The Slants of the Game Sunday, October 22, 2006 By Denny O'Brien

J.P. bounces back with an outing to remember

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GREENVILLE — Nike hasn't manufactured enough game balls for East Carolina to properly reward quarterback James Pinkney for his performance against Southern Methodist.

If that were the case, Pinkney would have enough leather to open a large chain of upholstery shops nationwide. In the process, he could order a giant pigskin throne and anoint himself King James of the Quarterbacks.

At the very least, his performance (30-41, 391 yards, 3 total TDs) in the Pirates' 38-21 rout of the Mustangs was worthy of a crown and staff. And to properly put it into perspective, no East Carolina quarterback has enjoyed a more productive afternoon in front of the Dowdy-Ficklen faithful.

Neither Jeff Blake, nor Marcus Crandell, nor David Garrard ever experienced such a day in Greenville. And if it weren't for a few drops, Pinkney would own the most celebrated performance for a Pirates QB in any stadium.

"He was pretty strong today," Pirates coach Skip Holtz said. "I thought James was impressive today. He was really focused in on what he had to do, and I thought he made some good throws standing in the pocket today.

"James was really focused with his eyes downfield. I think James is a competitor, and I think he was embarrassed by the way that we played last week and embarrassed with the way that he performed last week."

It was apparent from the opening series that Pinkney would have no reason to hang his head on campus this week. He opened by completing his first seven passes and eclipsing the 250-yard plateau before intermission.

About the only thing to stop his Homecoming parade was the halftime horn. Judging by the efficiency with which Pinkney conducted ECU's resurgence on offense, he could have stayed out and directed the band.

"We just came out with the offense feeling like we needed to redeem ourselves," Pinkney said. "That's what we did. We came out, played hard, and executed, and good things happened.

"I took all of it on my shoulders. I felt like I played the worst (against Tulsa) that I ever have since I've been here."

But on this day Pinkney followed his worst with his best. And he did it with a running game that was nonexistent, one of his most productive receivers shelved with an injury, and his star weapon making his first appearance in the lineup in almost a month.

The latter no doubt provided a boost to Pinkney's numbers. Still, the fact that he found star receiver Aundrae Allison 13 times for 138 yards and a score is a testament to Pinkney's maturity as a quarterback.

The duo performed in such perfect rhythm that you wouldn't think an injury had previously broken up the two.

"Since I came back, we've really been seeing eye to eye a whole lot," Allison said. "Since Bobby Good has been out, we've had to get a better connection and just make more and more plays. We did that today."

Truthfully, that should be expected of this underdog quarterback. Because if Pinkney has proven anything, it's that he can stare adversity into all-out submission.

He did that as a redshirt freshmen when pressed into duty. He did it again as a sophomore by digesting a new playbook that had enough seven-step drops to transform his body into a tackling dummy.

All that was trumped by the pride-swallowing experience of failing out of school and bussing tables to make ends meet. That was accompanied by the uphill battle to regain admission into school and reclaim his position as the commander of the ECU huddle.

Talk about bouncing back.

Pinkney obviously has mastered that aspect of his life away from football. His record-setting performance against SMU suggests he has a knack for it on the field as well.

Simply stated, Pinkney's play against the Mustangs should be remembered as one of ECU's best.

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02/23/2007 02:03:48 AM