History awaits?

C-USA title in ECU's grasp

By: Jared Jackson

Posted: 12/4/08

Football immortality could be just around for the corner for ECU.

The Pirates travel to Tulsa, Okla. this week for a noon showdown to play for the Conference USA title. A win would give ECU its first league title of any kind since capturing the Southern Conference title in 1976.

"I think it speaks volumes for players and what they're doing, the depth that we have, how we've overcoming some of the adversity we've faced and how some of the young guys have stepped up," said ECU coach Skip Holtz of the season. "It also speaks to the players and their desire, strength and mental attitude. They have stayed focused and in this thing the whole way."

The game pits C-USA's No. 1 offense in Tulsa [10-2, 7-1] against the No. 2 defense in ECU [8-4, 6-2]. The game will serve as a football version of "mythbusters" in regards to whether it is truly defense that does win championships.

ECU remained mostly independent during its current title drought and has fought hard over the course of the Skip Holtz era to be in its current position. The last two years the Pirates didn't close out the season strong, losing in the 11th week to Rice and Marshall respectfully and watching their dreams of an appearance in the C-USA title game dashed.

When ECU made it to the Papajohns.com Bowl two years ago, Holtz said in the aftermath of a 24-7 loss that it was more about taking the step and getting there rather than winning. But don't be fooled, this week the Pirates are not just taking a vacation to Tulsa, they plan on bringing home a C-USA title and a Liberty Bowl berth.

"It just goes to show you that your hard work pays off," said senior ECU free safety Van Eskridge. "We've been working multiple years to try and get to this goal [C-USA title game], and now that we're here, the only thing left for us to do is win it."

The winning part is going to be quite a difficult task no matter how you cut it for the Pirates. Tulsa, as previously stated, ranks No. 1 in the nation in total offense, averaging almost 579 yards per game. The Golden Hurricane also rank No. 2 in scoring offense, averaging 49 points.

In comparison, Tulsa has scored 81 touchdowns to ECU's 33.

"A lot of the teams on the western side of the conference have some big time offenses," Eskridge said. "Tulsa might be the best one. I would have to say at as far as being very good at what they do, they rank right up there with West Virginia and Houston."

The secret to the Golden Hurricane's success lies on the arm of senior quarterback David Johnson. He has thrown for 3,671 yards and 42 touchdowns with only 13 interceptions.

Johnson also leads the nation in pass efficiency with a 192.5 quarterback rating. That number puts Johnson above Florida's Tim Tebow, Oklahoma's Sam Bradford and Texas's Colt McCoy - all three potential Heisman finalists.

"He is going to present a very big challenge for us," Eskridge said. "Johnson is very efficient. They hit a lot of big plays and they have a lot of speedy guys at wideout so we're going to have to make sure [to] keep everything inside and in front and try to eliminate the big plays."

A week after putting up 53 points on the scoreboard - the most of the season, ECU hopes to recreate last week's effort against UTEP against the Golden Hurricane this week.

Against the Miners, ECU ran for 231 yards and passed for 244 more as the Pirates easily had their best day of the year on offense - even with the string of injuries and suspensions that had a good part of their opening day roster against Virginia Tech inactive.

"It gives us great confidence," said ECU senior quarterback Patrick Pinkney. "When you have your backup players stepping up and making big plays, you have everybody believing and just having fun out there."

Last week, Pinkney was 17-of-23 for 313 yards and two touchdowns, but this week he knows he faces arguably the toughest test of the season magnified by the lights of playing on a championship stage.

"They are very disciplined on defense and put up a lot of points on offense," Pinkney said. "But like I always say if we take care of ECU football then we will have a great day."

The Golden Hurricane rank No. 6 in C-USA in total and scoring defense, allowing only 400 yards and 29 points per game.

Defensively, Tulsa ranks No. 2 in C-USA, allowing only 131 yards per game on the ground. After a week when a stagnant running game exploded against UTEP, Pinkney knows that this week against the Golden Hurricane, running will be key.

"It starts up front," Pinkney said of getting the ECU rushing attack going. "We have to be physical and outplay them up front and our running backs have to hit the holes hard."

While the Tulsa defense isn't statistically the best that ECU has faced all year, the pressure will most likely be on the Pirates to score points - and a lot of them, given Tulsa's fast break offense style of play.

Even so, Pinkney doesn't care if his team scores in the single or double digits as long as it leaves H.A. Chapman Stadium as C-USA champs.

"I'll put it like this¬¬- Coach Holtz always says he wants to win a game 2-0, so 2-0," Pinkney said amid laughter when asked how many points his team needs to put up for a victory.

But all joking aside, Pinkney knows what a win would mean for a storied program like ECU.

"It would the first [ECU team] to win a Conference USA title," Pinkney said. "It would be big for our program and everyone would remember it."

Would it ever. As the great Ric Flair once said, "To be the man, you have to beat the man."

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