By By Brian Haines, Sports Writer
GREENVILLE — With Monday being Columbus Day it was only fitting that the underlying theme of East Carolina coach Skip Holtz’s weekly press conference was discovery.
The Pirates’ skipper is desperately searching for ways to create big plays for his athletes on offense. If that doesn’t work, the next move is to find players that can make them.
After suffering a disappointing 28-21 loss to Southern Methodist University on Saturday in Texas, Holtz put his skill players on check by divulging that roster spots are up for grabs this week as ECU prepares to host Rice (0-6, 02) at 3:30 p.m. on Homecoming weekend.
It’s not a secret that the Pirates’ passing game has not been up to par this season. With two freshmen, Josh Jordan and Rio Johnson, backing up quarterback Patrick Pinkney, it’s not likely that his job will be in jeopardy anytime soon.
Pinkney, a sixth-year senior, has had a poor season so far and was 20 for 34 for 181 yards with no TD passes and one costly interception against SMU. To be fair, Pinkney was battling flu-like symptoms Saturday, however, all the previous weeks he was healthy.
With Pinkney’s job safe for now, and the running game looking effective thanks to the tandem of Dominique Lindsay (24-144 against SMU) and Brandon Jackson, the logical place to start tinkering is at wide receiver.
Halfway through their schedule the Pirates (3-3, 2-1) have only four touchdown receptions all season, and have no wide receivers in the top ten in Conference USA in receiving yards per game.
“There are two ways to throw a ball down the field: You either get somebody real fast that can run by everybody … or you have to beat them at a jump ball,” Holtz said. “Maybe you look (to play) a guy like Javon Brumsey (6-4) who has not played much here but has great size to him. Somebody that won’t, is the same as somebody who can’t. That’s the way I look at it. If we are not being productive, we can’t reward talent. We have to reward productivity, we have to find the guys that can give us the ability to be productive.
“Maybe we have to look at guys like (WR) Wes Pittman (Jr) and (RB) Justin Brockmeyer (Sr), a couple of guys who were walk-ons at this program and have been incorporated into the Dirty Dozen (special teams) and are doing a phenomenal job running down the field with good effort and attitude. … Maybe we can find that type of spark with someone that wants to play bad enough to say ‘give me the opportunity.’
“There will be some competition at receiver this week, and there will probably be some moves and some jockeying on the depth chart. The same is true with the defensive secondary.”
Holtz acknowledged that the struggling passing attack is not just the wideouts fault, in the same manner it is not all Pinkney’s fault.
As of Monday, Jamar Bryant and Dwayne Harris were listed at their normal spot atop the two-deep, with Joe Womack and Alex Taylor named primary backups.
The secondary, which has been a thorn all season, might see some subtle shake ups. Holtz praised the effort of safety Van Eskridge and corner Emanuel Davis, but it appears everybody else better hustle extra-hard this week at practice if they want to sustain their minutes.
“We are going to have to give some guys the opportunity to compete,” Holtz said. “There are guys like (Fr) Leonard Paulk (DB), (Fr) Rahkeem Morgan (CB) who deserve an opportunity to get in there.”
Up to date, Davis and Simmons were listed as the starting corners, with Eskridge and Levin Neal as the starting safeties.
Buried Treasure
Running back Jonathan Williams was scheduled for an MRI on Monday after hurting his knee against SMU Saturday. Holtz said that Williams is likely to miss a few weeks. … Running back Brandon Jackson missed Saturday’s game with the flu, and is likely to resume practice on Tuesday. … Linebacker Chris Mattocks is scheduled to return to action against Rice after missing a game due to a shoulder injury.