Post by rainman on Sept 17, 2007 6:19:05 GMT -5
WVU may catch ECU in mean mood after close loss
By Mickey Furfari
For the Times West Virginian
MORGANTOWN— West Virginia (3-0), which dropped from fourth to fifth in both The Associated Press and USA Today polls, may catch East Carolina (1-2) in a mean mood on Saturday for their non-conference clash at Mountaineer Field/Milan Puskar Stadium.
Southern Mississippi quarterback Jeremy Young sneaked into the end zone with just 32 seconds left this past Saturday night to give the Golden Eagles (2-1) a 28-21 victory. It was a Conference USA opener for both teams at Greenville, N.C.
“It was a heck of a football game, and it went all the way down to the wire,” ECU Coach Skip Holtz said. “We just made way too many mistakes.
“I kept saying if they get a field goal, at least it gives us the opportunity to block it or for them to miss it. The best we could do was just tie it. There are a lot of things that could happen. I wasn’t about to quit on our defense.”
Trailing 14-0 at halftime, the Pirates exploded for all of their 21 points in the third quarter to take a one-touchdown lead into the final 15 minutes. But Southern Miss drove 80 yards in seven plays for a tying touchdown with just 24 seconds gone in the fourth period.
Then the Golden Eagles marched the same distance in 15 time-consuming plays for the game-winning score.
Southern Miss coach Jeff Bower said, “I think we played a very good football game tonight. We played a really good team. They do some good things. It was a heck of a ball game — two teams playing really hard.”
Holtz said, “Their offensive line was coming off the ball, they were just running it, and we couldn’t get a stop. We had to use our timeouts to try to save a little time.”
ECU quarterback Patrick Pinkney, stymied in the first half, finally got into a good rhythm and made some really big plays during the third quarter. The Pirates gained 211 of their 300 yards of total offense after halftime.
Pinkney connected on 20 of 33 passes for 203 yards and added 39 yards rushing on 11 keeper plays. But he threw his first interception of the season.
Two of ECU ‘s touchdowns came on passes. Wide receiver Dwayne Harris caught one for 20 yards and the other was a six-yarder to running back Chris Johnson. In between those two scoring sorties, running back Dominque Lindsay tallied on a one-yard plunge.
“(Pinkney) got back where he was running the offense a little bit,” Holtz said. “It was like we were out of whack in the first half. But when you have penalties and things like that, that’s what happens to you.
“Then you’re trying to make 15 yards. It’s like going down there and missing a field goal. I don’t know how many we’ve missed inside the 20 at this point. But we have missed enough for a lifetime.”
ECU place-kicker Ben Hartman failed on a 27-yard attempt but made all three PATs and is 17-for-17 for his career.
“When Ben came off the field, he said that he just didn’t feel like he was in rhythm,” Holtz said. “I told him to tell me what I have to do ‘to get you in rhythm’. … So that’s how it was offensively, no consistency.
“I do not think our running game was very good, and I don’t think our running backs are making a lot happen. I don’t think we are creating a lot of holes for them. But when we do, we are not making a lot of things happen on our own.”
Saturday’s game starts at noon.
By Mickey Furfari
For the Times West Virginian
MORGANTOWN— West Virginia (3-0), which dropped from fourth to fifth in both The Associated Press and USA Today polls, may catch East Carolina (1-2) in a mean mood on Saturday for their non-conference clash at Mountaineer Field/Milan Puskar Stadium.
Southern Mississippi quarterback Jeremy Young sneaked into the end zone with just 32 seconds left this past Saturday night to give the Golden Eagles (2-1) a 28-21 victory. It was a Conference USA opener for both teams at Greenville, N.C.
“It was a heck of a football game, and it went all the way down to the wire,” ECU Coach Skip Holtz said. “We just made way too many mistakes.
“I kept saying if they get a field goal, at least it gives us the opportunity to block it or for them to miss it. The best we could do was just tie it. There are a lot of things that could happen. I wasn’t about to quit on our defense.”
Trailing 14-0 at halftime, the Pirates exploded for all of their 21 points in the third quarter to take a one-touchdown lead into the final 15 minutes. But Southern Miss drove 80 yards in seven plays for a tying touchdown with just 24 seconds gone in the fourth period.
Then the Golden Eagles marched the same distance in 15 time-consuming plays for the game-winning score.
Southern Miss coach Jeff Bower said, “I think we played a very good football game tonight. We played a really good team. They do some good things. It was a heck of a ball game — two teams playing really hard.”
Holtz said, “Their offensive line was coming off the ball, they were just running it, and we couldn’t get a stop. We had to use our timeouts to try to save a little time.”
ECU quarterback Patrick Pinkney, stymied in the first half, finally got into a good rhythm and made some really big plays during the third quarter. The Pirates gained 211 of their 300 yards of total offense after halftime.
Pinkney connected on 20 of 33 passes for 203 yards and added 39 yards rushing on 11 keeper plays. But he threw his first interception of the season.
Two of ECU ‘s touchdowns came on passes. Wide receiver Dwayne Harris caught one for 20 yards and the other was a six-yarder to running back Chris Johnson. In between those two scoring sorties, running back Dominque Lindsay tallied on a one-yard plunge.
“(Pinkney) got back where he was running the offense a little bit,” Holtz said. “It was like we were out of whack in the first half. But when you have penalties and things like that, that’s what happens to you.
“Then you’re trying to make 15 yards. It’s like going down there and missing a field goal. I don’t know how many we’ve missed inside the 20 at this point. But we have missed enough for a lifetime.”
ECU place-kicker Ben Hartman failed on a 27-yard attempt but made all three PATs and is 17-for-17 for his career.
“When Ben came off the field, he said that he just didn’t feel like he was in rhythm,” Holtz said. “I told him to tell me what I have to do ‘to get you in rhythm’. … So that’s how it was offensively, no consistency.
“I do not think our running game was very good, and I don’t think our running backs are making a lot happen. I don’t think we are creating a lot of holes for them. But when we do, we are not making a lot of things happen on our own.”
Saturday’s game starts at noon.
