Painful plunder
East Carolina's Pirates roll to a big early lead and coast to victory over Virginia, whose road struggles continue.
BY DARRYL SLATER
247-4641
October 8 2006

GREENVILLE, N.C. -- Another Saturday night, another road game, another listless performance.

Halfway through the season, and Virginia looks little different than it did in the season opener at Pittsburgh: sluggish offense, shaky defense.

Except on Saturday, Virginia was humbled, 31-21, by East Carolina, an inferior team to Pittsburgh. And a depleted East Carolina squad, no less.

Despite a sputtering Virginia comeback attempt in the second half, the Pirates put the Cavaliers away early at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, essentially burying Virginia's bowl-game hopes in the first half.

"I thought they out-kicked us, out-coached us, out-caught us, out-defended us, out-ran us," Virginia coach Al Groh said. "And so we got the result we got."

East Carolina (2-3) came into the game averaging 20 points, 97.5 rushing yards and 366.2 total yards. The Pirates exceeded two of those numbers in the first half by taking a 24-7 lead on 146 rushing yards and 304 total yards. East Carolina finished with 432 total yards - the most the Cavaliers have allowed this season.

"To me right now, we're average," defensive end Chris Long said. "Nobody on this defense likes being average."

No team likes spending the holidays at home either, but Virginia (2-4) appears doomed to miss a bowl for the first time under sixth-year coach Al Groh - especially since it plays Florida State, Miami and Virginia Tech in its final three games. The Cavaliers, who began the season with a 38-13 loss at Pittsburgh, are 10-21 on the road under Groh.

"We need a little bit more fire to us," wide receiver Deyon Williams said. "We get hit in the mouth, and we have to learn how to respond."

Or else?

"Or else we're gonna have more games like this," Williams said.

The Pirates were 1-16 against Bowl Championship Series teams since the end of 2000, when they beat Texas Tech in their bowl game. The only win came against Duke. Overall, ECU was 19-43 since 2000, its last winning season.

East Carolina played Saturday without its leading wide receiver, Aundrae Allison (ankle), and leading rusher, Chris Johnson (turf toe). The Pirates in the first half relied on backup Brandon Fractious (70 yards and one touchdown) and walk-on Brandon Simmons (24 yards and one touchdown). Simmons, a sophomore transfer from Elizabeth City State, came in with two carries this season for 3 yards.

Yet the Pirates scored on four of their six first-half drives, blowing past Virginia's defense for 87, 39, 70 and 57 yards on those drives. The Cavaliers came into the game allowing 263 yards per game, 20th in the nation.

Virginia mounted a brief second-half comeback. The Cavaliers started their first drive on ECU's 17 after Ben Parziale blocked Ryan Dougherty's punt. Virginia needed just two plays to score on Jason Snelling's 1-yard run, making it 24-14.

Even when things seemed to improve for Virginia, reality extinguished its hopes.

On its next drive, Virginia got to the ECU 42-yard line, where it faced third down and 17. Sewell hit tight end Tom Santi for a 27-yard gain. But Sewell was penalized for stepping over the line of scrimmage before passing and Virginia had to punt.

East Carolina held its 24-14 lead through the third quarter and used a fourth-quarter touchdown drive of 9:02 to seal it, taking a 31-14 lead on a fake field goal with 2:17 left.

For a moment in the first half, karma appeared to shift in Virginia's favor, as Robert Lee's 40-yard field goal attempt with 10:17 left in the second quarter hit the left upright, keeping ECU's advantage at 17-7. But two ECU drives later, karma again shined on the Pirates.

On second and goal from Virginia's 5-yard line, center Tom Wingenbach nearly snapped the ball over quarterback James Pinkney's head. But Pinkney tipped the ball, gathered it and slipped through the defense for a touchdown, extending ECU's lead to 24-7.

Virginia's offense, with redshirt freshman quarterback Jameel Sewell starting his third game, began Saturday in typical fashion. The Cavaliers came in averaging 16.5 yards per drive -almost a 15-yard drop-off from 2005. Their first three drives Saturday went 20, 22 and 2 yards.

The Cavaliers' offensive highlight occurred on the fourth drive. On first down and 10 at East Carolina's 22, Sewell faked a handoff to Snelling, then handed off to wide receiver Emmanuel Byers on an end-around.

Byers threw to Williams, hitting him in stride in the back corner of the end zone to cut ECU's lead to 10-7 with 57 seconds left in the first quarter. Byers now has three career touchdown passes, all on trick plays. He also passed for a touchdown last week at Duke.

That Virginia drive covered 66 yards. Then the Cavaliers reverted to old habits, moving 1 and zero yards on their next two drives.

Sewell finished 15-of-31 passing for 123 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. But his receivers dropped several passes - fitting of Virginia's evening.

"The plays that we left out on the field should've been made," Williams said.
 

Pirates ship out UVa
Even the Cavaliers' defense struggles against ECU.
By Doug Doughty

GREENVILLE, N.C. -- Even when Virginia was losing three of its first five games, the prevailing opinion was that a decent UVa defense was being undermined by a dreadful offense.

You couldn't have proved it by the Cavaliers' performance Saturday night.

In a battle between programs whose coaches were hired by Terry Holland, East Carolina exposed a Virginia defense ranked 20th in the nation to the tune of 31-21 at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.

Virginia, which had not allowed more than 390 yards to any of its first five opponents, was lit up for 304 yards in the first half by a Pirates' offense that was without its leading rusher and leading receiver.

"We came down here expecting East Carolina's best game of the season [and] knowing it would take our best game of the season to counter that," said Al Groh, whose Cavaliers fell to 2-4, the program's worst six-game record in 20 years.

"It certainly looks like as if we got East Carolina's best game. Quite obviously, we didn't get our best game. I thought they out-kicked us, out-coached us, out-caught us, out-defended us, out-ran us. So we got the results we got."

It was East Carolina's second victory in its last 18 games against teams from Bowl Championship Series conferences. However, the Pirates were no more hapless against BCS teams than Virginia is on the road.

Virginia is 10-21 in away games in Groh's six seasons as head coach, including 1-18 as a road underdog. The Cavaliers, a 512-point underdog Saturday, have lost 17 consecutive road games in that role.

After falling behind 24-7 in the third quarter, the Cavaliers (1-1 ACC) staged a mini-rally but could not generate enough offense to get closer than 24-14.

UVa's lone first-half score came on a touchdown pass by wide receiver Emmanuel Byers, his second in three games, and a third-quarter touchdown followed a Ben Parziale blocked punt, the Cavaliers' third of the season.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Jameel Sewell, plagued early by inaccurate throws and undone late by receivers' drops, completed only 15 of 31 passes for 123 yards.

