Spring Break
Pirates shine in national spotlight
Pinkney leads ECU to 24-3 romp on West Virginia
Jared Jackson, Staff Writer
Issue date: 9/9/08 Section: Sports
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Under Holtz, ECU football has now stepped back into the mainstream resulting in the end of the "dark age" known as the John Thompson era.
West Virginia came to Greenville Saturday afternoon on the heels of tropical storm Hanna, and like the storm; the No.8 Mountaineers were unbelievably fast but lacked a lasting punch against the Pirates. The Mountaineers lost to ECU, 24-3, at Dowdy-Ficklen stadium in front of 43,610 fans; the fourth largest crowd in the stadium's history.
"I don't think you can put it into words," said Holtz. "I am so proud of these players and the way they have come out and completed the last few weeks. We played two elite programs and I am just proud of the way our team has grown. They are playing with desire, passion and togetherness."
The Pirates have now won three straight over ranked opponents, dating back to the Hawaii Bowl win last season. Last week, ECU defeated No.15 Virginia Tech, 27-22, before returning home this week to knock off No. 8 WVU.
"There was a time when we couldn't win three games in a year," Holtz said. "To win three in the last three weeks against three ranked opponents has been tremendous."
The defense proved to be the main headline of the day in holding a potent WVU offense to a game without a touchdown for the first time since a 45-3 loss to Miami in 2001.
The Pirates, who are now ranked No. 14 in the nation, held Heisman hopeful Pat White to 11-of-18 through the air for only 72 yards. This comes a week after White had the best passing game of his career in passing for 208 yards and five touchdowns.
While Pat White was the leading rusher for the Mountaineers with 97 yards on the ground, he had no one except sophomore running back Noel Devine to help him out. Devine finished with 94 yards on 12 carries.
"Give credit to them, they are a great team," said ECU junior defensive end C.J. Wilson, who was a part of two sacks on the day. "He [Pat White] is a great player, but you want to contain him so that's what we worked on all week. We just went out there and executed and got a victory."
The WVU offense was held to 251 yards of total offense; a stark comparison to last year when the Mountaineers racked up 599 yards of offense against ECU. The only score all day for the Mountaineers was a Pat McAfee 26-yard field goal midway through the second quarter.
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