and displayed what the fourth-year head coach was hoping to see.
“I think they’re focused,” Holtz said after the team again got doused in rain in the final minutes of practice, something that has become routine in recent weeks. “I told the staff we were going to learn a lot about this football team in the first 30 minutes of practice. We were going to find out if we’re going to be focused and have the same kind of concentration we had going into the last two games (wins over No. 17 Virginia Tech and No. 8 West Virginia).
“So many of those seniors on this team are guys that are playing with an understanding that we’ve been close before and we kind of lost sight of our focus and what we have to do.”
Injuries
Holtz said senior safety J.J. Milbrook was unable to practice after entering the week nursing a shoulder injury. He will likely be a game-time decision for Holtz, and his starting status for Saturday will depend on whether or not he appears at practice Wednesday night.
“I have a rule that if you don’t practice on Tuesday or Wednesday, you can’t start,” Holtz said. “If you don’t practice on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, you don’t play. I anticipate J.J. will be able to play by the end of the week.”
Depth could go a long way in bridging the injury gaps. Fellow senior safety Leon Best (North Lenoir High School) has 35 games and eight starts to his credit, and has played virtually every position in the secondary.
Senior defensive tackle Khalif Mitchell (ankle) was able to put in limited work Tuesday night, and junior outside linebacker Jeremy Chambliss (ankle) “has a chance” to play Saturday, according to Holtz.
Media frenzy
While most of the radio interview requests the first two weeks of the season were somewhat regional, the Pirates’ new nationwide hype has certainly been evident in who wants to talk about the team, and its sudden relationship with former BCS busters.
This week, I’ve answered interview requests with ESPN Radio Jacksonville, Fla., The Ticket in Louisville, Ky., 610 AM in Kansas City, KTIK in Boise, Id., and ESPN Radio Fresno, Calif.
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Something to lose now
The East Carolina football team has entered a new era.
Armed with the nation’s No. 14 ranking, the Pirates are now saddled with something to lose, an unfamiliar burden and the most obvious example of how much has changed under head coach Skip Holtz.
Perhaps nothing characterizes that new era more than the way ECU managed to bring down an ACC team and a Big East team in an eigtht-day span. There was nothing accidental, no bad calls and no controversy in either game.
The stars all played for both teams, and quite simply, the stars in purple and gold were better this time around.
Part of college football success is overcoming great game-planning against you, and that’s another critical difference. Last year, when the Pirates were drubbed down in Morgantown, it was the same rope-a-dope bubble screen all day by the Mountaineers.
Rich Rodriguez could have dozed off during the game and it wouldn’t have mattered because his team had the play he knew ECU couldn’t stop, and had the personnel to keep running it.
ECU has learned to overcome plans like that and even to wear down team with its own mismatches.
But now the pressure has really arrived. Beating a pair of ranked teams and earning a ranking of your own is great. But forever gone from this already memorable team is any chance of playing with a nothing-to-lose attitude.
A loss now will cause a very rare occurrence — it will be an upset for the other team for a change. But it will also be ECU’s party that will get spoiled in the process.
Perfection is how Holtz described his team’s relentless 24-3 victory over WVU, and it truth, that perfection now becomes the standard by which the rest of the season’s performances will be judged.
Though the team has been fueled by the challenge to take the season week-by-week, even this Saturday’s game at Tulane suddenly becomes a big one, and so will every one for the remainder of the season.
If nothing else, ECU’s groundbreaking start to the season guarantees high drama every weekend for the rest of the season.
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More of the Simmons
It’s always great to have an interview so impressive that you’re forced to leave a good deal of quotes out of your story.
If you interview East Carolina’s Simmons brothers, you’re guaranteed two of those interviews.
With that said, he are some more tidbits from the brothers Simmons that didn’y make Friday’s story:
Brandon
On getting his first collegiate start against Virginia Tech in Bank of America Stadium “It was a great experience. That was my first time ever going into an NFL stadium, so that was pretty significant. The energy was magnificent. Everything was worth the hype.”
On his transfer to ECU in 2005 “Everyone wants to take that step if they weren’t recruited. It was a decision that we both came to. We spoke with our mother about it. She supported us, and it was pretty much a team effort. We helped motivate each other as far as staying on top of our grades to make sure we had enough credits to transfer in.”
“It’s a great experience. Our mother is pretty proud of us, our family is pretty proud of us,” the elder Simmons said. “
Jason
On his improvement as a college fullback “I’m still learning a lot of things. I’ve been working on my speed and technique when it comes to blockers, learning to break down more and getting more square. The last two years, I haven’t been good at blocking and having a base.”
Ever played any other sports with your brother? “He was more of a three-sport guy in high school, and I just stuck to football.”
On his transfer to ECU with Brandon “During the offseason, we were working together. Then, I was still a linebacker, so I worked on my linebacker drills and he worked on his running back drills, but we worked together.”
“In 2004 (while at Elizabeth City State), we were watching the bowl games, and we were like, ‘We can play that kind of ball.’”