Sewell was 10-for-25 until taking the Cavaliers on a nine-play drive that culminated in a 10-yard touchdown pass to Fontel Mines with 18 seconds left.

East Carolina quarterback James Pinkney is in his third season as a starter and it showed. Pinkney accounted for more than 205 yards by himself in the second half, 158 in the air and 47 in the ground.

"He played like a veteran quarterback," Groh said. "There were lots of issues at Georgia Tech, when I thought the quarterback [Reggie Ball] was the difference in the game. I thought, overall, that the player tonight [Pinkney] stepped up and won the game for his team."

Pinkney's biggest play came with just under 2 minutes left in the first half, with the Pirates facing a second-goal at the UVa 5. A shotgun snap was soaring over Pinkney's head before he tipped it into the air, caught it and raced untouched into the end zone.

Moments earlier, Pinkney and wide receiver Bobby Good had hooked up on a 44-yard pass to the UVa 6, the last 30 yards coming after Good had slipped away from UVa's Chris Gorham along the sideline.

"We had a chance to make a tackle along the sideline; we had a chance to get the quarterback down when the ball went over his head," Groh said. "Their kids made two plays and we didn't make any plays.

"There were no tactics involved. Just tackle the two guys and that's seven less points."

The blocked punt and touchdown early in the third quarter seemed to give Virginia some momentum and the Cavaliers picked up three first downs on their next series, driving as far as the ECU 35.

However, after Sewell had run for an apparent 5-yard gain on first down, offensive tackle Will Barker was called for a clip behind the play, sending the Cavaliers back to midfield.

UVa had one first down on its next two drives, surrendering the ball with 11:19 remaining in the fourth quarter following a third-down drop by Byers.

"That's definitely not me and that's why I'm so frustrated right now," Byers said. "That one play there could have changed the whole game. Who knows? We probably would have come out on top if I had scored."

East Carolina subsequently drove 79 yards, consuming more than nine minutes, before holder Ryan Dougherty ran 2 yards for a touchdown on a fake field goal.

East Carolina had 432 yards in total offense, compared to 298 for the Cavaliers -- 63 of those coming on the final drive. Pinkney finished 17-of-30 for 224 yards, his 16th straight game with at least 200 passing yards.

"It's a great win for this football team," said Pirates' coach Skip Holtz, who was one of athletic director Holland's first hires when he came to East Carolina from UVa in the fall of 2004. "Coaches don't win football games. Players do."
 

UVa ends 3-game road swing
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

GREENVILLE, N.C. -- In a rare scheduling quirk, Virginia will have three straight home games after wrapping up a three-game road trip Saturday night at East Carolina.

The last time Virginia had played three straight road games before this year was in 1988, when the Cavaliers lost on a last-minute field goal at Louisville, 30-28, before coming back to win at Wake Forest and Virginia Tech.

Virginia agreed to go to East Carolina this year for the first game of a two-game series because the Cavaliers wanted a nonconference home game in 2007 when Virginia has a trip scheduled to Wyoming.

UVa coach Al Groh said earlier this week that he thought the Cavaliers' series with East Carolina was a 2-for-1, meaning the Pirates would be going to Charlottesville for two games, but ECU's only scheduled visit to Scott Stadium is next season.

Discussions on a possible Virginia-East Carolina football series began shortly after ex-Virginia athletic director Terry Holland was introduced as ECU athletic director Sept. 8, 2004.

Holland was the Virginia AD who hired Groh as coach Dec. 30, 2000.

n The game was the third of five straight home games for the Pirates, who play four of their last five games on the road. The five-game homestand is the longest in school history.

Injuries

East Carolina coach Skip Holtz said earlier in the week that top wide receiver Aundrae Allison would have been unable to play if the Pirates hadn't been open Sept. 30. He wasn't available Saturday either.

Allison, who had 83 receptions for 1,024 yards in 2005, already had 19 receptions when he was injured Sept. 23 in the Pirates' 27-10 home loss to West Virginia. Allison had a 47-yard touchdown reception against the Mountaineers before his injury.

On Saturday night, the Pirates also were without their top rusher from 2005, Chris Johnson, who had a turf toe. One of his replacements, Brandon Simmons, was a transfer from Division II Elizabeth City State, where he played linebacker in 2004. Simmons scored ECU's first touchdown on a 5-yard run.

Connections

East Carolina's starting fullback Saturday was Patrick Dosh, a former quarterback at Benedictine in Richmond who originally committed to Virginia Tech and then signed with Florida before transferring to East Carolina. Dosh was a linebacker for the Pirates before moving to offense.

n Reserve East Carolina wide receiver Juwon Crowell is the younger brother of two former Virginia players, Germane and Angelo Crowell, both of whom have played in the NFL. Crowell had three receptions as a sophomore last year, the only receptions of his college career.

Move over, Senator

A 22-yard pass from UVa wide receiver Emmanuel Byers to Deyon Williams in the first quarter was Byers' second touchdown pass in as many games and the third of his career. That moved him into 31st place on Virginia's all-time list, only two touchdown passes behind Sen. George Allen (R-Va.), a Cavalier quarterback from 1972-73.

By the numbers

A crowd of 35,541 was more than 7,000 under capacity at 43,000-seat Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, where 40,510 had turned out two weeks earlier to watch No. 4 West Virginia beat the Pirates 27-10.

n A 72-yard punt by ECU senior Ryan Dougherty in the first quarter was the longest of his career and actually rolled through the end zone and 4-5 yards past the end zone. That was close to 100 yards from where his foot hit the ball.

Next week

Virginia (2-4, 1-1 ACC) returns home for the first time since Sept. 16 when Maryland (3-2, 0-1) comes to Scott Stadium for a 3:30 p.m. kickoff. The home team has won the last six games in the series, including a 45-33 Terrapins' victory last year. Maryland lost 27-23 on Saturday at Georgia Tech.
 

Cavs walk the plank
ECU rushes for 4 TDs as UVa drops to 2-4 on year
By Jay Jenkins / Daily Progress staff writer
October 8, 2006

GREENVILLE, N.C. – East Carolina coach Skip Holtz praised Virginia’s defense countless times heading into his team’s showdown.

For 60 minutes, it looked like Holtz was blowing smoke.

Despite starting a backup tailback, East Carolina scored four rushing touchdowns and enjoyed its best offensive performance in years as the Pirates rolled past Virginia, 31-21, at Dowdy-Finklen Stadium in front of a crowd of 35,541.

