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College Sports in the Carolinas
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from the 'ville
Thursday,
September 15, 2005
By Al Myatt |
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Plenty to be wary of for
both ECU, Wake
©2005 Bonesville.net
What you see isn't always what you get. The
mystery of the unseen is certainly a factor as East Carolina and Wake Forest
focus on Saturday's 6:30 p.m. game in Winston-Salem.
The regional foes are looming like icebergs in
one another's path in that there is a lot to consider beneath the visible
surface of what each team has presented thus far.
Wake has lost 24-21 to Vanderbilt and 31-3 at
Nebraska. ECU followed a 24-21 win over Duke with an open date.
As the two prepare to meet for the fifth
straight season, the Pirate ship shows promise of sailing out of the dire
straits that have plagued a once-proud program for two-plus seasons. Wake's
vessel departed the docks with high ambitions but quickly sprung a couple of
leaks, compliments of the Commodores and the Cornhuskers. A home loss to the
Pirates might all but sink Wake's 2005 season before the Deacs have even
cleared the harbor.
History has run a reverse on the
non-conference matchup.
When Coach Jim Grobe arrived in Winston-Salem
from Ohio and opened his first season with the Deacons at ECU in 2001, Wake
had an advantage because it brought an offense for which the Pirates had
little means of preparing. Grobe and staff revised the schemes the Pirates
had seen from the Bobcats. Wake's package of option and misdirection, later
tabbed "the flexbone," kept ECU sufficiently off balance for Grobe to get
his program off on the right foot with a 21-19 win.
Now the cleats are on the other foot.
First-year ECU coach Skip Holtz estimated
after that era-opening win over Duke on Labor Day weekend that the Pirates
had used only about 30 percent of the playbook. The math was that ECU
prepared about 60 percent of its offensive repertoire and used only half of
that.
Losing two fumbles in the first half made
Holtz conservative and restricted play selection.
"When we had the two turnovers, I was very
cautious to do anything that was high risk with the football," said the
Pirate skipper. "I wasn't going to run a reverse. I wasn't going to run any
of the motion stuff. I really just went to basic football."
The considerable portion of ECU's offense that
Holtz kept under wraps means that the Wake coaches may be on the headsets
and working the greaseboards to try and make the adjustments as the Pirate
staff sought to do four years ago.
"I've said all along in opening ballgames that
people tend to lose them because they get too complicated and their players
can't execute the scheme," Holtz said. "We tried to be extremely simple and
just give our players a chance to make some plays. James Pinkney and Aundrae
Allison did a nice job of that."
The poised Pinkney completed 17 of 21 for 235
yards without an interception. He threw for one score and ran for two
others. His one-yard keeper accounted for the first points with Holtz at the
ECU helm. Allison's first Division I-A catch was a 50-yard touchdown. He
finished the day against the Blue Devils' double-teaming scheming with 10
catches for 163 yards.
"Coming into this one ... I would say I would
like to be able to say that we're probably going to open it up a lot more
than we did in our opening game, and utilize a little bit more of the
offense," Holtz said. "I just want to make sure we protect the ball and
don't do anything foolish. I don't want to turn the ball over and put our
defense in bad field position."
Holtz said he wasn't sure what percentage of
the offensive package he will unveil at Wake.
"I don't really have a number going into
this," he said. "I know playing this defensive football team, we're going to
have to utilize more than what we did against Duke."
Wake has a lot to do to correct the problems
that have contributed to its 0-2 start. The arrival of a new staff at ECU
adds to the complexity of preparing. Tape of last year's game in Greenville
has reduced value.
"We can get a feel for their talent because
all of their guys are back," Grobe said. "They've got a really veteran
football team. ... They've got 18 starters back from last year's football
team. From a scheme standpoint, we look more toward what they did against
Duke in the opening game. From a talent standpoint we can go back and look
at some of the guys we had to go against last year."
Tape of the Duke game is definitely an
abridged version of ECU's capabilities. At this point in a young season
there are more questions than answers, but both Grobe and Holtz feel that
Wake's 0-2 start could be misleading in terms of the Deacons' ability and
potential.
"Everybody says 'Wake is 0-2,' but Wake lost
to Vanderbilt in a very close game the first game of the year and Vanderbilt
goes and beats Arkansas at Arkansas this week," Holtz noted. "Then they go
to Nebraska — out there in a very tough place to play in Lincoln — and they
lose 31-3 but yet 21 points came on the defensive side of the ball. So
really that's a 10-3 game.
" ... They're not giving up a lot of points
right now. Somewhere it's getting lost about how good this football team is.
... Last year they were leading or tied going into the fourth quarter of nine of their
11 football games."
But the Deacons were 4-7 last season and have
now dropped five in a row going back to 2004.
Inconsistency and mistakes have hindered the
Deacons. Quarterback Ben Mauk seems to be suffering from the Paul Troth
syndrome — a heralded player who is trying to do too much under the pressure
of living up to expectations. The result is that Wake has shot itself in the
foot more times than Barney Fife in a month of Mayberry reruns.
Mauk has been sacked to take the Deacons out
of vital field position, lost a fumble in the red zone against Vanderbilt,
and threw two passes against Nebraska that were returned for touchdowns.
"It might be back to the drawing board if we
had a lot of veteran guys who were making mistakes," Grobe said. "Most of
the mistakes we made at Nebraska were by young guys trying to make plays and
not taking care of the football. If our young guys would just realize,
especially on the offensive side of the ball, that the most important thing
is taking care of the football, then try to make a play — then we'll be
okay.
"It's not one of those things where you need
to change everything. It's more of an emphasis on not making mental
mistakes."
Wake started first half possessions on its own
1- and 2-yard lines because of botched kickoff returns.
"You just can't do those things and win,"
Grobe said.
The Deacons provide the Pirates with some
preparation variables, too — mostly from a personnel standpoint. Grobe
didn't know Wednesday if Micah Andrews or Chris Barclay would start at
running back. Andrews, the son of former Atlanta Falcons back William
Andrews, ran for 254 yards against Vandy, but on one occasion was stripped
of the ball by a Nebraska defender who returned it for a score.
Barclay, who is within range of becoming the
school's career rushing leader, sat out the opener because he was with Riley
Swanson when the Deacon corner was cited for misdemeanor marijuana
possession during the summer. De'Angelo Bryant could also figure in the
tailback mix.
Although Grobe has stated that Mauk is his
quarterback, the Deacons are 0-5 with him as a starter. Wake might have to
resort to Cory Randolph, who started the first eight games last season. Wake
was 4-4 in his starts including a 31-17 win at ECU in which Randolph passed
for 344 yards and ran for 107. If the Deacons go to Randolph, the offensive
package could change because of his running style — and that would mean
adjustments for the Pirates.
Wake sophomore linebacker Jon Abbate, the
team's leading tacker last season with 101, may be back from a hamstring
ailment.
While there are significant unknowns to be
dealt with, there are some clear factors in the big picture as well. The
Deacons want to avoid the desperation of going into the ACC schedule at 0-3.
In contrast, ECU has some momentum and wants
to maintain it — especially with West Virginia and Southern Miss in the
weeks ahead.
Wake wants to change the course of its season.
The Pirates want to continue what they've started.
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02/23/2007 12:33:33 AM
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