Pirates flat as a pizza in defeat

[ChiTownBull]

dumb comment by skip

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/sports/colleges/16310232.htm

SOUTH FLORIDA 24, EAST CAROLINA 7

Pirates flat as a pizza in defeat

Rust from long layoff hurts ECU

JAYMES POWELL JR.

(Raleigh) News & Observer

BIRMINGHAM, ALA. - This wasn't the way it was supposed to happen.

On a day that marked East Carolina's return to postseason football after a painful rebuilding process, the Pirates played one of their worst games in recent memory, falling 24-7 to South Florida in the PapaJohns.com Bowl.

Everything that could go wrong did for the Pirates on Saturday. Even East Carolina's biggest stars and most dependable players fell victim to mistakes and the Bulls' all-out assault.

"It hurt to lose this game," senior left tackle Eric Graham said. "When I was walking off the field, I was trying not to tear up because I didn't want the younger guys to see me do that."

There was a lot for East Carolina to cry about. From the mauling East Carolina quarterback James Pinkney received, which eventually knocked him out with a possible concussion, to star receiver Aundrae Allison's two crucial drops to running back Brandon Fractious' two fumbles.

The Pirates hadn't played in nearly a month, which may have contributed to the ugliness of the loss, East Carolina coach Skp Holtz said.

"Rust, inexperience, layoff, speed of the game, getting acclimated to the speed of their defense, I don't know what it was," said Holtz, who later said he thought the Pirates played better in the second half, when his team held the Bulls scoreless. "They definitely were faster, stronger and more athletic than us early."

Holtz said South Florida's aggressive and swarming defense blitzed far more than usual and played its best game of the year.

Bulls coach Jim Leavitt, whose team plays in the Big East, disagreed. "We were just concerned about protecting the football in the second half," said Leavitt, whose team was 5-for-5 on fourth down. "Not taking anything away from East Carolina, but West Virginia has a decent offense. If you go through the whole year, there are some pretty good offenses we faced in the Big East."

East Carolina cornerback Travis Williams said the Bulls were just too much.

"With four weeks off we were kind of rusty and the Big East game speed is faster than what we've been used to. But that's no excuse," Williams said. "They just did a good job all around the board to find weaknesses."

The immediate pain of the loss, however, didn't take away from East Carolina's accomplishments this season, Holtz and players said. The Pirates, picked to finish last in Conference USA's East division, returned to a bowl for the first time since 2001 and had several notable victories, including a 21-16 win over N.C. State last month.

"I hate that the season ended this way," Holtz said. "There are so many positive things that we can build on as a program."

South Florida 14 10 0 0 -- 24

East Carolina 7 0 0 0 -- 7

FIRST QUARTER

USF--B.Williams 16 run (Alvarado kick), 13:53. USF--B.Williams 1 run (Alvarado kick), 8:43. ECU--Good 48 pass from J.Pinkney (Hartman kick), 5:04.

SECOND QUARTER

USF--Jackson 37 pass from Grothe (Alvarado kick), 12:51. USF--FG Alvarado 38, 6:31.

Att.--32,023 (at Birmingham, Ala.).

 USF ECU

First downs  12 22

Rushes-yards  43-156 32-54

Passing  130 263

Comp-Att-Int  12-18-0 18-44-0

Return Yards  47 43

Punts  6-36.8 6-42.0

Fumbles-Lost  1-1 3-2

Penalties-Yards  6-60 3-25

Time of Possession  30:48 29:12

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING--South Florida, B.Williams 17-67, P.Julmiste 12-53, Grothe 7-15, Ponton 4-12, Jackson 2-11, Johnson 1-(minus 2). East Carolina, Lindsay 12-85, Good 1-11, Allison 1-(minus 5), J.Pinkney 9-(minus 9), Kass 3-(minus 13), Fractious 6-(minus 15).

PASSING--South Florida, Grothe 6-10-0-81, P.Julmiste 6-8-0-49. East Carolina, J.Pinkney 8-25-0-125, Kass 10-19-0-138.

RECEIVING--South Florida, Randolph 2-27, Ce.Hill 2-22, Johnson 2-5, Jackson 1-37, Green 1-15, Bleakley 1-13, A.Hill 1-6, B.Williams 1-3, Ponton 1-2. East Carolina, Good 5-116, Roach 3-45, J.Bryant 3-26, Allison 3-24, Fractious 1-26, Rogers 1-17, C.Johnson 1-8, Shankweiler 1-1.

[Brad]

Not flat as pizza - flattened like a pizza.

They give themselves too much credit.

From here, they looked overmatched in every aspect of the game.

[bulldad10]

Flattened like pizza is right.  We dominated from the outset and gave them no opportuity to get back in the game.

And as always Go Bulls!

[ChiTownBull]

yeah as impressive as the D was in the first half they were that much better in the second half knowing we were without Matt for the rest of the game.

[JoeB]

Actually, they had chances to get back in the game.  They were in the red zone 3 times in the second half and came away with no points.  We were able to bend but not break at the right times.  

[bulls96go]

our defense played lights out.

our o was clicking

second complete game in a row

hope we pick up next year where we left off this year: winning

[TKBlue]

Actually, Holtz called a good game and schemed his way to some yardage. But overall, this game was a showcase for the difference between Big East and Conf USA football. If Grothe doesn't get hurt USF puts up 40. Game really wasn't close even tho ECU almost scored several times. USF was in controlf from the very first snap.

[mattegunz]

Holtz called a good game but I think he and the article fail to acknowledge the real reason why our team didn't score in the 2nd half.  NO GROTHE.

[smazza]

usf has so much more talent  than ecu it isnt funny

usf should have easily put 50 on ecu

[smazza]

Actually, Holtz called a good game and schemed his way to some yardage. But overall, this game was a showcase for the difference between Big East and Conf USA football. If Grothe doesn't get hurt USF puts up 40. Game really wasn't close even tho ECU almost scored several times. USF was in controlf from the very first snap.

usf should have had at least 3 more turnovers

ecu was one of worst teams usf played this year

ecu was a joke