The Pirates (2-3) dropped 24 points in the opening half and never looked back as the Cavaliers’ (2-4) road woes continued - UVa has lost eight of its last 10 road games.

“We came down here expecting East Carolina’s best game of the season, knowing that it would take our best game of the season to counter that,” UVa coach Al Groh said. “It surely looked as if we got East Carolina’s best game and I thought obviously we didn’t get our best game.

“I thought they out-kicked us, out-coached us, out-caught us, out-defended us, out-run us, so we got the result that we got.”

Despite the defensive liabilities and poor performance on third downs - UVa converted only 4 of 14 chances on third down - the Cavaliers still had a chance to steal a win from the Pirates.

Virginia junior Ben Parziale blocked a punt early in the third quarter to set up a 1-yard touchdown run by senior tailback Jason Snelling, which trimmed the ECU lead to 24-14.

Like they had done throughout the game, the Pirates countered with a lengthy drive - ECU burned almost 10 minutes off the clock as it marched 73 yards in 13 plays. Virginia appeared to get a game-changing break, however, when ECU place-kicker Robert Lee missed a 24-yard field goal to the right.

Virginia could not capitalize as a drive that moved into East Carolina territory stalled following a clipping penalty on right tackle Will Barker on first-and-10 from ECU 35.

“When they see those things, they are going to call those things,” Groh said of the referee’s call. “It was just a bad judgment play. [Barker] had a chance to make the judgment not to do it.”

Four plays later, Virginia was forced into one of eight punts. Virginia’s players said it was obvious that the positive energy they had gained disappeared shortly after.

“In the third quarter, I feel like we had the momentum,” UVa wideout Deyon Williams said. “One play can turn things around and the penalty that we had it turned the whole game around.”

In the fourth quarter, East Carolina put the finishing touches on the win when Ryan Daugherty scooted into the end zone from 2 yards out on a fake field goal.

The score came after yet another lengthy drive for the Pirates (16 plays, 79 yards).

“It was unbelievable,” Holtz said of the drive. “It lasted over nine minutes and we milked the clock. We had a two-back set for most of the drive. I told the offensive line that if we wanted to win we have to be able to run the ball.”

Having missed two field goals earlier, Holtz said it was an easy decision.

“I would rather miss a fake field goal than kick the field goal,” Holtz said. “We threw the ball on third down knowing that we were going to go for the fake field goal on fourth down.”

Virginia added a late touchdown - redshirt freshman Jameel Sewell connected with Fontel Mines on a 9-yard TD pass - but it came with only 18 seconds left, long after a Purple Party had erupted in the stands.

For the game, Virginia finished with a season-best 298 yards of total offense.

That total, Sewell said, was not nearly enough to help his defensive counterparts that spent 38 minutes on the field.

“The defense is not God,” Sewell said. “They cannot stop everything. They were on the field so much and they were tired. I feel like the offense should have been able to drive more and keep them off the field and that would have been a big difference in the game.”

Despite boasting the nation’s 30th-best run defense, Virginia was unable to stop ECU’s ground attack.

Backup tailback Brandon Fractious, who started and played in favor of starter Chris Johnson (turf toe), was the biggest culprit - he ran 19 times for 102 yards and scored on a 12-yard run in the second quarter. Fractious had help. Brandon Simmons chipped in with 60 yards on 17 carries, including the games’ first touchdown, and quarterback James Pinkney added 42 yards and a 5-yard scoring scamper with 1:46 left in the first half.

“We challenged both Brandon Fractious and Brandon Simmons,” Holtz said, “and they did really good things.”

Virginia will look to get back on track next week as the Cavaliers open a three-game homestand with Maryland (3:30 p.m.). The Cavaliers must win four of their last six games to finish eligible for the postseason.

“We just have to keep motivated and stay positive,” said Snelling, who eclipsed the 100-yard mark on just 16 carries. “We have ACC games the rest of the way and that is big if we want to salvage our season. We have to come back on Monday and progress.”

ECU hosts Tulsa at 3 p.m. on Saturday.

 

Where do the Cavs go from here?
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
October 8, 2006

GREENVILLE, N.C. -- Maybe Colin Cowherd was right.

The ESPN Radio talking head ripped Virginia’s football program back in the summer, calling the Cavaliers the softest bunch of creampuff, bow-tie-wearing wussies he had ever seen.

After the worst start since 1988, and the way Virginia was pummeled in a 31-21 loss at East Carolina on Saturday night, it would be hard to present evidence to debate Cowherd’s claim.

Where was the physical play? Where was the fire? What happened to coach

Al Groh’s face-in-the-fan philosophy?

“I thought [ECU] out-kicked us, out-coached us, out-caught us, out-defended us, out-ran us, so we got the result we got,” said Groh, taking the words right out of this columnist’s mouth.

A tough first half

The result is a 2-4 record at the midway point of a season that didn’t look very promising to begin with. The worst part is, that if this trend continues, this team could end up 2-9, taking the program back almost to the last time Virginia played an East Carolina team.

That was 1975 when the Pirates came to Charlottesville and delivered a 61-10 whooping on the Cavaliers, who finished 1-10 that season. Even worse, some of the ECU players came to the UVa locker room after that game and berated the Cavalier team for “quitting” on then-coach Sonny Randle, who had come to Virginia after recruiting several of the Pirates players.

No ECU players were spotted around the Virginia locker room on Saturday. The Cavalier team’s humiliating faceplant was quite enough, thank you. Nobody quit. They played hard, well, most of the time. They just weren’t good enough.

What is the problem?

Groh said he came in expecting to get ECU’s best game of the season and realized his team would have to counter with its best performance thus far in order to win.

“We got East Carolina’s best game, but, quite obviously, we didn’t get our best game,” said Groh.

The burning question is, “Why?”

Virginia’s defense seemed to have turned the corner last week with aggressive, physical play. The Cavs came into this rowdy, purple-plastered stadium ranked 20th nationally in total defense, giving up 263.4 per game, their best mark since 1969.

But East Carolina piled up 304 yards of real estate by halftime in a total domination.

Certainly part of the reason Virginia looked so bad was that East Carolina played so well. Quarterback James Pinkney, a talented, mobile senior, was spectacular in a 224-yard passing performance. ECU’s backs were quick and made smart cuts. They ran hard (208 yards) behind a big, physical offensive line.

“It wasn’t a lot of trick, slick ’em there,” said Groh.

“It was pretty hardball stuff. They were very physical. The ran the ball with authority.”

