Pirate offense explodes on Senior Day

ECU continued to overcome a growing list of inactive players with an impressive regular season finale. With the Conference USA East Division title already in its possession, the Pirates jumped out to a 24-0 lead and never looked back in a dominant 53-21 win over UTEP on Friday.

Getting his team to the conference championship game has been a much more difficult process than ECU coach Skip Holtz thought it would be. Holtz will lead the Pirates into Oklahoma this Saturday for a title date with Tulsa.

"I think I am more proud of this football team for what they have accomplished and the adversity they have gone through had I been had we stayed healthy and gone undefeated," said Holtz.

The Miners (5-7, 4-4) finally got on the board late in the second quarter when running back Terrell Jackson broke loose for a 28-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 24-7. ECU (8-4, 6-2) answered with its longest kickoff return of the season, a 61-yard runback from unheralded freshman Michael Bowman.

Bowman's big run resulted in a short pass play to tailback Brandon Simmons, raising the Pirates' lead to 30-7 at the half. A Ben Hartman miss broke a streak of 77 consecutive made extra points.

Simmons led ECU with four total touchdowns in his final game at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. The senior rushed for 115 yards and three touchdowns in addition to his 7-yard touchdown reception.

"I couldn't be more proud of Brandon Simmons and the attitude that he's had as a senior," Holtz said. "He played a little bit early and now Norman [Whitley] has kind of taken the thunder. He got his opportunity today on Senior Day and he ran the ball 27 times. He ran physical. He ran hard. I thought he really did a nice job."

Whitley had a noteworthy performance as well, rushing for 79 yards on just 12 carries.

The scoring explosion was a pleasant surprise for an offense that has only scored 30 points one time this season and hadn't scored 40 points, let alone 50 points this season.

Quarterback Patrick Pinkney went 17-for-23 and threw for 228 yards and two touchdowns on the afternoon.

"It feels great," Pinkney said of the Senior Day performance. "At the same time, we could have been doing that all year. It's all about execution and we did that today. The offensive line played great today. I don't think I hit the ground one time today."

Not only was Pinkney not sacked, but the offense did not punt or give away any turnovers.

Simmons' big day began when he opened the scoring for the Pirates in the first quarter with a 12-yard touchdown run. He scored from close range once in the second quarter and again in the third.

Simmons acknowledged the defense for picking up the slack for the sputtering offense this season.

"We really thank the defense for being patient with us because they have been playing their tails off for the past few weeks," he said. "We really owe them because without them we wouldn't have won the games that we have won."

Holtz used the game as an opportunity to build depth on both sides of the ball, as the Pirates continue to cope with injuries and suspensions.

The receiving corps had a breakout game as Dwayne Harris, T.J. Lee and Jamar Bryant all remained absent. Freshman Darryl Freeney led the way with five catches for 106 yards and one touchdown. Pinkney found Freeney in the first quarter for a 32-yard touchdown strike over the middle to give ECU a 14-0 lead.

Fellow freshman Joe Womack also continued to impress with four catches for 39 yards.

Defensively, ECU continued to plug holes as linebacker Pierre Bell sat out due to lingering effects from a concussion suffered the week before.

Senior safety J.J. Millbrook praised the underclassmen for filling in for injured players like Bell, Quentin Cotton and Jerek Hewett.

"Next year when we're gone, they will be in our shoes," Millbrook said. "I'm very proud of our young boys who stepped in and made plays and I hope they keep it up."

The Pirate defense kept highly regarded UTEP quarterback Trevor Vittatoe under pressure all day long, forcing four sacks and three interceptions.

"I thought our seniors really stepped up and did a great job for their last time in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium," Holtz said. "This is a special class and these guys have accomplished an awful lot."

ECU continued to pour it on the Miners coming out of halftime when a Simmons run made it 37-7. Hartman nailed a long-range, 48-yard field goal with three minutes left in the third quarter to extend the lead. Hartman finished a perfect 4-for-4 on the day.

UTEP scored a late touchdown to make it 46-21 before Alex Taylor returned a botched Miner squib kick for a 40-yard touchdown return.

This writer can be contacted at sports@theeastcarolinian.com.