Cory Burell

So this year has been a crazy one for the pirates. Starting out the season with dramatic wins over VT and just blowing WVU out of the water. Then we head on a 3 game losing streak to finally end up down the road as conference champions and heading to the Liberty bowl.

This is the first year since 76′ that the pirates have captured a conference title and to be honest it really excites me. I’m almost alittle rigid just thinking of ECU’s status in the eyes of others jumping but wait…………we got hosed. Personally I love the improvement and a cusa title is great but that alone isn’t where it ends. The season ends on January second in Memphis. No one ever remembers the first win or the second but always the last game. This year we should have a decent opponent. I know alot of you like myself were looking forward to playing a team along the lines of the Gamecocks but sorry folks thats just not how the cards fell.

Instead of playing a decent SEC team we are facing Kentucky. Now that might not sound terrible but heres what Kentucky has done this year

See that big blank area? THATS NOTHING! Kentucky is 6-6 losing its last 3 games which consisted of Georgia, Vandy, and Tenn. Granted the Georgia game was close but to get smacked by the Vols of all people when you are claiming to be a decent SEC team is terrible. Kentucky was dead last in the East with a conference total of 2-6 only defeating Arkansas and Miss State. So lets take a look at their OOC wins. Yep that consists of Louisville, the mighty Norfolk State, Middle Tennessee, and Western Kentucky. By the way all 4 of these wins were from game 1 to game 4.

Just to take a look at the pirates wins this year we have West Virginia, Virginia Tech, Tulane, Memphis, UCF, Marshall, UAB, UTEP, and Tulsa. Not too shabby there. Tulsa has possibly one of the most impressive offenses in the country but were stopped by the Pirates to get us into the Liberty Bowl. So where is Tulsa going? Thats right they are headed to the Motor Bowl to play Ball State. Wait so you lose the conference championship and get to play #22 in the country but we win and play Kentucky? I’m confused here people. I know theres 8000 bowl games these days but for the love of God can we get some order out of this? It makes about as much sense as the BCS in general.

I understand that all the bowls are just for corporate blowjobs but can we get some football honor thrown in their somewhere. How about Kentucky shouldn’t even be playing in a bowl? 2-6 in conference play is not acceptable no matter if its the SEC or the freaking MAC. Half the damn country is playing in a bowl and half of those shouldn’t.  In CUSA theres 6 teams going to bowls! 6 TEAMS! 68 teams playing in bowls. PRETTY IMPRESSIVE. Now just for giggles lets see what happens if you make 7 wins the cutoff. 59 Teams. God thats still just too much. No heres the really funny part. The ACC which should be the poster boy for mediocrity is sending the entire Atlantic Division to bowls. Only 2 of the teams are over .500 in conference play.

I say no matter what if you can’t win half of your conference games you aren’t go anywhere for the holidays but Grandmas. If you cut out teams that are .500 and less in conference play you take away 20 teams. That leaves 48 teams bowl elig. Much better. Overall I guess it just baffles me that such a fubar’d system can still be in place. Someone must be padding the stats too. Claims are that bowl attendance averages around 60k per game with an 88% capacity. I blame the scalpers and basically everyone else for these misconstrued #’s. I want to see the capacity of how many people are actually going to be sitting in the stands or actually enjoying these games at home. Outside of their respective schools no one gives a shit about half these games.

Basically I just can’t figure out how conference champions regardless of conference are getting crap games while runner ups are getting great matchups. I know Hawaii managed to make complete asses of “smaller” football schools on the public stage but there has to be a system put into to place to make it more interesting. I’m tired of seeing the same schools play for BCS games every year. ECU was called a BCS buster possibility early in the year and while we threw that away they were calling us out after one loss also.

Overall the entire system just seems like crap to me and honestly I doubt I turn on more than 5 bowl games just out of the pure fact that 90% of them are going to be crap games.

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EL PASO, Texas (AP) — Rob Kass plunged into the end zone on a quarterback sneak during the first overtime to give East Carolina a wild 45-42 win over Texas-El Paso on Saturday night.

Kass sent the game to OT with a 34-yard touchdown pass to Juwon Crowell as time ran out to tie the contest at 39-39.

UTEP’s Trevor Vittatoe completed 38-of-55 passes for 409 yards and three touchdowns and just one interception. Marcus Thomas ran for 103 yards, including a 31-yard touchdown dash with just 34 seconds left in the game to give the Miners what appeared to be a winning 39-32 margin.

East Carolina’s Dwayne Harris almost broke the game open single-handedly in the third quarter. First the East Carolina wide receiver took a handoff on a reverse and dashed 57 yards for a touchdown, giving the Pirates (4-3-1, 3-1 Conference USA) a 25-22 lead. Then Harris took a handoff on a double reverse and hit a wide open Jamar Bryant on an 80-yard touchdown pass, giving the Pirates a 32-22 lead 7:53 left in the third quarter.

The first half was a story of dueling field goals.

UTEP (4-3, 2-1) got a touchdown in the final minute of the first half on a nine-yard strike from Vittatoe to Joe West but Martinez’ extra point try was blocked and East Carolina’s Travis Williams returned it 90 yards for the two points and the Pirates led 18-16.

But Jose Martinez booted a 42-yard field goal, one that pinged off the top of the upright, on the final play of the half to give UTEP a 19-18 lead in a bizarre finish to the first 30 minutes.