On sibling rivalry “When it comes to catching the ball and things like that, we’ll always talk about who’s got better hands. To me, it was more like trying to push him to be great because I knew how good he was. Both of us were good, and basically it was like us against the world.”
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Rogers running, storm coming
There is just no way to predict today what a tropical storm or hurricane is going to do in a couple of days. Smartly, head coach Skip Holtz doesn’t want to hear anything or say anything about the possibility of playing No. 7 West Virginia any other time than 4:30 p.m. Saturday.
What’s more, he doesn’t want his players to lose sight of the game’s scheduled time, even though the weather models for Tropical Storm Hanna seem to change by the minute.
The ECU athletic powers that be met Wednesday night at the university to discuss possible contingency plans, but anyone would be silly to decide anything until the latest possible time. From this end, it would seem the latest time will be Thursday evening, as the Mountaineers will need to know when they’re flying to Greenville.
“Let’s control what we can control,” Holtz said. “Right now, the only thing we can control is how we play. If it rains, it rains on both sides. If they don’t feel like it’s safe for the players and the fans, then they’re going to move it up or back. We’re both going to walk out on that field, and we’re going to have to be ready to play.”
Injured junior tailback J.R. Rogers was speeding around the field Wednesday after missing the Virginia Tech game with a sprained ankle. Holtz said it’s looking good for Rogers to make his debut against the Mountaineers.
“J.R. is coming back. I think he’s probable,” Holtz said after practice. “He looks better today than he did yesterday. I’m anxious to see what he can do.”
A flu bug has been making its rounds on the team, starting at the top with Holtz himself. On Wednesday, illness kept running back Norman Whitley and middle linebacker Pierre Bell on the sidelines.
Holtz said true freshman Rahkeem Morgan is earning his keep on the scout team trying to mimic the moves and elusiveness of WVU quarterback Pat White. Nothing against Rahkeem, but the Pirates had better imagine everything he does in fast forward if they want a different result against White than they’ve had in previous attempts.
“It’s pretty hard to simulate Pat White,” Holtz said. “There’s only one of them. And if we had one, we’d be playing him at quarterback right now.”
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Exuding confidence
East Carolina’s win over Virginia Tech seemed to unleash a whole new level of confidence and awareness in the ECU players, and it wasn’t just after the win had been secured either. It was a backdrop to the environment of the entire game.
You can tell a lot about by watching guys that wear confidence and intensity on their sleeves on the field. There are some people, and anyone who’s ever played a sport knows this to some extent, who become completely engrossed in the surroundings of the game. They’re athletes who don’t accept the robotic, tunnel vision approach to the game, and instead try to funnel every ounce of energy in the stadium into their bodies.
With about five minutes to play on Saturday, and Virginia Tech driving, ECU defensive tackle Khalif Mitchell was one of those people. Pumping his arms to rev the already hyped crowed even higher and being in constant chatter with everyone on the field, Mitchell was his own fully-involved blaze on the field.
When he came off of it, he was like the person who gets caught singing out loud when the music cuts out. He trotted down the tunnel shouting thank yous to the fans outside, apparently not realizing how thunderous his voice sounded cascading down the hallways of Bank of America Stadium.
As though he was sitting in the front row with the rest of the fans in the heat of the action, Mitchell even waved his hand in disgust at the Virginia Tech players when they called a timeout in the midst of their drive. It was like he was saying, “Whatever.”
Earlier in the team’s second half rally, it was running back Jonathan Williams who was boiling with emotion after he tore into the end zone, and later it was T.J. Lee after he won the game with a punt block and return.
With one of the best seat’s in the house, standing on the ECU sideline right near the end zone, it was tough to keep an eye on Lee being mobbed by teammates in the end zone with the entire grandstand shaking from behind.
At long last, I forced myself to turn around and look behind me, and what I saw was thousands of people completely putting Lee, Williams and even Mitchell to shame in their own hysterics. What a rush, even for a guy stuck in a shirt and tie on the sideline.
Latest comments
Not really. It looks like he is a choker unfortunately.
... read the full comment by ltp | Comment on Hartman a joker, not a choker Read Hartman a joker, not a choker
He should get “da boot”. What a waste of humanity. Yes that is my not so humble opinion. Alas, I fear in typical ECU style, it will not happen. Good ole Skippy will pat him on the rear, and it will all be forgotten. Personally, he should be
... read the full comment by Da Boot | Comment on Williams facing charge Read Williams facing charge
“By Duane” … that about sums up what is wrong with our world!!!!
He has been given a chance of a lifetime!!! What other support do you think we should give him - full scholarship, chance for a GREAT education, chance for even a
... read the full comment by the problem. . . . | Comment on Williams facing charge Read Williams facing charge
Well what else is new in G-Vagas? I bet most of you would allow him to play. He should be kicked off the team.
... read the full comment by BillyBob | Comment on Williams facing charge Read Williams facing charge