Meanwhile, the Cavaliers’ tackling was suspect yet again and the pass coverage was shoddy. Offensively, freshman quarterback Jameel Sewell played like a freshman. His passes were often off the mark and even when they were, UVa’s receivers would not have been mistaken for the Good Hands People.

We all knew that Virginia’s offense had issues, that it would take time for it to come around. We also knew it would be tough for the Cavaliers defense and special teams to generate enough points week-after-week to put together a winning season.

That’s the dilemma. If the offense doesn’t get significantly better, faster, then what’s to happen to this bunch?

We also knew that Virginia has not been a particularly good road team. What’s to blame?

Groh tells them the city, the stadium, the atmosphere shouldn’t make a difference.

UVa senior wide receiver Deyon Williams may have put his finger on it when he said after the loss, what this team needs is some fire. This team needs to play like its hair’s on fire.

Defensive end Chris Long didn’t necessarily subscribe to that theory before the season but is thinking twice about that now.

“We came into the season thinking our identity as a team was a business-like kind of get-things-done team,” said Long. “Go out there and take care of our business and we would be fine. But it looks like we’re going to need a spark.”

Agreed.

But as Long said, “I don’t know where it should come from.”

Maybe this bunch of Cavaliers just aren’t having any fun. Football, at least on the collegiate level, should be about having fun.

It’s not your sterile NFL environment where players carry their briefcases to games. It’s about fire and emotion and jumping up and down. It’s C-O-L-L-E-G-E.

All the Cavaliers had to do was look across the field to East Carolina’s sidelines.

“Those guys on the other side came out and played with emotion,” pointed out Long, who made nine tackles (three for a loss), forced a fumble, made one sack and had two QB pressures. “They had a great crowd, good atmosphere, and they fed off that and made plays.”

Long, who has been around football all his life thanks to a father who played with emotion, has a philosophy about the game.

“I’m a big believer in ‘You are what you put forth on the field,’ and ‘The scoreboard is all that matters,’” he said.

“No matter how the points get there, our identity is that scoreboard. That’s all you have and that’s all that goes in the books.”

Right now, Virginia is average at best. The Cavs are an agonizing Oh-for-3 against Conference USA, the MAC and the Big East. Right now they’re thanking God for Duke.

“If you like being average there’s something wrong with you,” Long said.

With three winnable home games coming up in a row, we’ll find out.

 

Byers a passing threat
By Whitelaw Reid / Daily Progress staff writer
October 8, 2006

One of the prettiest passes of Saturday night’s Virginia-East Carolina game wasn’t thrown by a quarterback. It was tossed by UVa wide receiver Emmanuel Byers.

Late in the first quarter, with Virginia trailing 10-0, Byers threw a 22-yard touchdown pass off an end-around to Deyon Williams. It was a perfect spiral that would have made Peyton Manning proud.

“We worked on it in practice,” Byers said. “It was good play-calling by Coach and we executed it.”

Said Williams: “He made a good throw on that. He was patient and the play worked real well. … I wish we had more plays we had executed like that.”

East Carolina had some trickery of its own. Leading by 10 with a little more than two minutes remaining, Pirates punter Ryan Dougherty scored a touchdown off a fake field goal to seal the game.

Byers, a former backup quarterback at Ragsdale High School in High Point, N.C., has compiled some nice passing statistics in his three years at Virginia.

In 2004, he connected on a 32-yard pass play. Last season, he had a 90-yard touchdown pass against Miami - the school’s longest play from scrimmage in 14 years.

Last week against Duke, Byers connected with Fontel Mines for another touchdown.

Byers was in no mood to celebrate his latest success, though. That’s because he also was part of a play that hurt Virginia as it tried to mount a comeback.

With UVa trailing 24-14 and about 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter, quarterback Jameel Sewell got exactly the coverage he was looking for.

Byers, who was matched 1-on-1 with an East Carolina defensive back, broke free on a deep crossing route near the Pirates’ 25-yard line. Sewell hit him in the hands with a perfect pass in stride that he may have been able to score on, but Byers couldn’t hold on to the ball.

“We needed that play,” Byers said. “It would’ve changed the whole game. I’d give anything to get that play back. Who knows what would’ve happened if I caught it.

“I just wasn’t concentrating as much as I should have. I should’ve executed.”

It was one of several drops by Virginia receivers.

“They hurt us a lot,” Williams said. “There were a lot of plays that we left out on the field. We make those plays and it makes a big difference in the game.

With an inexperienced quarterback such as Sewell at the helm, the drops were particularly damaging.

“[Sewell] needs to regain confidence in his receivers again,” Williams said. “This game is over. We can’t change anything from this game. There are a lot of things we should’ve done right that we didn’t. We have a new week. We just have to work on it this week in practice.”

Williams was noticeably frustrated with the team’s performance.

“You hear all this talk about how we’re such a young team, but that’s not the issue,” Williams said.

“We have a lot of guys on our team that have been playing Virginia football for a while now. It’s time to step up and act like mature, veteran players, make more plays, and have more heart.”

 

Cavs break through on punts
By Whitelaw Reid / Daily Progress staff writer
October 8, 2006

Through six games, Wahoo Nation hasn’t had much to smile about. That was especially the case after East Carolina’s 31-21 win.

But one glimmer of hope has come courtesy of the team’s punt-return unit.

On Saturday night, Virginia blocked a punt for the second straight game. UVa’s Ben Parziale broke through East Carolina’s line and got a hand on Ryan Dougherty’s punt for the Cavaliers’ third block of the season.

“We designed the play, but it wasn’t really designed for me,” said Parziale, a former walk-on. “Nobody came and touched me. It should be kind of easy to block a punt if nobody blocks you.

“It was such a blur. It happened so fast. I stuck my right hand out. I just remember coming through the hold and feeling the impact of the ball hit my hand and saw Josh [Zidenberg] pick it up.”

At the time, the play, which occurred early in the third quarter with Virginia trailing 24-7, looked like it could be a momentum-turner. Two plays later, Jason Snelling scored on a 1-yard touchdown run.

According to Parziale, the play was designed for Zidenberg, who had the two previous punt blocks for Virginia.

Parziale, a 5-foot-11, 202-pound junior from Forest said the three blocks aren’t a fluke.

“I [attribute] it to our coaching,” he said. “Coach [Bob] Diaco has done an excellent job with our special teams unit, especially our punt return.

“[He] has really found ways to scheme teams, so that we can open up holes and block punts.”

Parziale, who usually plays on the punt- and kickoff-return teams, wasn’t used to the throng of reporters around him.

