Spring Break
Opinion: N.C. State loss still lingers with Pirates
Ronnie Woodward, Asst. Sports Editor
Issue date: 9/30/08 Section: Sports
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Against Houston, ECU played like a team that wasn't motivated or mentally capable of winning Conference USA games.
Houston out-hustled, out-coached, out-smarted and out-played the Pirates. What resulted was a 41-24 loss, the second-straight humbling experience ECU has been dealt in as many games.
"Overall, we just didn't play with the same fire, the same enthusiasm and emotion," said ECU coach Skip Holtz. "I think they played hard. I didn't look out there and see guys walking, I saw guys that were putting it out there on the field, but I don't think we played with the same emotion and passion as we did some other games this year."
Before the 2008 season started, ECU's goal was to win C-USA. After opening the season with wins against Virginia Tech and West Virginia, the goal drastically changed.
Talk of going undefeated and making a BCS Bowl led to a new mindset. The Pirates climbed to No. 14 in the nation and became the best story in the early college football season.
All of that was taken away by N.C. State however, which damaged ECU emotionally.
The dream season was over and the Pirates had to resort back to their original goal: winning C-USA. Houston then made matters worse by showing them that obtaining that goal will not be as easy as they might have thought.
"It might be a case of us coming in looking at records, because they were 1-3 and we were 3-1with a No. 23 ranking beside our name," said ECU safety Van Eskridge.
"Maybe we underestimated them a little bit as a team, but that's something that you can't do."
Houston played like a team that wasn't scared of the No. 23 ranking attached to ECU. The well-coached Cougars, who came into the game winless against Division I-A competition, had an excellent game plan and executed it with purpose and passion.
Holtz said he thought his team had a good week of practice leading up to the game and couldn't pinpoint a single reason for the loss, calling it "a humbling experience for everyone involved."
"We had four very emotional games [to start the season]," Holtz said. "... I'm certainly not trying to find a scapegoat or point a finger, but the reality is it's very difficult to play at that emotional level for five weeks."
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