East Carolinian

Issue date: 10/5/06 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Jessi Mock

Media Credit: Jessi Mock

Brandon Fractious saw his opportunity and made the most of it. With an injured turf toe still nagging Chris Johnson, Fractious got his first career start and ran for 102 yards on 19 carries as ECU ran its way to a convincing 31-21 win over ACC opponent Virginia.

"Offensive line played a great game and it made it simple on our part," Fractious said. "It was smash-mouth football. Coach [Holtz] said he wanted to run the ball this week and it just worked out for us."

The Pirates played their best offense of the season in the first half against a defense ranked in the top 20 nationally, and did so without Johnson and wide receivers Aundrae Allison and Jamar Bryant.

"We put a lot of pressure on these players in the last two weeks," said ECU Head Coach Skip Holtz. "We talked about going back to basics and talked about trying to take the off-week to figure out what's broke, what do we need to do be able to do better."

The Pirates (2-3) ran for over 200 yards for the first time since rambling for 245 last year at Marshall. ECU finished with 208 yards as a team, with Brandon Simmons chipping in with 57 yards and James Pinkney, who was sacked three times, scrambling for another 42. Fractious, Simmons and Pinkney all ran for scores.

"The offensive line and the running game I thought was awesome," Holtz said.

The first ECU trip to the end zone came on ECU's second possession.

After hitting a wide open Bobby Good on a third-and-8 for a first down, Pinkney picked up another first down into Virginia territory with a 25-yard run. A late hit penalty by Cavalier linebacker Antonio Appleby set up ECU at the UVa 28.

A misdirection run by Fractious picked up 20 yards to give the Pirates a first-and-goal at the 8. Two plays later, Simmons scored from five yards out for his career touchdown and ECU took the early lead, 7-0.

"I made Brandon Simmons stand up in the team meeting and I told him he was going to be accountable to everybody on the team and that he had to step up," Holtz said. "He had the biggest grin on his face from ear to ear, like this is what I've been waiting for. It's what you want to see as a coach."

The 223-pound sophomore was the bruiser for the Pirates, which is what has impressed Holtz the most.

"He brought something to us tonight," Holtz said. "He brought a physical nature. He didn't fall backwards. When there was a collision, he was normally the one going forward and that's one of the things that we've lacked."

Jameel Sewell has a rough game in his third game for the Cavaliers. The freshman quarterback was just 6-of-13 for 39 yards while getting sacked three times in the first half, and finished 15-of-31 for 123 yards and a touchdown.

"We put a lot of emphasis on (sacks) this week and we knew we had to get back there," said freshman defensive end Scotty Robinson, who recorded his second sack of the season. "We just got the looks that we wanted."

On the flip side, Pinkney played like "a veteran quarterback" according to Virginia head coach Al Groh, while Holtz said he "managed the game well."

"I give him a lot of credit, he stepped up and made some plays when his team needed him to," Groh said. "That's what senior quarterbacks usually do."

Even when it went bad, it went good for Pinkney and the Pirates in the first half. On a second-and-goal, Pinkney nearly had the snap go over his head, but he tipped it up to himself, and then scrambled six yards for ECU's third touchdown and a 24-7 halftime lead.

The Pirates juggled their offensive line during the bye week, moving left guard Matt Butler to center and giving true freshman guard Cory Dowless his first start.

Virginia scored its lone first half touchdown by using some deception. Similar to the Pinkney run with the late hit penalty as Snelling lumbered for 29 yards but was hit late by Pierre Parker. The next play saw the Cavaliers use trickery to score on a reverse option pass as wide receiver Emmanuel Byers hit Williams for a 22-yard score.

Without Allison, who did not dress due to an ankle injury, and Bryant, who injured his thumb Thursday, Pinkney hit seven different receivers with Bobby Good his favorite target.

The 6-1 senior, whom the coaching staff moved to special teams as the punt returner, caught five balls for 102 yards, his third career 100-yard game.

Good's 13-yard punt return in the second quarter set up ECU near midfield and two big catches by junior Jay Sonnhalter put ECU inside the red zone, leading to a Robert Lee 36-yard field goal.

"I thought Bobby Good stood up for the challenge," Holtz said. "He was awesome. He was fun to watch play. He played with spirit and enthusiasm. We finally caught a punt and got something going there. A bunch of guys stepped up and really made the most of their opportunities."

The Cavaliers appeared to steal the momentum early in the second half, as the UVa defense forced a three-and-out on ECU's first possession.

Virginia blocked a Ryan Dougherty punt and took over at the ECU 17. Two plays later, the Cavaliers cut the lead to 10 on a Jason Snelling one-yard dive. Snelling finished the game with 103 yards on 16 carries.

Holtz called block "inexcusable," but it was the only bad mark on Dougherty's night. Aside from scoring a late touchdown, the punter averaged 55.7 yards per punt, including a career-long 72-yarder in the first half.

ECU responded to the Virginia score by driving the length of the field, but Robert Lee missed a 24-yard field goal and the Wahoos dodged a bullet.

Jeffrey Fitzgerald and Chris Long provided constant pressure for the Cavaliers in the second half, but inaccurate passing and several drops prevented Virginia from putting together consistent drives.

"We didn't make a lot of plays on the ball, offensively or defensively," Groh said. "We didn't make any catches where the receiver goes up and makes a play and helps the quarterback out. The quarterback could have got more help from the receivers, the defense could've got more help from the offense, and the offense could've got more help from the defense. Aside from the blocked punt, we didn't make enough plays to win the game."

A late fourth-quarter 16-play drive by the Pirates put the game out of reach when Dougherty scored from two yards out on a fake field goal with 2:17 remaining.

"I wasn't about to settle for a field goal," Holtz said. "We had driven down the field twice in this game and missed field goals, and I was gonna miss a fake field goal before I was gonna kick a field goal."

The Cavaliers scored a touchdown in the final minute to cap the scoring and Groh knew it was too little, too late.

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

The win was ECU's first over an ACC team since the 2005 opener versus Duke.

"Great win for the program. It's a great win for the season. It's a great win for this football team," Holtz said. "These guys have been close. Tonight, we didn't turn the ball over and we made the most of our opportunities."

The victory builds momentum for the Pirates as they prepare for defending Conference-USA champion Tulsa next week.

"We needed a win. We'd been close," Holtz said. "It was huge. We needed it from a momentum standpoint; we needed it from a confidence standpoint. It's gonna take this kind of effort next week. Tulsa's a very good football team."

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