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East Carolina Preview

By John Antonik for MSNsportsNET.com
September 20, 2007MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Rich Rodriguez says it has been East Carolina’s Jimmys and Joes and not so much its Xs and Os that has been the reason the Mountaineers have had such a tough time running the football on the Pirates.

	Coach Rich Rodriguez says his defense is going to have to get pressure on East Carolina junior quarterback Patrick Pinkney. Brian Persinger photo

Two years ago in Morgantown, West Virginia managed just 127 yards on the ground in a 20-15 win. Last year in Greenville, the Pirate defense limited the Mountaineers to 157 yards rushing including only 80 from All-American Steve Slaton.

“I’ve always been impressed with what they do defensively,” Rodriguez said Tuesday afternoon. “Their defensive front has been playing outstanding, the linebackers are as good as anybody we’ll play and it may be the best group of athletes that we have played all year.”

Quentin Cotton has been the most active among a very active group of East Carolina linebackers. Cotton has made a team-best 25 tackles to go with 4 ½ tackles for losses, a sack and an interception. The 6-foot-2-inch, 234-pound junior was a third-team all-Conference USA pick in 2006.

“He has played as well as any linebacker I’ve seen in the last couple of years,” Rodriguez said. “He did that against us last year but watching him on film this year he’s all over the place.”

Strong side linebacker Pierre Bell has made 23 tackles while middle linebacker Fred Wilson has been in on 15 stops.

Up front East Carolina (1-2) has two big run-stoppers in the middle in 6-foot-3-inch, 300-pound sophomore Jay Ross and 6-foot-3-inch, 296-pound Mark Robinson. Six-five, 222-pound junior defensive end Zach Slate is one of the Pirates’ top defensive playmakers with 19 tackles, 5 ½ tackles for losses and two sacks.

Senior weak side corner back Travis Williams is the only returning starter in a Pirate secondary that Rodriguez says has held up reasonably well despite the losses.

“They have a couple of new guys back there but those safeties are still tackling well and playing well against the run,” Rodriguez said.

East Carolina came into this season thinking sophomore Rob Kass was going to be the man at quarterback. But he was suspended for the season opener against Virginia Tech and lost his starting job to Patrick Pinkney, a junior who has endured two shoulder surgeries while waiting his turn.

Pinkney had the second highest single-game passing total in East Carolina history with his 406 yards passing in a 34-31 home victory against North Carolina on Sept. 8. Pinkney completed 31 of his 41 pass attempts with three touchdowns against the Tar Heels. Last week he threw for 203 and a pair of touchdowns in a home loss to Southern Mississippi.

“It’s funny how a guy gets his opportunity because he wasn’t a starter at the beginning of the year,” Rodriguez said. “He got in the first game and he throws for 400 yards against North Carolina. He’s looked really good and he’s made the most of his opportunity.”

Rodriguez said West Virginia’s defense must be conscious of Pinkney both as a passer and as a runner. Pinkney is the team’s leading rusher with 109 yards.

“He’s a guy that ran and passed for more than 1,000 yards in high school,” Rodriguez said. “He fits that style and they are running plays to allow him to do both.”

Veteran running back Chris Johnson has faced West Virginia the last three years gaining 92 yards on 22 carries in the 2005 game in Morgantown. Johnson shows 1,651 yards and 17 touchdowns in 37 career games.

Wide receiver Phillip Henry led East Carolina with six catches for 54 yards in last year’s game against West Virginia in Greenville. Henry has caught 13 balls this year for 145 yards and shows 75 catches for 1,057 yards and three touchdowns for his career.

Jamar Bryant, a 6-foot-2-inch, 193-pound sophomore, shows 12 catches for 152 yards including a season-long 50-yard reception against North Carolina.

“They are not beating themselves,” Rodriguez said. “They run some of the same schemes we do with some of the triple options and some of the quarterback runs. It just requires more guys being in tune with what their assignments are.”

West Virginia (3-0) is coming off a Thursday night win at Maryland on Sept. 13. It was West Virginia’s second taxing game in a span of five days, having played at Marshall on Sept. 8.

In the Maryland game the Mountaineers got 137 yards and three rushing touchdowns from junior Steve Slaton, who enters Saturday’s game ranked first among all active runners with 46 touchdowns. Slaton has carried the football 66 times for 392 yards and eight touchdowns so far this season.

True freshman Noel Devine has managed to ease some of Slaton’s rushing burden, running for 256 yards on just 17 carries for a national-best 15.1 yards per carry average. Devine ran for 136 yards on only five carries against Maryland.

Quarterback Patrick White is third on the team in rushing with 244 yards and four touchdowns, while also completing 63.3 percent of his pass attempts for 436 yards and four touchdowns.

Darius Reynaud is West Virginia’s No. 1 receiver with 18 catches for 281 yards and two touchdowns. Reynaud is averaging 15.6 yards per reception.

“Obviously we have to execute better at times offensively as compared to how we have executed against them in the past,” Rodriguez said. “We have to tackle well on defense and eliminate the big play.

“We have to put pressure on their quarterback. You can’t give him a lot of time because he will take off and run more than any quarterback we have played this year,” Rodriguez said.

Kick off for Saturday’s game is scheduled for noon. The contest will be televised nationally on ESPN2. Sirius Satellite Radio users can access MSN’s broadcast on channel 123; the game will also air on the Internet through CSTV All-Access.

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