“I haven’t gotten much playing time, so this was definitely the biggest play of my career to this point.

“This is a blast for me right now. From no playing time my first three years to seeing about 10 plays a game … it’s like I’m living the glory days almost.”

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the rest of the team right now.

 

Williams getting in sync
By Jay Jenkins / Daily Progress staff writer
October 8, 2006

Virginia wide receiver Deyon Williams scored his first touchdown of the season when wideout Emmanuel Byers connected with him on a trick play in the final minute of the first quarter.

Williams, a senior, was playing in just his second game of the season. He made his season debut against Duke on Sept. 30. For his career, Williams has now scored 10 touchdowns.

Gould watch

As usual, Virginia punter Chris Gould got a nice workout in the opening half. The junior punted the ball five times, kicked off once and missed a 47-yard field goal. Gould landed two of his punts inside the 20-yard line, while averaging 42 yards per kick in the first half.

Gould has been accustomed to punting quite a bit - he entered the game having punted 32 times for an average of 40.1 yards.

Out of action

Aundrae Allison, East Carolina’s top wide receiver, did not dress for the contest due to an ankle injury that he suffered against West Virginia.

The senior wideout entered the game with 19 receptions for 264 yards and two touchdowns.

Going on the ground

East Carolina coach Skip Holtz admitted earlier in the week that tailback Chris Johnson would likely be a game-time decision.

Holtz obviously made the right decision.

With Johnson hampered by turf toe, Holtz started backup Brandon Fractious and the senior ran wild. Fractious rushed 19 times for 102 yards and scored on a 12-yard run in the second quarter. Not bad for a tailback that entered the game with just 81 yards on the season.

Not there just for kicks

Virginia coach Al Groh raved about East Carolina’s punter leading up to the game.

It didn’t take Ryan Daugherty long to prove why.

The senior punter booted a 72-yard punt in the first half.

He was not done there. Daugherty also ran for a 2-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter on a fake field goal.

Staying winless

With the loss, Virginia is now 0-2 against East Carolina.

The only previous meeting between the two schools was in 1975 in Charlottesville. The Pirates rocked UVa that season, 61-10, at Scott Stadium as the Cavaliers celebrated Homecoming.

UVa and ECU are scheduled to play again in 2008 at Scott Stadium.

And one to grow on

Fontel Mines reached the end zone for the second time this season when UVa quarterback Jameel Sewell connected with him on a 9-yard touchdown pass with 18 seconds left.

The catch extended his streak to 17 consecutive games with a reception, the longest streak on the team.

 

Pirates push Cavs around
ECU dominates physically even without Allison, Johnson
Jaymes Powell Jr., Staff Writer

GREENVILLE - Mauling, overwhelming and certainly old school, East Carolina sprinted back to its good old days Saturday night, physically bashing Virginia en route to a 31-21 victory -- perhaps the program's most prestigious home win in nearly a decade.
"It was a great win for the program, a great win for the season, a great win for this football team ... I couldn't be more proud of these players," Pirates coach Skip Holtz said. "... This is one that needs to be celebrated by these players."

Playing without record-breaking receiver Aundrae Allison and starting running back Chris Johnson, the Pirates (2-3) didn't sail past the Cavaliers (2-4), they ran through and over them, gaining their first victory over a BCS team not named Duke since 2000. The last time a Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium crowd witnessed a win this sexy was ECU's 23-6 win over N.C. State in 1999.

But more important, the Pirates now know just where they stand -- and it's a long way from the bottom. The Pirates were 2-9 in 2004 and 1-10 in 2003 under former coach John Thompson and were one of the worst programs in the nation.

"It's been a long trip. We were pretty bad in the past, but we keep working," senior left tackle Eric Graham said. "It's about time."

The Pirates -- 5-6 last year -- implemented a tougher schedule this season as they wanted to gauge themselves against strong competition. After coming up short in losses to Navy and No.4 West Virginia, ECU finally got a big-boy win by bullying Virginia.

Ironically, some of the Pirates' biggest bullies were backups. Playing without Allison and Johnson for the first time in each player's career, ECU relied heavily on walk-on running back Brandon Simmons and a platoon of unheralded receivers.

Simmons joined with reserve Brandon Fractious to rush for 159 yards and two touchdowns.

"This is what you get recruited for. This is what you live for," said Fractious, whom Holtz now will consider for a starting job after the running back rushed for 102 yards. "There wasn't any pressure."

The pair's weaving and running, along with a suffocating defense, allowed the Pirates to survive several miscues -- including two missed field-goal attempts and a blocked punt.

"They out-kicked us, out-coached us, out-defended us, outran us," Virginia coach Al Groh said. "So we got the result we got."

Entering the game, ECU's defense was ranked 94th in the nation. But facing Virginia's 115th-ranked offense (218.8 yards per game), the Pirates did more than hold their own, holding UVa to 298 total yards.

But it was ECU's offense that shocked the Cavs, totalling 304 first-half yards -- the most in a half since 2001 when it generated 376 against Cincinnati.

Simmons started the Pirates' party in the first quarter when he burst through the Cavs for a 5-yard touchdown. After sending UVa three-and-out, ECU quarterback James Pinkney engineered a drive that ended in a 32-yard Robert Lee field goal, giving East Carolina a 10-0 lead.

While the Pirates used short passes, some big plays by receiver Bobby Good and a mashing running attack to jump to the lead, UVa was all finesse.

Faking an end around, Virginia receiver Emmanuel Byers pulled up and threw a perfect pass to Deyon Williams, who caught the ball at the back of the end zone for a 22-yard score.

The score narrowed ECU's lead to 10-7 late in the first.

But in the second, the Pirates made their statement. Not losing momentum against the ACC team, the Conference USA Pirates scored 14 points in the second quarter as Pinkney's 5-yard touchdown gave ECU a 24-7 lead late in the period.

With the scoreboard showing a 17-point halftime deficit, there seemed little hope for the Cavs as halftime ended. But it didn't take long for the Pirates to give the hopeless some hope.

A UVa player stepped in front of Ryan Dougherty's punt, blocking it and allowing Virginia to recover at the ECU 17-yard line early in the third quarter.

Two plays later, UVa running back Jason Snelling plunged into to the end zone from a yard out, cutting ECU's edge to 24-14.

It would be the only time UVa would threaten, as Pirates cornerback Travis Williams broke up two long fade routes.

The Pirates sent Virginia home with an embarrassing exclamation point -- a 2-yard touchdown run by Dougherty off a fake field-goal attempt.

