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August 29 Sheet
East Carolina (+8) at
Cincinnati - 9:00am Pacific - Monday,
September 1
I had always liked former ECU head
coach Steve Logan but he just seemed to lose his edge in recent
years and a coaching change had to be made. The program was
fortunate to find an ideal replacement in defensive coordinator
John Thompson (formerly of Southern Miss, Memphis, and most
recently Florida for the past two years). Thompson has been one
of the best coordinators in the nation in recent years and will
provide a much needed infusion of new energy and focus into this
football team.
The Pirates return 8 offensive
starters from last years team that averaged 27.9 points per game.
Junior Desmond Robinson surprisingly has won the starting QB job
over returning starter Paul Troth who actually is considered an
NFL prospect with his size and arm strength. Robinson saw limited
time as a backup last season but reportedly has made great strides
in the offseason. He is much more mobile than Troth and coaches
felt he showed enough (Robsinson went 16-for-21 in final
scrimmage) this fall to over take over the starting job. The
Pirates suffered a blow losing senior RB Art Brown to a knee
injury for the season but fortunately they have talented backups
ready to step up in junior Marvin Townes, touted freshman Robert
Tillman, and short yardage specialist JC transfer Kevin Fain. ECU
will feature perhaps the conferences best offensive line with four
starters back. They are led by two time 1st team C-USA member and
preseason all-American Brian Rimpf at left tackle and preseason
all conference member Brian White at center. The O-line features
four seniors and a junior. Senior WR Terrance Cooper is good
enough to draw some double teams and tiny speedster WR Damarcus
Fox returns healthy from an injury plagued sophomore season.
Former Clemson assistant Rick Stockstill is the new offensive
coordinator and UC will have a difficult time knowing what to
expect from a new system.
The ECU defense allowed 33.2 points
per game last season and returns just five starters. Look for
this unit to be completely revamped and be much more successful in
John Thompson's new system. Sources report that the
defense improved tremendously from last season to spring practice
and again from spring practice to fall practice. Thompson says he
can't wait to see his defense play. Sophomore MLB Chris Moore
averaged 10+ tackles a game (led all NCAA freshman) last season
and is a budding star. This defense will be in good shape and
with plenty of time to prepare will have plenty of schemes ready
and in place to slow down UC's pass attack.
Cincinnati comes off a 7-7 season in
which they lost to North Texas in the New Orleans Bowl. A
fortunate come from behind win over TCU in the season opener saved
them from a losing season. Bearcats finished just 2-7 against
teams with winning records. They return just 5 starters on
offense. QB Gino Guidugli threw for an impressive 3,543 yards
last year but I still felt it was a disappointing year for him as
his completion percentage of 54.7%, TD to INT ratio of 22-to-21,
and win loss record vs better teams were much less than
desirable. This year Guidugli has an entirely new group of
receivers as all three of last years starters have departed
including the school's all-time leading receiver LaDaris Vann and
Joe Olinger a 5th round NFL pick. They also must replace RB DeMarco
McClesky, the conferences all-time TD leader. Their two best
offensive lineman, four year starter Josh Gardner & three year
starter Kirt Doolin are also are gone. The pressure will be on QB
Guidugli to show leadership, something he has never had to do in
the past. He spent part of the offseason serving a 60-day house
arrest sentence that did not conclude until August 25th. Head
coach Minter openly admits it will take some time for this offense
to come together and they reportedly were dominated by the defense
in the spring game.
The Bearcat defense also suffered some
key losses to graduation. They return only four starters from
last year. Star defensive end Antwan Peek & star DB Blue Adams,
both NFL draft picks, are gone. Defensive coordinator AJ
Christoff bolted to Stanford. Coaches could not have been too
confident about this years prospects when they replaced Ohio State
with Rhode Island on this years schedule. Cincinnati won last
years meeting 42-26 at ECU. Bearcats benefited from two
interception runbacks for touchdowns in what was a much closer
game than the final score indicates. That was ECU's season finale
and they will get a chance to avenge it here right out of the box.
I have a strong feeling we will see
nothing but positives come from first year coach John Thompson's
team this season. The Pirates have been victims of big upsets in
their last two season opening games (Wake Forest 2001, Duke 2002)
and it has led to two very lackluster seasons. Insiders say there
has been a lot more hitting in preseason camp than in recent
years. It has been a while since this team has played with a
purpose and they definitely will be playing with some today. Take
the points.
East Carolina 1 UNIT
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