WoolyBully

Same here....spin it however you want, but I just can't muster the interest.

Pirates Conclude Spring Drills With Scrimmage

04/01/2004

GREENVILLE, N.C. --- The East Carolina football team put the finishing touches on its 2004 spring session with a two-hour scrimmage inside Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium on Thursday night.  Using a modified scoring system, the offense out-lasted the defense by a final score of 70-54. During the game, the offense was awarded points for touchdowns, field goals, PATs, first downs and plays of over 20 yards. The defense earned its points by forcing turnovers, punts, and sacks.

"I couldn't be more happy with the way these guys came out here and competed tonight," said head coach John Thompson. "The defense played well early, the offense came back and competed, made some big plays and took care of the football."

The defense dominated the first quarter. It forced two punts and sacked the quarterback three times. By the end of game, the defense had made 12 tackles for loss, including six sacks.

It was the Pirates' ground game that earned them a trio of rushing downs, including a 23-yard scramble into the end zone by quarterback Desmond Robinson in the second quarter. Robinson was also under center when the offense scored its second touchdown of the night as Edwin Burke scampered in for the score. Sophomore quarterback James Pinkney scored the offense's third rushing touchdown of the night as the ran over a pair of defenders from five yards out into the end zone.

The ECU trio of quarterbacks hit 12 different receivers for a total of 336 yards without and interception. Will Bland led all receivers with 67 yards receiving, while Demarcus Fox hauled in seven passes for 63 yards. Six of the Pirates' 12 receivers had over 30 yards receiving.

Pinkney connected on 17-of-36 passes for 171 yards, while Robinson was 9-of-18 for 112 yards. Sophomore transfer Patrick Dosh completed 5-of-9 passes for 40 yards.

Robert Tillman led the offensive rushing attack with 80 yards on 20 carries. Fullback Jemarcus Veal nearly matched Tillman's total on one carry late in the fourth quarter as he rumbled 60 yards into the red zone before being caught from behind. Veal had 74 yards on four carries.

Final Statistics

Passing: Pickney 36-17-0 171 yds; Robinson 18-9-0 112 yds; Dosh 9-5-0 40 yds; Bland 1-1-0 13 yds.

Rushing: Tillman 20-80; Veal 4-74; Burke 7-50; Robinson 6-33; Hayden 6-22; Pinkney 7-(-1); Dosh 3-(-7).

Receiving: Bland 5-67; Fox 7-63; Roach 3-43; Tillman 4-32; Bowling 2-31; Good 3-31; Harris 1-15; Robinson 1-13*; Rogers 2-13; Levesque 1-9; Coffman 1-7; Hayden 1-7; Veal 1-5.

*= no relation

Gridiron Pirates Honored At Annual Postseason Banquet

04/02/2004

GREENVILLE, N.C. --- The East Carolina football team held its annual end of the year awards banquet at the Hilton on Friday night and several players were recognized for their performances during the 2003 campaign.

Junior tailback Marvin Townes received Most Valuable Offensive Player accolades. A second-team all-conference selection, Townes recorded the 12th 1,000-yard rushing season in school history and led the Pirates in scoring with 10 touchdowns.

Linebacker Chris Moore took home the Most Valuable Defensive Player award. As a sophomore, Moore finished second in the nation in total tackles (148 ) and tackles per game (14.45), which earned him second-team all-conference and honorable mention All-America recognition.

The Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman plaque was awarded to senior Doug White. White was named third-team All-Conference USA after helping pave the way for a 1,000-yard rusher for a third consecutive season. He previously won the Most Valuable Offensive Blocker award as a sophomore in 2001.

Fellow senior and first-team all-conference selection Brian Rimpf was awarded the E.E. Rawl Memorial Award for character, scholarship and academic achievement for the second time. Rimpf, the 2001 recipient of the award, was twice named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District III Team and was one of 11 players selected to the 2002 AFCA Good Works squad.

Rimpf was also named Team Captain along with fellow seniors Vonta Leach and Terrance Copper. Leach finished second on the team in rushing (290) and touchdowns scored (5) before going on to earn Offensive MVP honors as the Blue-Gray Classic. Copper set the ECU single season record for both receptions (87) and receiving yards (897) this past season.

Freshman Ryan Dougherty, C-USA's leading punter and a first-team all-conference performer, was voted the team's Most Outstanding Special Team Player, while fellow rookie Erode Jean was named Outstanding Newcomer. Both players were named to the Conference USA All-Freshman Team this past season.