Good, who shined in Allison's absence with five catches for 105 yards, said getting better by beating good teams -- not also-rans -- is how ECU will make its new name.

"We want to get this team back into the top 25," Good said. "We want to play against the best. We want the harsh challenge."

 

Cavaliers walk the plank
Without their top back, top receiver, Pirates drop Groh's teams to 10-21 on the road
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Oct 8, 2006
 
GREENVILLE, N.C. -- Take the University of Virginia football team out of Scott Stadium, and it struggles.

That's been the rap on the Cavaliers under coach Al Groh, and they did little last night against East Carolina to dispel that reputation.

Three decades after Virginia's first game against the Pirates, the second didn't go much better. U.Va., which lost 61-10 to ECU at Scott Stadium on Nov. 8, 1975, fell 31-21 before a crowd of 35,541 at Dowdly-Ficklen Stadium last night.

Virginia dropped to 2-4, its worst record at this stage of a season since 1988. In Groh's six seasons as coach at his alma mater, U.Va. is 10-21 in road games. Three of those wins have come at Duke. This marked the 17th straight time the Wahoos lost as underdogs on the road.

After a first half in which the Pirates (2-3) totaled 15 first downs and 304 yards against a defense that has been U.Va.'s strength this season, Groh's team trailed 24-7.

The Pirates played without their No. 1 wide receiver (Aundrae Allison) and their No. 1 tailback (Chris Johnson), but their offense, led by senior quarterback James Pinkney, had plenty of firepower without those two standouts.

The Cavaliers' first touchdown came on a trick play that pulled them to 10-7 late in the first quarter. Junior wide receiver Emmanuel Byers, on an apparent end-around, pulled up and tossed a 22-yard pass to senior wideout Deyon Williams, open in the back of the end zone.

On the final possession of the first half, U.Va. moved from its 20 to the ECU 31. The Cavaliers had a chance to cut its deficit to 10 points, but junior Chris Gould missed a 47-yard field goal attempt on the final play of the half.

U.Va.'s offense didn't consistently move the ball all night -- in part because of costly drops by wide receivers -- but its defense and special teams came to life after intermission. On the opening series of the third quarter, Ben Parziale blocked Ryan Dougherty's punt, and the Cavaliers recovered at the ECU 17.

Redshirt freshman Jameel Sewell's first-down pass to tight end Tom Santi gained 16 yards, and senior tailback Jason Snelling chugged into the end zone on the next play. Gould's PAT made it 24-14 with 13:02 left in the third.

ECU answered Snelling's touchdown with an impressive drive, but Robert Lee missed a 24-yard field goal attempt, and the score remained 24-14.

The Cavaliers responded by driving to the ECU 35, then self-destructed. An illegal block by offensive tackle Will Barker moved U.Va. back to midfield, and Sewell later was penalized for passing past the line of scrimmage.

 

U.VA. NOTES
Richmond Times-Dispatch Oct 8, 2006

PASSING GRADE: Virginia junior Emmanuel Byers did it again. For the second straight Saturday, the junior wide receiver from High Point, N.C., threw a touchdown pass on a trick play.

His target against Duke last weekend was senior wideout Fontel Mines, who was wide open in the end zone. Late in the opening quarter against East Carolina last night, Byers lined up wide left, then came around to take a handoff from quarterback Jameel Sewell on what appeared to be an end-around.

Byers pulled up and tossed a 22-yard pass to senior wideout Deyon Williams, who'd gotten behind the ECU secondary. Williams deftly caught the ball and got his feet down in the back of the end zone before going out of bounds.

It was the first TD catch of the season for Williams, who had surgery on his foot in August and missed the Cavaliers' first four games. He had seven touchdown receptions in 2005.

For his college career, Byers has completed 4 of 6 passes for 167 yards and three touchdowns.

RUNNING WILD: East Carolina played without its top tailback last night -- Chris Johnson has a hurt foot -- but he wasn't missed. Against a U.Va. defense had allowed an average of 99.6 yards rushing in its first five games, the Pirates ran for 146 before intermission. Brandon Fractious, a 5-9 senior whose quickness was more than U.Va. could handle, carried 10 times for 70 yards and one touchdown in the first half.

LONG AND WINDING ROAD: East Carolina's No. 1 fullback, senior Pat Dosh, didn't grow up dreaming of playing that position.

While at Richmond's Benedictine High, where he was a star quarterback, Dosh committed first to Virginia Tech. He later changed his mind and ended up signing with Florida.

Dosh, whose father starred in basketball at James Madison University, redshirted at Florida in 2002. He then transferred to ECU, where he had to sit out the 2003 season. He moved to linebacker midway through the 2004 season and became a full-time fullback in 2005.

He made his first college start against Navy in this year's opener. Dosh rumbled 5 yards for a first down in the second quarter last night. That was his second carry of the season. He entered the game with one reception for 17 yards.

BRIGHT FUTURE: Inside linebacker John Bivens wasn't among the U.Va. true freshmen who traveled to Greenville, N.C. But the former Prince George High star has impressed Cavaliers coach Al Groh.

Groh said that when he reviews practice film, there are a number of scout-team defenders "I can't help but watch and get excited about, even though I'm trying to evaluate the offensive performance. John was certainly one of them [this week], but that's the case every Tuesday and Wednesday night.

"He shows up on the ball constantly, he's a problem for the offense to deal with, he amongst a number of other players does a lot to help get [the offense] ready, because it's very gamelike. We see a very high upside for John."

The Cavaliers' travel squad included four true freshmen: nose tackle Nate Collins, inside linebacker Darnell Carter, outside linebacker John-Kevin Dolce and defensive end Sean Gottschalk. Collins is the only member of his class to have played for Virginia this season. For Dolce, the trip was a reward for his play on the scout team.

FAMILIAR NAME: Brothers Germane and Angelo Crowell had stellar careers at U.Va., Germane as a wide receiver under coach George Welsh and Angelo as a linebacker under Welsh and then Groh.

Another Crowell brother, Juwon Crowell, is a reserve at ECU. Crowell, a 6-2, 190-pound junior, plays wideout and on special teams. He played in eight games last season, catching three passes for 31 yards. He had yet to catch a pass this season heading into last night's game. The Crowells are from Winston-Salem, N.C.

OH, BROTHER: Among the players in the Class of 2008 who seriously interest U.Va. is Darryl Hamilton, a defensive back at Centreville High. He's the younger brother of Virginia graduate student Marcus Hamilton, one of the ACC's premier cornerbacks.

Darryl Hamilton, who's about 5-9, 175 pounds, earned a starting job at Centreville as a ninth-grader. He began his high school career at cornerback but now lines up at safety.

