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View from the East
Saturday, January 10, 2004

By Al Myatt
ECU Beat Writer for The News & Observer

Carolinas football: Depressing year had bright spots

THIS WEEK'S CONTENT FROM BONESVILLE.NET:
Al Myatt: View from the East - 01.10
— Mission to end road futility begins
Al Myatt: 2003 Carolinas football wrap & honors - 01.10
Nuggets: Notes from ECU and beyond - 01.10

Greg Vacek: Daily Web Headlines Roundup - 01.10
Denny O'Brien: Pirate Notebook No. 168 - 01.09
— Coming of age a painful process
Nuggets: Notes from ECU and beyond - 01.09
Pirate Radio 1250 Audio: Miller Lite Sports Bar - 01.09
— Host Jon Ellerbe with Allen Thomas & Tony Catusas
Pirate Radio 1250 Audio: John Thompson Call-In Show - 01.09
— Host Jeff Charles
Cable 7 Audio: On Campus with Jeff Charles - 01.09
— Guests Erroyl Bing, Gabe Mikulas & Sharon Baldwin-Tener
Bonesville Bytes Audio: ECU-UAB Post-game Comments - 01.09
— Bill Herrion, Erroyl Bing, Derrick Wiley, UAB's Mike Anderson

Henry Hinton: Henry's Highlights - 01.08
— Here's to wisdom for ECU and N.C. leaders
Bonesville: AFCA backs non-BCS schools - 01.08
Bonesville: Blazers escape town with win - 01.08
Nuggets: Notes from ECU and beyond - 01.08
Pirate Radio 1250 Audio: Live@5 Segment - 01.08
— Troy Dreyfus, Jon Ellerbe & special guest William Shelton

Ron Cherubini: Reflections - 01.07
— Note to conspiracy theorists: Count me in
Brian Bailey: From the Anchor Desk - 01.07
— UAB game has big implications
Nuggets: Notes from ECU and beyond - 01.07
Letter to the Editor: Jon Rogers, Alexandria, VA - 01.07
Cable 7 Audio: Midweek Tip-Off - 01.07
— Henry Hinton, Mike Steele, guests David Garrard, Bill Herrion
Pirate Radio 1250 Audio: Live@&5 Segment - 01.07
— Troy Dreyfus, Jon Ellerbe, guest Bill Herrion
Pirate Radio 1250 Audio: Sportsline Segment - 01.07
— Patrick Johnson, guest Denny O'Brien

Denny O'Brien: Pirate Notebook No. 167 - 01.06
— Showdown with Blazers is Herrion's biggest
Bonesville: BCS needs major surgery - 01.06
Bonesville: Final AP & Coaches football polls - 01.06
Bonesville: AP basketball poll - 01.06
Nuggets: Notes from ECU and beyond - 01.06
Cable 7 Audio: Brian Bailey Show - 01.06
— Guest Greg Herenda
Pirate Radio 1250 Audio: From The Locker Room - 01.06
— Kevin Monroe & Sean Farmer
Pirate Radio 1250 Audio: The Press Box - 01.06
— Troy Dreyfus, Brian Bailey, Jody Jones & Jim Gentry
Al Myatt: View from the East - 01.05
— 'Great night for purple and gold'
Bonesville: USC shares glory - 01.05
Bonesville: BCS looks to hoops for answers - 01.05
Nuggets: Notes from ECU and beyond - 01.05
Letter to the Editor: P. Jeff Martin, Akron, OH - 01.05
Bonesville: Presidents say no, no, no to playoff - 01.04
Bonesville: Rebs scuttle Pirates - 01.04

Nuggets: Notes from ECU and beyond - 01.04

©2004 Bonesville.net

It was generally a down year for the college football teams of the Carolinas, but even in the midst of the doom and gloom there were some notable achievements.

Clemson coach Tommy Bowden, who appeared to be on the verge of losing his job heading into the final weeks of the season, oversaw a remarkable resurgence down the stretch that began with a resounding whipping of Papa Bowden's Florida State Seminoles.

N.C. State, which thought in terms of steamrolling to a BCS game when the season began, saw that goal vanish in a hurry but still had the good fortune of riding the arm of a Heisman-caliber quarterback to another winning season and an impressive rout of a Big 12 foe in a non-BCS bowl.

Even Duke, which seemed destined for perpetual misery after another horrid start, turned things around with a midseason coaching change and now looks to the future with some optimism.

Elsewhere, there was little to boast about when the final whistle sounded. South Carolina and Wake Forest each fell one win short of breaking even, while North Carolina and East Carolina replaced Duke as the Carolinas' poster children for gridiron despair.

So, with the bowl season concluded and USC and LSU squeezed uncomfortably together on the national championship throne, we'll put a wrap on the campaign by publishing Bonesville.net's final 2003 State Line Power Rankings and naming our annual All-Carolinas Team, Carolinas Coach of the Year and Carolinas Player of the Year.

