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PIRATES' CHEST GMAC Bowl Feature No. 1 Pirates Focus
on 'Second Chance' By
Ron Ferrell
Pirates' Chest Editor
©2001 Pirates' Chest
 Teams
often print t-shirts in the preseason with slogans they want to remember for
the coming year. If East Carolina were printing a shirt in preparation for
its December 19 bowl matchup with Marshall, "Redemption" might be the best
phrase to describe the squad's attitude.
The Pirates are looking for redemption for a season gone awry, a season
that saw enough bad plays, freaky plays and bad luck to last a lifetime.
This was to be the big season. Twenty seniors returned as leaders on an
ECU squad that was perhaps the most talented ever. Just goes to show, you
just never know what is going to happen.
"Coach always preached that to us, to take each game as a one-game
season. At the end you never know what is going to happen," fullback Leonard
Henry said last week as the Pirates began preparations for Marshall. "You
always hope you can get to a bowl game, but nothing is certain. No one is
guaranteed of anything. All you can do is go out and play the game at hand."
Offensively, the Pirates were a dynamic group. At times they looked
unstoppable as Henry ripped through defenses for a Conference USA record
1,432 yards. Henry's fine running often setup talented senior quarterback
David Garrard to throw for better than 2,200 yards and 13 scores.
At times that offensive group looked unstoppable, but a team that
traditionally has been one of the best in the conference at taking care of
the ball couldn't manage to do that this year. In 2000, the Pirates fumbled
only five times this year, there were 16 fumbles lost, often at the worst
times possible.
The Pirates were also hurt by penalties this season. This year's squad
drew flags 72 times, while last year's group drew only 56. Fumbles and flags
can kill a good drive in a hurry.
"We just have to take care of the football, hold on to that football,"
Henry said. "All year long we have been successful in moving the ball. We
have been getting first downs, getting touchdowns. It is just protecting the
ball. We feel that if we can go out and get that done, then we should win
this ballgame.
"We have played so well the last half of the year, getting big leads on
people early, but we can't keep it going for four quarters. It is different
to play when you are up 21 than to have to come back and get 21. You start
watching the clock when you are up wanting the clock to hurry up. But when
you are down 21 you are fighting. It is not that we aren't fighting when we
are up, but it is not as aggressive as when we are down."
After a sluggish start from the Pirate wide receivers, that group picked
up its play late and has improved. But the pass catchers need to develop the
knack to step up at key points in the game, where a big third-down catch can
make the difference between a win and a loss.
The ECU offense scored 360 points this season, comparing to 330 scored by
last year's 7-4 squad after 11 games. The difference comes defensively. Last
year's group gave up 229 points in 11 games 67 points fewer than this
year's defense.
Much of that can be attributed to the increased turnovers this year,
which often found the defense suddenly deployed on a short field with its
back against the wall.
There are also statistics that show there is much room for improvement on
the defensive side of the ball. ECU gave up 55 more first downs this year
and allowed third down conversions 45 percent of the time versus 34 percent
last season. ECU had 10 fewer sacks this year.
It is redemption time now, however, as an ECU squad left wondering if a
third consecutive bowl trip would be possible after back-to-back
devastating losses ended the regular season gets one final shot.
Ironically, Southern Miss, the team which spoiled the Pirates regular
season finale, went on to duplicate ECU's two-game losing skid, closing out
its season with back-to-back losses to Alabama and Texas Christian.
Unfortunately for the Golden Eagles, though, they will be at home for the
holidays while ECU gets a return trip to Mobile, AL, for the GMAC Bowl.
The Pirates will be looking for a different outcome from the 1999 matchup
with TCU in the inaugural Mobile Alabama Bowl. Most of those Pirates were
making their first trip to a bowl game and that lack of experience showed in
a 28-14 loss.
After a much better experience in last year's Galleryfurniture.com Bowl,
ECU is now an experienced bowl squad which knows how to handle the hoopla,
something the players believe will make a big difference in the return to
the gulf coast.
"Bowl preparation is big. If you look at most bowl games, most of the
time one team shows up and the other doesn't," Henry said. "There are always
a lot of blowouts. With us going to bowl games back-to-back and having been
on both ends of the spectrum, we should know how to prepare ourselves
mentally as well as physically.
"Now we know the reason that we are down there and that is to play a
football game and win the football game. All the other stuff outside of that
is okay. It is nice to go here and do that, but with this being our third
bowl, we know the importance of realizing why we are there. That is to go
out and win the ball game. With us going back to Mobile we know exactly what
is going to happen, so that gives us more of a chance to focus on the game."
Senior defensive tackle Ty Hunt's perception of the Pirates' approach to
the game is similar to Henry's.
"Just about every player on this team has played in a bowl game," senior
defensive tackle Ty Hunt added. "We have experience and know what it takes
to play against the level of competition that is out there. That other team
out there is as well rested as you are. It is almost like the first game of
the season again. There are mistakes in the beginning as everyone is a
little rusty. If we prepare like we need to, stay focused and have fun then
we will be okay.
"The last time we were in Mobile it was the first time most of us had
been to a bowl game. That game against TCU was a kind of slap in the face.
This is what bowl games are about. When we had a chance to play in Houston,
we knew what we were in store for."
The job at hand now for ECU is two weeks of preparation for 10-2
Marshall. The Pirates know the practice routine for a bowl game and there
are no surprises. The object now is for each player to put the regular
season behind him and let it all hang out for a second chance that many
teams would welcome.
"There was a big sigh of relief when Southern Miss lost to Alabama
because we all knew it was a second chance," Henry said. "There are a lot of
teams out there that would like a second chance. We have come so close in
all of our games that we have lost. The way we ended against Southern Miss
is not the way that we want to be remembered."
Hunt is grateful for the second chance and views it as an opportunity to
achieve some reshuffled goals.
"It is a blessing, a blessing in disguise. We didn't end our year the way
we wanted to, but the Lord is giving us seniors another chance to go out
with a bang. We are very lucky. We could easily be sitting at home at 6-5.
Six and five looks ugly, but we are really a good football team," Hunt said.
"We had a lot of goals set for ourselves. We never wanted to let an ACC
school beat us in our stadium. We wanted to win at Carolina. We had
aspirations of winning the conference.
"The coaches have told us that you have to be able to reroute your goals.
Every goal you set, you are not going to be able to achieve. That is just
part of life. Our goal is rerouted now. We still have a chance to be a bowl
champion. That is still something significant for this program. We are the
first group to go to three straight bowls.
"We have to put everything totally behind us. All we know now is we've
got the Thundering Herd and that is what we are going to prepare for."
Henry figures a victory in the GMAC Bowl will offset the misfortunes of
what has seemed at times to be a snake-bitten season.
"When we went to Houston last year we felt a win was mandatory because of
the way we had played in Mobile in 1999," Henry said. "A win this time is
mandatory to wipe out the cobwebs of the mysterious, freaky things that have
happened to us all season long. This is redemption for the whole year."
Send an e-mail message to Ron Ferrell of the PIRATES' CHEST.
02/23/2007 02:03:25 PM
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