Pinkney looks for repeat performance against UNC

Watching Patrick Pinkney practice, it's plain to see how determined he is to make the most out of the sixth year of eligibility granted to him by the NCAA.

He runs through plays and drills with an extra bounce in his step like a player who realizes not only the rarity of his situation, but is also driven by the opportunity to maximize his potential and as he puts it, "Take my game to another level."

While Pinkney and the Pirate offense has struggled in the second half each of the past two weeks, ECU offensive coordinator Todd Fitch can't say enough about what Pinkney brings to the table, especially in terms of his leadership.

"[Pinkney] gives us a sort of security blanket, and a lot of familiarity with our leader," Todd Fitch said. "He's a guy that's been through a lot of big games for us, and I think he gives a lot of security to our guys when they look around and see a guy under center who's been there before."

Pinkney echoed that observation by saying, "I really wanted to work on becoming a more vocal leader both on and off the field. It's important for me with the experience I have to be a leader on this team."

Compliments about his on-field improvement from last season weren't hard to come by either.

"Obviously with another year of experience he has a better grasp of the offense overall," Fitch said. "Every year, you get more confident and he's seeing things clearer, getting the ball out of his hand quicker and the game has slowed down for him."

With all this talk of improvement from a team that won its first Conference USA title last season, expectations from fans are as high as they have been in years. The coaches and players have equaled if not surpassed those expectations with their own.

Said Fitch about what he expects when his offensive unit hits the field, "We expect to score every time we touch the ball. That's the goal."

But so far that hasn't been the case for the Pirates, who looked superb against Appalachian State and West Virginia in the first half of each game, scoring 47 points combined while only being able to muster out two points in the second half so far this season.

Being the leader he is, Pinkney has taken the blame upon his shoulders.

"That's part of playing the quarterback position," Pinkney said about criticism of his performance so far this season. "We lost games last year, but at the same time, I can't worry about what outsiders say, I have to keep working hard and getting better each week."

So far on the season, Pinkney completed 28-of-66 passes with two touchdowns and three interceptions to boot.

While his numbers so far this season certainly aren't that of Pinkney's usual, ECU head coach Skip Holtz doesn't believe the almost nonexistent second half Pirate offense is all his starting quarterback's fault, but admits he has thought about other options at the position.

"Patrick is going to take the brunt of it when the offense is not going well and a lot of the credit when the offense is doing well," Holtz said. "I don't think this is all Patrick. But it's something we've considered and talked about (playing other quarterbacks)."

If there's one thing going for Pinkney this week, it's the stat line of his prior performance against North Carolina in a 2007 34-31 Pirate victory.

In his first career start, Pinkney threw for 406 yards and three touchdowns on 31-of-41 passing.

This week, Pinkney will try to channel momentum from his best statistical performance, albeit two years ago, and use it to his advantage.

"You have to have confidence," Pinkney said. "They have a great team, they're playing at home, so I guess I'm going to have to be perfect. I have to just focus on my job."

Pinkney and the Pirate offense will try to put a complete game together this Saturday when ECU travels to Chapel Hill to face UNC. Kickoff is set for noon.