Review 2002 Carolinas football honors Review 2001 Carolinas football honors

FINAL 2003 STATE LINE POWER RANKINGS
  1. Clemson (9-4, 5-3 ACC) ... Tigers finish with a flurry, topping Tennessee 27-14 in the Peach Bowl.
  2. N.C. State (8-5, 4-4 ACC) ... Wolfpack ends on an up note with a 56-26 Tangerine win over Kansas.
  3. Wake Forest (5-7, 3-5 ACC) ... Deacons had some big wins before ending with three straight losses.
  4. South Carolina (5-7, 2-6 SEC) ... Gamecocks lost their last four and Lou Holtz made staff changes.
  5. Duke (4-8, 2-6 ACC) ... Blue Devils made a midseason turnaround under new coach Ted Roof.
  6. North Carolina (2-10, 1-7 ACC) ... Struggles on defense led to a poor season for the Tar Heels.
  7. East Carolina (1-11, 1-7 C-USA) ... ECU had its most losses ever following a coaching transition.

ALL-CAROLINAS OFFENSE

QB — Philip Rivers, N.C. State — The Wolfpack senior threw for 4,491 yards and 34 touchdowns in 2003.
RB — Marvin Townes, East Carolina — The Pirates junior ran for 1,128 yards In his first season as a starter.
RB — Chris Barclay, Wake Forest — The Deacons sophomore rushed for 1,248 yards and 12 touchdowns.
OL — Brian Rimpf, East Carolina — Senior Bowl selection was All Conference USA for the third season.
OL — Sean Locklear, N.C. State — First team All ACC choice, protecting Rivers and springing T.A. McLendon.
OL — Tyson Clabo, Wake Forest — First team All ACC in Demon Deacons’
diverse offense.
OL — Travelle Wharton, South Carolina — Gamecocks senior was named second team All SEC by league coaches.
OL — Doug White, East Carolina — Dependable center for the Pirates since forced into starting role as a freshman.
TE — T. J. Williams, N.C. State — Had 28 catches for 444 yards with three TDs.
WR — Jerricho Cotchery, N.C. State — First team All ACC with 86 catches for 1,369 yards and 10 TDs.
WR — Terrance Copper, East Carolina — Set a school season record as a senior with 87 receptions.

ALL-CAROLINAS DEFENSE

DL — Matt Zielinski, Duke — First team All ACC pick had 18 tackles for loss.
DL — Donnell Washington, Clemson — Had 55 tackles, nine for losses and four sacks.
DL — John McCargo, N.C. State — Had 13 tackles for loss.
DL — Damane Duckett, East Carolina — Leader of Pirates front was selected to play in Blue-Gray game.
LB — Chris Moore, East Carolina — Had 100 solo tackles and a team-high
148 total with 13 for losses.
LB — Leroy Hill, Clemson — First team All ACC choice had 133 tackles, six sacks and 25 tackles for loss.
LB — Ryan Fowler, Duke — Had 136 tackles for Blue Devils.
DB — Eric King, Wake Forest — First team All ACC choice had 15 pass break-ups and three interceptions.
DB — Andre Maddox, N.C. State — Had 129 tackles on his way to first team All ACC honors.
DB — Terrell Smith, Duke — Blue Devils tackles leader was in on 140 stops.
DB — Jamaal Fudge, Clemson — In on 108 tackles for the Tigers with five for losses.

ALL-CAROLINAS SPECIAL TEAMS

K — Aaron Hunt, Clemson — Made 16 of 22 field goal attempts.
P — Ryan Dougherty, East Carolina — Freshman averaged 44.5 yards per punt and made first team All C-USA.
RS — Derrick Hamilton, Clemson — Averaged 34.5 yards on kickoff returns with one score.


CAROLINAS COACH OF THE YEAR

Tommy Bowden, Clemson — Probably no coach at a Division I-A program in the Carolinas was in greater danger of losing his job than the Tigers coach after a 45-17 loss at Wake Forest on Nov. 1 — considering Duke had already dismissed Carl Franks. Bowden was so overcome with emotion when asked about his job status at a subsequent news conference that he couldn’t respond to the question. But his program did a great job of bouncing back, starting with a stunning 26-10 win over his dad Bobby’s Florida State team at Death Valley the following week. The Tigers hammered Duke (40-7) and rival South Carolina (63-17) — in Columbia — before knocking off Tennessee 27-14 in the Peach Bowl. The Tigers ran something that looked a lot like ECU’s old Gamecock play for a touchdown against the Volunteers. Bowden got a well-deserved 3-year contract extension through the 2010 season on Dec. 2.

PAST WINNERS
Jim Grobe, Wake Forest, 2001.
Chuck Amato, N.C. State, 2002.


CAROLINAS PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Philip Rivers, N.C. State — The Wolfpack showed it could play with the top programs in the country with overtime losses at Ohio State and Florida State but also sustained some disappointing losses with a young defensive front and injuries to primary running threat T.A. McLendon. State’s No. 17 kept the team performing at a high level with his leadership and passing ability. Rivers completed 348 of 483 passes (72 percent) for 4,491 yards in his senior season with 34 touchdowns and just seven interceptions in repeating as Bonesville.net’s Carolinas player of the year. Rivers closed his college career with 475 yards passing and five touchdowns in the Pack’s 56-26 Tangerine Bowl win over Kansas. He finished as the ACC career leader in passing yardage and total offense. His jersey was retired at his last home game.

PAST WINNERS
Leonard Henry, RB, East Carolina, 2001.
Philip Rivers, QB, N.C. State, 2002.

Send an e-mail message to Al Myatt.

Click here to dig into Al Myatt's Bonesville archives.

02/23/2007 12:44:50 AM
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