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Pirates shed misery of lost years
From a dispatch by AARON
BEARD of
The Associated Press and STAFF REPORTS
GREENVILLE Junior
quarterback James Pinkney threw for two touchdowns and scored on a
24-yard keeper in the fourth quarter Saturday to help East Carolina
build momentum for the future with a 31-23 win over UAB.
Coming on the heels of the
Pirates' 34-29 upset of Marshall on the road last Saturday, the victory
fueled the returning swagger at ECU while snuffing out the Blazers'
postseason aspirations.
Bobby Good had both TD
catches for the Pirates (5-6, 4-4 Conference USA), who closed their
first year under Skip Holtz on a positive trend and showed significant
improvement from a miserable two-year run under John Thompson.
Darrell Hackney and Corey
White each ran for touchdowns for the Blazers (5-6, 3-5), who were
trying to become bowl eligible for the third time in five seasons. UAB
reached its first bowl last season, but its bid for a repeat trip
ultimately faded when the Blazers fell behind in the third quarter and
never recovered.
Pinkney made his biggest
play even though top receiver Aundrae Allison, who earlier had become
the first player in school history with a 1,000-yard receiving season,
sat out almost the entire second half with a knee injury. Pinkney also
led the Pirates despite getting little help from the ground game, where
Chris Johnson managed 52 yards and a score.
Still, anything is better
than what the Pirates had faced in recent years. Their once-proud
program which boasted a Peach Bowl championship and top-10
ranking in 1991 and a reputation as a giant killer during the tenure of
former coach Steve Logan (1992-2002) had been in a steady decline ever
since blowing a 30-point halftime lead in a 64-61 double-overtime loss
to Marshall in the 2001 GMAC Bowl.
Going back to the final
two games of 2002, East Carolina had lost 22 of 25 games entering this
season. Nineteen of the losses came by double-digit margins, with seven
by at least 33 points. Thompson, who succeeded Logan after the Pirates
finished 4-8 in 2002, lasted just two seasons, going 3-20 in that time.
But Holtz led the Pirates
to a 24-21 win against Duke in the 2005 opener to restore some optimism
here. And though Holtz the former South Carolina assistant and son of
Lou Holtz expressed disappointment that his team couldn't reach a bowl
game, East Carolina heads into the offseason with indications that
things are heading in the right direction.
Pinkney found Good for a
55-yard touchdown in the first half, and went to him again to put the
Pirates ahead to stay. Pinkney found Good on the right side of the end
zone for the 15-yard score an official ruled that Good was allowed to
come back inbounds and make the catch because the defender had pushed
him out and a 24-17 lead with 7:17 left in the third quarter.
The Blazers clawed to
within 24-23 on a pair of field goals by Parker Mullins. But Pinkney
gave the Pirates some breathing room when he escaped the collapsing
pocket against the blitz and raced down the middle of the field for a
31-23 lead with 10:22 to play.
The Blazers had two
chances to tie it in the final 4 minutes. But one drive ended with a
fourth-down incompletion with about 3 minutes left, and the second ended
when Hackney threw his second interception to Pierre Bell with 1:52 to
go.
02/23/2007 10:54 AM
Copyright 2005 The
Associated Press. Bonesville.net contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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