"He's an aggressive kid," said his father, Greg Hamilton, who coaches Centreville's secondary.

Marcus Hamilton said his brother is a big-time talent. Their father, a former Boston University football player said, "Right now, he's getting letters from everybody and their mother, so we'll see."

HOME AT LAST: Virginia, which hasn't played at Scott Stadium since Sept. 16, meets Maryland (0-1, 3-2) there Saturday at 3:30 p.m. This ACC game will not be televised.

U.Va., 1-1 in the ACC, was 2-3 overall heading into its nonconference game at ECU.

Maryland lost 27-23 to No. 18 Georgia Tech in Atlanta yesterday. The Terrapins whipped the Cavaliers 45-33 in College Park, Md., last season and lead the series 40-28-2. Maryland hasn't won in Charlottesville, however, since 1990.

-- Jeff White
 

Weak defense tells hole truth for Cavaliers
BOB LIPPER
TIMES-DISPATCH COLUMNIST Oct 8, 2006

GREENVILLE, N.C. The questions keep mounting for Virginia's Cavaliers and for Al Groh as this wobbly football squad and its coach lurch through what is -- as of last night -- a 2-4 bummer of a season.

Question No. 1: If you're gonna book opponents from the Mountain West, MAC and Conference USA, should you not get more from such (presumably) user-friendly scheduling than two losses and one win on a botched extra point?

Question No. 2: Might it not help a cranky offense and a rookie quarterback if you can, you know, stop the other guys?

The thing of it is, Groh made his bones as a defensive guy. He was the defensive coach for Army's freshmen, a defensive line coach at Virginia, the linebackers coach for North Carolina, Texas Tech, the Giants, the Browns and the Jets, the defensive coordinator for Air Force, the Giants and the Patriots.

So how come his U.Va. teams aren't stingier when the crowd on the opposite sideline has the ball?

This is becoming something of an old story for the Cavs, the latest installment being last night's 31-21 loss to East Carolina. It was Groh's 69th game at U.Va. and the 35th time The Other Guys have dropped 24 or more points on his defense.

Blame the Cavs' 3-4 alignment, if you'd like (lots do). Blame Groh's seeming fascination with heft at the expense of zip. Whatever the case, the simple fact is U.Va. routinely gives up way too much on D -- and did again last night.

ECU is no worldbeater, mind you. It brought a 1-3 record and per-outing average of 97.5 yards rushing to this matchup. No matter. Against U.Va., the Pirates slashed and rumbled for 208 yards on the ground and 432 all told. Tackling, covering, making a stop when it mattered -- name a deficiency, and the Cavs had it.

"It was pretty hardball stuff," Groh said. "It wasn't a lot of trick, slick 'em there. They were very physical. They ran the ball with authority. It took us too long to get started on defense."

It took the Pirates one three-and-out series to sort through their possibilities and determine what might work against U.Va. Their conclusion: Most everything.

East Carolina registered points on four of its next five possessions before intermission for 24-7 and adios muchachos. The one exception came when kicker Robert Lee ricocheted a 40-yard field goal try off the left upright. It's the most resistance the Pirates faced during the conclusive opening 30 minutes.

The numbers alone were frightening. ECU had 12 plays of 10 or more yards by halftime and 304 in all. This was 40 yards more than the Cavs had been yielding per game, which goes to show what having Duke on the schedule will do for you.

Oh, and just to add insult to indignity, the Pirates suited up without their star wideout and No. 1 tailback.

One strong-armed senior quarterback (James Pinkney), two slashing runners (Brandon Fractious and Brandon Simmons, each heretofore anonymous) and a platoon of pass-catchers were more than enough for the home team. Virginia's front seven couldn't stop the run, and its secondary couldn't stay in touch with receivers -- a lethal combination.

That helps explain why ECU had the ball for more than 38 minutes -- nine of them on a killing, fourth-quarter drive that ended with a touchdown for 31-14 -- a runaway.

"I'm a big believer in you are what you put forth on the field," said defensive end Chris Long. "To me, right now, we're average. We need to step it up on defense. We need to tackle better. We need to make plays."

They surely didn't on this occasion. But it's happened before.

 

Purple and Gold rush stumps Cavs
By Nathan Summers
Sunday, October 08, 2006

Sitting on a lead in the second half proved more beneficial to East Carolina Saturday than chasing one.

Backed by three first-half rushing touchdowns, the Pirates exacted a 31-21 victory over Virginia Saturday night at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. Playing without two injured offensive cogs in tailback Chris Johnson and wide receiver Aundrae Allison, ECU (2-3) warded off the Cavaliers' second-half rally attempt and then cemented the victory with a grueling fourth-quarter scoring drive that made meaningless a Virginia touchdown in the final minutes of the game.

"We put a lot of pressure on these guys the last two weeks," said East Carolina coach Skip Holtz in reference to the team's bye week on the heels of a 27-10 home loss to No. 4 West Virginia. "We talked about going back to basics, we talked about taking the off-week to decide what's broken and what needed to be fixed. But coaches don't win football games, players do."

Using the tandem running attack of senior Brandon Fractious and sophomore transfer Brandon Simmons, East Carolina was able to fix its running game for the night, as the ECU offense rolled up a sizable edge in total yards, 432-298.

While it was a day that Holtz said was tailor-made for Fractious, the fumble-challenged former transfer still had to convince Holtz it was his time to shine.

Fractious, who charged for 102 of the Pirates' 208 ground yards, approached Holtz numerous times to ask for his chance before actually getting it Saturday.

Virginia coach Al Groh called the game a complete mismatch, and characterized the Pirates' normally stagnant running game as difficult to defend.

"They out-kicked us, out-coached us, out-defended us, so we got the result we got," said Groh, whose team fell to 2-4 this season. "They were very physical. They ran the ball with authority and it just took us too long to get started on defense."

Senior passer James Pinkney, meanwhile, added 42 rush yards, including his gutsy 5-yard scoring run in the first half that gave the Pirates vital points on a potential botched play.

Pinkney also completed 17 of his 30 passes for 224 yards and was interception free. Bobby Good rose to the occasion in the absence of Allison, making five catches for 102 yards.

"I thought he was awesome tonight," Holtz said of Good. "He was fun to watch play."

ECU matched its best first-half lead since 2002 when it seized a 24-7 edge at the break. But Virginia upped the ante as soon as the Cavs took the field for the second half.

