By By BRIAN HAINES, Sports Writer
GREENVILLE — It’s report card time for East Carolina as the Pirates hit the halfway point of their schedule. It may seem like the negatives are slowly catching up to the positives, especially after losing to SMU, but this season can still be successful as most of ECU’s flaws seem fixable.
The passing game, while atrocious right now, only needs a big play or two per game to get back up to par – or at least par for the Pirates’ offense.
Defensively, ECU has played very well, but the home run ball has killed them. Again, with a little bit of tweaking and practice, this unit can easily be one of the best in Conference USA.
Six games into the season the Pirates possess a 3-3 (2-1) record and a share of first place in the C-USA East. However, most fans were hoping the reigning C-USA champions would be at the very least 4-2 (3-0).
None of ECU’s wins have been easy ones; even the season-opening win over FCS Appalachian State came down to the last possession of the game.
On the flip side they haven’t been blown out of games either, and hung around late versus West Virginia and then No. 24 North Carolina.
The good news is that the Pirates’ goal of becoming the first team to ever repeat as C-USA champions is very much alive. The bad news is the second half of their schedule is arguably tougher than the first.
Whoever wins the C-USA East Division is likely to have two conference losses. It’s just a shame the Pirates wasted one of those this Saturday when it lost to underdog SMU (3-2, 2-0).
ECU will have another run at a patsy this weekend when it takes on winless Rice (0-6,0-2), before it hits the road to play Memphis (2-4,12). After that, the Pirates come home to take on No. 4 Virginia Tech, then travel Tulsa (4-1, 2-0) before closing out their schedule with home games against UAB (2-3, 2-1) and Southern Miss (3-3, 1-1).
Overall, the Pirates get a C+ for the first half of the season. A few more big plays and this team could have easily gotten a B+. However, a few more mishaps and ECU could have easily gotten a C- or worse.
The good/scary part of this year’s team is that it has so much room to either get better or worse. At the very least, it will be an interesting second half of the season.
OFFENSE: C
Offensive Line: B
This unit is big and experienced, and so far this season has done a nice job of creating holes for the running backs, while giving quarterback Patrick Pinkney time to throw. Senior center, and preseason C-USA first team selection Sean Allen (6-3, 310) leads the line with 27 pancake blocks in 323 plays, while junior RG Cory Dowless (6-5, 309) is second on the team with 20 in 354 plays.
Running backs: B
When both Dominique Lindsay and Brandon Jackson are available, this group can be extremely effective and dangerous. After a 24-carry, 144-yard performance against SMU, Lindsay leads the Pirates with 353 rushing yards, despite missing two games due to a shoulder injury. Jackson has racked up 229 yards and missed one game due to illness. ECU is eighth in C-USA in rushing (124.5 per game) but that number could be higher if teams respected the passing game.
I still don’t get Giavanni Ruffin, or what his specialty/purpose is. He is a big back (6-1, 215) so I guess he is supposed to be the blocking back, or a bruiser. I would love to see Norman Whitley get a crack at his minutes.
Wide receiver: C
This grade would be significantly lower if not for the play of Dwayne Harris, who has been the offensive MVP so far this season. Harris leads the team in both catches and receiving yards with 33 and 337, respectively. Harris is also a big factor when he lines up in the wildcat, and is third on the team in rushing with 85 yards. Fellow receiver Jamar Bryant leads the team with two TD catches, but has not been a big factor in most games. This unit as a whole lacks speed, and has had a few big drops.
Quarterback: C-
The wide receivers have not been great, but QB Patrick Pinkney has been worse. The sixth-year senior has hit on 108 of his 193 pass attempts (56 percent), which in college is livable, except that just about half of his passes are screens.
That means that he is missing on a tremendous amount of down-field attempts. ECU coach Skip Holtz said that the problem in the passing game is equally the fault of both Pinkney and the receivers, but the quarterback always has to take more of the responsibility, hence the lower grade.
His play is disappointing because many felt he would make major strides this season and improve on a competent 2008 season, but his six interceptions in six games this year expresses otherwise.
Pinkney had a good game in the Pirates’ win over UCF when he threw for 293 yards, but that is the only game he has eclipsed the 200-yard mark this season. That’s absolutely unacceptable, even for a slow-tempo offense. Pinkney has only two passing plays longer than 30 yards all year. This must improve if ECU wants to repeat as C-USA champions.
DEFENSE: B
Defensive line: B+
Possibly the most talented unit ECU has, the D-line has done a nice job all season and is a big reason why the Pirates are fourth in the conference in total defense. Star defensive end, and preseason C-USA defensive player of the year, C.J Wilson gets a lot of the attention, but NG Linval Joseph has been equally important. Joseph leads the unit with 28 tackles, while Wilson is right behind him with 27. DE Scotty Robinson leads the team with two sacks. Wilson’s sack numbers are low, (1.5), but that is because he is the constant focus of blocking schemes.
Linebacker: B
Preseason C-USA first-team selection MLB Nick Johnson leads the team in tackles with 45, and is tied for the team lead in interceptions with two. The linebacking unit was a bit of a concern heading into the season, but Johnson, along with fellow starters Chris Mattocks and Jeremy Chambliss have done a really nice job this year. Chambliss is third on the team with 38 tackles, while Mattocks is fourth with 35 despite missing the SMU game due to a shoulder injury.
Secondary: C
The deep ball is the only thing that keeps this unit from getting a B or better. Injuries to starting safety Levin Neal and corner Emanuel Davis showed that the Pirates need to improve their depth at this position. Preseason C-USA first-teamer Van Eskridge is second on the team in tackles with 44, and tied for first in picks with two. The Pirates defense is second in C-USA in interceptions with eight. The ECU’s defensive problems are very fixable, and this group as a whole should improve in the second half of the year.
SPECIAL TEAMS: B
Despite the occasional shank, punter Matt Dodge has been so important to this team. Time after time Dodge has bailed out a sputtering offense and flipped field position. Dodge is third in C-USA with 43.9 yards per punt average and has a long of 70.
The field goal kicking hasn’t been as smooth as the punting, and was a big factor in the Pirates’ 28-21 loss to SMU as ECU had two field goal attempts blocked, one of which was brought back for a touchdown. Primary kicker Ben Hartman is 7-11 on the year with a long of 37 yards.
ECU has done a nice job on kickoff coverage and ranks third in the conference in that category, while ranking second in punt returning thanks to the play of Dwayne Harris. Harris had what might be the play of the year for ECU during its loss to the Mustangs, when he returned a punt for a 77-yard TD and broke free as it looked like three SMU defenders had him dead to rights.
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Brian Haines is a sports writer for the Washington Daily News. You may reach him at 940-4216, or by email at Brian@wdnweb.com.