Other award winners included:

Outstanding JV Player (Offense) - Tyrece Hayden

Outstanding JV Player (Defense) - Craig Harper

Swindell Memorial Award (Big Team, Little Me) - Derek Helms

Jerry T. Brooks Award for Academic Achievement - Richard Hourigan

Most Outstanding Defensive Lineman - Eric Foushee

Most Improved Player (Offense) - Gary Freeman

Most Improved Player (Defense) - Shauntae Hunt

12th Man Award - Kyle Riley (student manager)

Janet Overton Outstanding Senior Award - Brandon Pope

Spring ended with positive vibes at QB

©2004 Bonesville.net

I thought the offense did a nice job of coming from behind in winning East Carolina's final spring football scrimmage this past Thursday night.

Obviously, there is still plenty of work to do before the Sept. 4 opener at West Virginia, but the fact that James Pinkney led a comeback, even in a scrimmage, is a great sign.

Pinkney apparently has the quarterback job, at least to start practice in August. Desmond Robinson played well in the final scrimmage, while Patrick Dosh really didn’t get that many chances.

“I was pleased with how things went,†said Pirate coach John Thompson. “I especially liked the way the guys competed.â€Â

The team will continue with off-season conditioning until exams. The squad will get a break through exams, and then hit the ground running with summer conditioning after that.

As we said last week, it’s a long summer for a football fan. Hopefully, though, we’ll have something to look forward to come September!

Brindise inspires hope for offensive revival

©2004 Bonesville.net

Noah Brindise certainly doesn’t promise miracles. But his quiet confidence should give Pirate fans something to look forward to over the next several seasons.

It’s almost like Coach John Thompson handed over the keys to the candy store when he named Brindise to succeed Rick Stockstill as East Carolina's offensive coordinator.

“This is what I have wanted to do since I was a sophomore in high school,†said Brindise. “Even before I had played a varsity down, I was drawing plays on napkins, thinking how neat it would be to run an offense. Now I’ve got the chance.â€Â

Like former coach Steve Logan, Brindise says the key to his offense starts at quarterback. With one scrimmage to go, that quarterback looks like it will be James Pinkney in 2004.

“James has risen to the top, but we were both a little disappointed in his play on Saturday,†said Brindise. “He was so good in the scrimmage before that, and I just wanted him to go out and show everyone just how good that he is.

"He really fits my system, a tall guy who can sit back in the pocket and find his receiver.â€Â

Desmond Robinson and Patrick Dosh are still both in the running as well.

“Desmond has done some good things this spring,†Brindise added. “He brings that veteran mentality to the table, and he handles himself well.â€Â

Dosh has had so much “scout team†duty over the last couple of years that he has fallen behind. Still, he’ll get plenty of looks from Brindise.

“When you play on the “scout team,†you’re basically running the other team’s plays,†Brindise explained. “Patrick didn’t get a lot of coaching on his fundamentals over the last two years. Basically, you’re playing with third-teamers and walk-ons with the scout team, so you’re just trying to run for your life. But he is still a part of our plan at quarterback.â€Â

Brindise has already answered one key question for next year. If Art Brown and Marvin Towns are both healthy, then both could be on the field simultaneously.

“You always want your best eleven players on the field at the same time,†Brindise said. And these two are certainly among are top eleven. We are looking at moving Marvin out in some formations.â€Â

I'll keep my thumb on the pulse of  fast breaking sports news from the intersection of Berkley Road and 14th Street (zip code 27858 )  

I don't know...they could be a bit bent out of shape and looking to "channel the aggression" after UGA.  

No reason not to practice...I'm sure Steve Horton and others are working to clarify his position and standing with the university.

Don't underestimate the power of ND - winning or losing.  If they do join a conference (which I doubt), I would assume Big 10. Here's the 2K4 schedule:

Sept. 11 MICHIGAN

Sept. 18 at Michigan State

Sept. 25 WASHINGTON

Oct. 2 PURDUE

Oct. 9 STANFORD

Oct. 16 vs. Navy (East Rutherford, NJ)

Oct. 23 BOSTON COLLEGE

Oct. 30 at BYU

Nov. 6 at Tennessee

Nov. 13 PITTSBURGH

Nov. 27 at USC

I'd like to say I'm surprised, but I'm not.

Then again, once the money starts flowing - you'd be surprised how big your "family" can get. Cousins you never even knew existed come out of the woodwork.

And truthfully, you never know how many of those signed balls get e-bay'd, family or not.

Well.....it's not like the Big East just replaced its perennial national championship contender with "the other" national championship contender. The best of Big East football went to the ACC.

And if we step back from that, face facts, the Big East is a phenomenal hoops conference, and now it has to rebuild its football stature. I don't see too much difference between C/USA and the Big East - save the BCS tag.