After forcing a deep punt attempt early in the third quarter, Virginia blocked Ryan Dougherty's kick, setting up a quick 2-play touchdown drive finished off with Jason Snelling's goal line surge that pulled UVa. within 10 points at 24-14.

But like they did for the entire second half in a win over Memphis, the Pirates blanked the Cavaliers until the final two minutes of the game. In between, a 16-play ECU drive ended when punter and holder Ryan Dougherty picked up a fake field goal and bounced into the end zone from the 2 to give the Pirates a decisive 31-17 edge.

"Unbelievable. We went over nine minutes, started milking the clock a little bit," Holtz said of the key drive. "We got in two backs and ran downhill. We told the offensive line if we wanted to win we're going to have to be able to run the ball."

The Pirates bulleted out to one of their more impressive first halves in recent history, building a 24-7 lead thanks to Pinkney's determination and a boost in the running game from Simmons.

The team's first glimpse of a complete running game made the most difference, despite usual starting tailback Johnson sidelined with a lingering turf toe problem. In his stead, Pinkney, Fractious and Simmons all scored first-half touchdowns to give the Pirates a rare lead on which to sit in the second half.

Virginia receiver Emmanuel Byers tossed a touchdown pass on a trick play to fellow receiver Deyon Williams to put the Cavaliers on the scoreboard and cut ECU's lead to 10-7. But the Pirates responded with consecutive second-quarter scores to build a comfortable lead.

Robert Lee — who missed two field goals in the game — knocked his first attempt off the upright to end the first ECU drive of the second quarter, but the following effort went 11 plays into the end zone after Fractious zig-zagged in from 12 yards to make it 17-7.

The offensive production included Pinkney finding fullback Kort Shankweiler and reserve tight end Jay Sonnhalter in the passing game. That complete effort was appreciated by an ECU defense that largely held up its end of the deal in the team's 1-3 start.

"We knew it was only a matter of time before we got things rolling on offense," said defensive end Scotty Robinson, who finished with three tackles and a sack. "We expected that tonight."

The lead jumped to 24-7 late in the half when — following a 44-yard hook-up between Pinkney and Good — Pinkney bagged his rush TD. The senior passer saved a high-snap from going overhead, then tucked the ball and dove into the end zone past a good block by Fractious.

ECU scored on its second drive of the game, as Pinkney exploded for 25 yards on one play and Fractious added 20 more on the next, setting up Simmons' 5-yard scoring plunge which made it 7-0.

Lee connected from 32 yards on the Pirates' third drive to extend the lead briefly to 10-0.

Of the Pirates' impressive 304 total yards in the opening half, 146 came in the ground game, led by 70 from Fractious.

 

Backups step up to lift up Pirates
By Nathan Summers
Sunday, October 08, 2006

Chris Johnson's toe was a no-go. Aundrae Allison was not even wearing a uniform with his bad ankle.

But the East Carolina Pirates — in the unlikely fashion which has suited them on more than one occasion — played their best without their best. One of the strongest offensive efforts of the Skip Holtz coaching era was carried out without the team's top rusher and top pass catcher.

Instead, players like transfer tailback Brandon Simmons, fullback Kort Shankweiler and reserve tight end Jay Sonnhalter grabbed a rare share of the spotlight in ECU's resounding 31-21 victory over visiting Virginia Saturday night, joining some of the team's regulars to help home fans forget their team was playing short-handed.

"A lot of these young guys have stepped up," Holtz said. "This was a game that a bunch of guys stepped up and took control of the opportunities and made the most of them."

Simmons, playing his first significant time since transferring from Elizabeth City State, ran the ball 17 times for 57 yards and a touchdown and also recorded a couple of catches. And the effort came after Holtz challenged the sophomore, quite literally, to do so.

"I made Brandon Simmons stand up in the team meeting this afternoon. I made him stand up and told him he was going to be accountable to everybody on the team, that he had to step up and that he was going to get his opportunity today," Holtz said. "He had the biggest grin from ear to ear on his face, like 'This is what I've been waiting for.'"

Meanwhile, Sonnhalter made the first two catches of his playing career and Shankweiler, a former quarterback, made three grabs from his H-back position to help give the ECU offense some versatility.

For Sonnhalter, who spent one season at Wingate before coming to ECU, Saturday night was the product of years of hard work.

"Coach Holtz before the game kept saying people were going to have opportunities to step up tonight," said Sonnhalter. "I've always practiced hard, and whatever's asked of me I'm going to do. I was pleased with how this game went."

 

Changes on offensive line give running game a push
By Jim Gentry
Sunday, October 08, 2006

A shakeup on the offensive line paid dividends for East Carolina's football team in its 31-21 victory over Virginia on Saturday.

Looking to reinvigorate the Pirate rushing game, ECU coach Skip Holtz decided to move guard Matt Butler to center and inserted freshman Cory Dowless into the starting lineup in Butler's familiar left guard position.

The Pirates responded with a season-best 208 yards on the ground and four rushing touchdowns.

"We moved Matt Butler to center because we felt like we needed more power at that position," Holtz said. "We needed an anchor at center to establish the running game."

The move also gave the Pirates a chance to see what Dowless could do in a starting role. The freshman from Eastern Randolph High School had played in two of the team's first games, including 12 snaps at left guard against West Virginia.

While Dowless more than held his own, there were some growing pains.

"A couple of time there was pressure I'd think where did that come from — left guard," Holtz said with a grin. "We knew he'd make some mistakes but for him to go out there and do what he did, he did a really nice job."

It helped that Dowless was flanked by Butler and left tackle Eric Graham, a duo that has combined to start 43 games for the Pirates.

"In my first game out there I have two veterans on either side of me," Dowless said. "So it seemed like I had two coaches on the field with me."

He earned high marks from Graham, who has started 27 straight games.

"I thought Cory did a good job," Graham said. "He may have done a few things wrong but we're talking about a guy who is 18, 19 years old.

"Cory didn't seem nervous at all and held his own."

Dougherty shines

While one of his punts were blocked by the Cavaliers, ECU senior Ryan Dougherty had a big night.

Along with booting three punts for an average of 55.7 yards, including a 72-yarder, Dougherty also scored his second career touchdown when he scored on a 2-yard run on fake field goal attempt in the fourth quarter against Virginia.

"He's awesome," Holtz said. "And he punted the ball great. He really gives us a lot of options."

Pinkney's marks

ECU quarterback James Pinkney had a solid night through the air and on the ground.

The senior passed for 224 yards and rushed for 42 yards on 10 carries. Pinkney now has passed for more than 200 yards in 20 games, tying David Garrard for second most in school history. Marcus Crandell holds the record with 21.