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News Nuggets, 08.29.06
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Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

Holtz indicates Pirates are ready

East Carolina football coach Skip Holtz addressed members of the media on Monday prior to Saturday's 5:30 p.m. game at Navy. Below is the text of selected comments, provided by the university's athletic media relations department.

[Click this link to go to Bonesville.net's "Bonesville Bytes" audio page to replay in its entirety the archive of Coach Skip Holtz' Monday press luncheon.]

OPENING COMMENTS ON THE 2006 SEASON

"In kicking off the 2006 season, I am really excited about what we are about to step into. It is nice to come back on Sunday night after giving the players the weekend off and see them rejuvenated and fresh. They have been very fatigued going through camp mentally and physically and they came back and had a good hour workout last night and looked very crisp and sharp.

"I think that everybody is just ready to get into this season. They are tired of hitting each other, they are ready to start playing an opponent. Everybody is excited and enthusiastic about embarking on the new challenges that they have.

"I could not be more pleased with their attitude and their work habits with the way they are going out on the field and how they have come together as a football team.

"So many of the intangibles that were built on last year with the seniors are really carrying over into this team. That is what is going to carry us as a football team until some of our talent gains some experience."

ON NAVY

"When you sit down and look at where the two programs have been in the last two or three years, it is really going to be a challenge for us and our players. They have had three bowl games, 26 wins under Coach Johnson and this year they have 35 seniors on their team which is half the team that we are taking to Navy. We finished 5-6 last year and we are kind of digging our way out of a hole right now. Coach Johnson has done a great job in building that program and that is where we aspire to put East Carolina."

ON TIME SPENT WORKING ON NAVY

"We have spent a lot of time as a coaching staff breaking down Navy with their schemes on offense and defense. We came in Monday a week ago and started breaking into scout teams and spent about an hour a day running those teams. We had a scrimmage Friday night that was all against Navy's offense and defense and their schemes so we could see it full speed. It is very hard to simulate their three down line package because we have seen none of that all spring and all fall camp. It is going to be new for our offense and our defense and it's all new learning for all of these guys. We spent all last week on it and we will go hard again this week."

ON PIERRE BELL'S INJURY

"Right now I don't know if he is questionable, probable or doubtful. He is not out and he is not in. He is somewhere in between that. It is just going to be matter of how fast he can recover off of it. Right now there is still a lot of soreness and pain in his movement. He is about 50/50 whether he can play. We are planning on going with out him if we have him that would be a bonus."

ON PLAYING NAVY ON THE ROAD

"Playing on the road is always a challenge and then on top of that you have crowd noise. It is going to be exciting to be there with the campus and the all history. Our players are looking at it like a business trip. When you look at it from everything on the outside though it is an honor to have the opportunity to go play there."

ON NAVY'S DEFENSE AND THE THREE DOWN LINEMEN

"It puts more speed on the field. They are quick, they are fast and athletic and it puts more athletes on the field. They come from everywhere and it creates a lot of confusion. It disrupts an offense and their blocking schemes because it gets away from the traditional rules of four down line blocking. In order to combat that you have to be very simple in your offensive game plan and making sure you can bock up all the moving pieces because they move around."

ON PREPARING FOR NAVY'S DEFENSIVE SYSTEM

"Offensively we are very multiple. From a defensive a standpoint we got a lot of looks in the spring and in the fall of all the things that you're going to get in the course of the year. What they [Navy] do is make you be simplistic. You have to be simplistic on defense to handle everything and you have to be simplistic on offense to start picking everything up because they come from everywhere."

Click the link below to go to Bonesville.net's "Bonesville Bytes" audio page to replay in its entirety the archive of Coach Skip Holtz' Monday press luncheon:

C-USA teams face stiff season-opening tests

Conference USA's 11th football season gets underway on Thursday with a pair of games to open a busy weekend of conference action, according to a release on the league website. Five games will be featured on national television, beginning with Texas-El Paso's Thursday night visit to San Diego State (10:30 p.m. EDT on CSTV).

C-USA has four games against Top 25 opponents on opening weekend, including three against Top 10 foes. Marshall visits No. 5 West Virginia, Southern Miss plays at No. 7 Florida and UAB will be at No. 10 Oklahoma, while Southern Methodist opens at No. 25 Texas Tech.

Three C-USA QB's on O'Brien watch list

The Davey O'Brien Foundation has announced its preseason watch list for the 2006 Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award, presented annually to the nation's best college quarterback. The list is made up of 34 candidates, including 19 seniors, 12 juniors and three sophomores representing 11 conferences.

Conference USA is represented by Houston senior Kevin Kolb, Tulsa junior Paul Smith and Texas-El Paso senior Jordan Palmer, according to an announcement on the league website.

Celebrating 30 years, the O'Brien Award is the oldest and most prestigious award in the country for college quarterbacks and is named in honor of the late Davey O'Brien. O'Brien led the Texas Christian Horned Frogs to the 1938 national championship and was the first player to win the Heisman, Walter Camp and Maxwell awards in the same season.

News Nuggets are compiled periodically based on material supplied by staff members; data published by ECU, Conference USA and its member schools; and reports from other sources. Copyright 2006 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Page Updated: 02/23/2007 12:50 PM