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It was reminiscent of the movie "Remember the Titans," and
the team’s quarterback Ronnie Bass, nicknamed “Sunshine”.
In the movie, Bass came to Alexandria, VA, as a military
kid, moving from Los Angeles just in time for the football season. His long
blond locks flowed freely in his brief tryout with the team.
Obviously, Pirate quarterback Paul Troth doesn’t have the
hairstyle to go with the film. But Troth did put on an Academy Award
performance in the come from behind victory over Houston on Saturday.
In overtime, Troth went back to pass, only to see a Houston
defensive player barreling down on him.
Troth ducked under the tackle, and the Houston player went
sprawling.
The Pirate quarterback then lofted a pass to Richard Alston,
which turned into a Pirate touchdown.
The movie featured a similar play for the Titans.
Sunshine” had just entered the game, and told the line to
let the opposition’s best defender come straight in. When he did, “Sunshine”
flipped him over and then fired a pass.
The assistant coach then turned to head coach Herman Boone,
played by Denzel Washington, and said, “We’ve got ourselves a football
player.”
You could almost see the Pirate players thinking to
themselves, “We’ve got ourselves a quarterback.”
“I think I gained my teammates' respect with that play,”
Troth said. “I think they may have lost confidence in me at times, but I
think I proved something to them with that play.”
Troth says the guys have made the "Remember the Titans"
connection before.
“The guys sometimes call me “Sunshine” because of that
movie,” Troth said. “Of course, they call me other things too,” he joked.
In the movie, “Sunshine” was presented with the game ball,
after replacing the starting quarterback and leading the team to a win.
“Sunshine” then gave credit to the other quarterback, giving him that same
game ball.
Like the movie, Paul Troth was quick to point out that
another quarterback had a big hand in the win.
“People shouldn’t forget that Desmond Robinson came off the
bench and directed that first touchdown drive late in the game, to really
get us on the right track,” Troth said. “Desmond played really well, and he
really helped our offense get on track."
ECU head coach Steve Logan made particular note of the
adversity Troth has met head on in a season during which the young Pirates
have constantly labored to shore up a variety of experience and talent
issues.
"The thing with Paul this season,” Logan said, “is that he’s
faced some tough spots. Our defense has made it very difficult for even a
Dan Marino to win. But he’s really coming on, as I thought he would.”
Troth’s performance was the sixth best in school history — a
history which includes breakout games by a line of high-profile Logan
quarterbacks dating back to Jeff Blake. Troth was 22-33 through the air for
369 yards.
Troth threw seven interceptions in the team’s first two
games this year. Since then, he’s averaged just one pick per game, while
throwing eight touchdown passes.
In the movie, “Sunshine” led the Titans to a state title.
Pirate fans are hoping that their version of the character
continues to come along as the Pirate quarterback, perhaps winning a
Conference USA title before he’s done.
