The Slants of the Game Sunday, November 12, 2006 By Denny O'Brien

Seniors have stood tall

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GREENVILLE — You could hardly blame Eric Graham had he stopped blocking two years ago. At times, I'm sure it seemed to the senior offensive tackle as if his efforts in the trenches were futile.

And who could fault James Pinkney for ever taking a knee? Given the punishment his body has withstood during his career, who wouldn't seek refuge from the onslaught of blitzes he faced?

I surely would.

But neither sought sanctuary or tucked into a shell of self-preservation, despite what human nature might otherwise have tempted them to do. Nor did any of the 22 seniors who played possibly their final game donning that familiar ECU home purple.

So to some degree you have to appreciate the irony in the unlikely stage on which the Pirates seniors stood against Marshall. Instead of the lame duck conclusion to their careers that many predicted — including the Conference USA coaches in the preseason — this stubborn bunch clawed its way into the most important game played in Greenville since 2001.

"That's part of the joy of being in that locker room and seeing the smiles on their faces," Pirates coach Skip Holtz said about the seniors. "Knowing what they've been through — not only what they've been through to get to where they are, because how they got here was not easy.

"The commitment that they've made, the blue collar approach that they've taken is why they are sitting here where they are right now. The senior leadership, their commitment, their desire, their focus is why we're sitting here."

Exactly where East Carolina is sitting following its thorough 33-20 victory over Marshall is bowl eligible and one win away from a spot in the C-USA title game. It's a scenario that rated a long shot at best when Holtz took over a program that was barely registering a pulse.

But that was two years ago, and much has changed since then.

For starters, East Carolina has a defense that it can now depend on to carry the load if needed. That again was confirmed on a Senior Day that saw Marshall star Ahmad Bradshaw muster only 26 yards rushing to go along with two fumbles.

The Pirates also again have the belief that they belong in a spotlight much brighter than the one under which they performed during 1-11 and 2-9 seasons in 2003-04.

"We've come along way," Graham said. "We started off terrible when I first got here. All the improvement made over these years, it means a whole lot to me. You always have to believe. Who else is going to believe if the seniors aren't believing?

"We always believed that we could get here."

That belief sure resonated throughout the Pirates' sixth victory of the season. East Carolina controlled the tempo from start to finish and never allowed Marshall within striking distance.

Much of that is a credit to the atoning performance of Pinkney. After two sub-par efforts, ECU's field general finished an impressive 21-for-27 for 270 yards and an important 29-yard scoring strike to Phillip Henry just before the half.

For Pinkney, the win had to be extra special considering the twists and turns his career path has taken.

"It was very special for all the seniors," Pinkney said. "Especially the ones who have been here for five years.

"It got pretty low. But right now, we're bowl eligible, but we aren't done yet. We've got to keep going. We're still hungry."

That hunger no doubt is driven by the low plane on which these seniors once existed. It is apparent that they enjoy their current success and have a strong desire for more.

And if the Pirates manage to win next week against Rice and proceed to seize the C-USA title, that deservedly will be the lasting legacy for these seniors.

What won't be remembered about this class is perhaps what is most important. Within it, there were players recruited by three different head coaches, a rare occurrence that could only signify turmoil and dysfunction within a program.

While that was the case during the first half of their college careers, the other half frames a picture of stability and the shedding of an identity that was flooded by an endless tsunami of losing. These seniors helped revitalize the program by recapturing the confidence and desire that once defined East Carolina and buying into the belief that ECU could defeat anyone on its schedule.

That again is part of the Pirates' football mantra. But it wouldn't be the case if these seniors had shown any propensity for surrender.

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02/23/2007 02:03:50 AM