East Carolina @ West Virginia Football Preview

Pirates travel to Morgantown to meet fifth-ranked Mountaineers

Date: Saturday, September 22nd

Injury/Personnel Report:

East Carolina

DT Khalif Mitchell, ankle; doubtful

OT Brandon Setzer, knee; questionable

DB Darryl Reynolds, upper leg; doubtful

TE J.R. Kraemer, thumb; out

 

West Virginia

WR Darius Reynaud, shoulder sprain; probable

NG Keilen Dykes, foot sprain; probable

WR Nate Sowers, hamstring; doubtful

LB Archie Sims, hamstring; doubtful

ECU vs. West Virginia General Overview

The Mountaineers and Pirates have met 18 times over the years with West Virginia holding a commanding 16-2 advantage in the series. WVU has won six straight against East Carolina—the last five under Rich Rodriguez. ECU’s last victory was back in the season opener of ’99 when David Garrard scored from one-yard out in the final minute to give the Pirates a 30-23 win over the Marc Bulger-led Mountaineers.

Under one of its own in former Mountaineer defensive back Rich Rodriguez, WVU has established itself as a perennial national power. The West Virginia-native—who turned down the Alabama job after last season—has led the program to back-to-back 11-win seasons that resulted in consecutive top 10 finishes. The ‘Neers have won 76 percent of their games (50-16) since ’02 while reeling in three Big East titles.

Despite suffering a couple losses, the Pirates have performed well against the Mountaineers in each of the past two seasons. In 2005, they lost 20-15 in Morgantown. Last season, ECU was within seven early in the fourth quarter at 17-10 before Darius Reynaud’s 60-yard touchdown reception on a screen pass from Patrick White broke the game open.

This season, West Virginia has sped out to a 3-0 start. However, they were challenged for three-plus quarters in “Coal Bowl 2” versus Marshall in Huntington. After trailing 13-6 at the break, the Mountaineers put up 42-second half points and pulled away from the rival Thundering Herd in the fourth quarter.

East Carolina enters with a 1-2 mark after suffering a hard-fought 28-21, last-minute home loss to CUSA rival Southern Miss. The Pirates have been plagued by the inability to run the football, woes in the kicking game, penalties and a struggling secondary.

West Virginia Offense vs. East Carolina Defense

Advantage: WVU

Over the past two seasons, the West Virginia offense has been one of the most steady and explosive scoring machines in all of college football. Well, we’re three games into the 2007 season and the Mountaineers appear to be even better this year. All WVU has done thus far is put up 47 points and 500 yards per contest—which includes a whopping 344 on the ground.

Rodriguez’s rousing style of offense features spreading the defense and getting the ball in the hands of your playmakers in space. There is no shortage of weapons for WVU to turn to, as their attack features some of the nation’s best backfield talent—including two Heisman Trophy candidates in quarterback Pat White and running back Steve Slaton. In ’06 the unit was referred to as Slash (Slaton), Dash (White) and Bash (Schmitt). However, the unit’s potency increased more this year as it added a second helping of dash in the form of true freshman back Noel Devine. To say that the Florida-native has exploded onto the scene would be an understatement.

East Carolina is traveling to Morgantown this weekend to take on No. 5 West Virginia at Mountaineer Field, Milan-Puskar Stadium.

White, a redshirt junior and the reigning Big East Offensive Player of the Year, is in his third year as the Mountaineers’ trigger man. The speedy lefty, who has rushed for 2,414 yards and 29 touchdowns in 20 starts in Morgantown, has already run for 244 yards and four scores this season. He has only thrown it 49 times thus far, but has made the most of his chances as he has completed 63.6 percent of his attempts for 436 yards and four touchdowns.

As fast as White is, Slaton’s even faster. The All-American and Heisman Trophy candidate complements the WVU quarterback nicely. He ran for 137 yards and three scores in last Thursday’s 31-14 victory at Maryland and has reached the end zone eight times through three games.

Slaton will need to maintain his high-level of performance, as true freshman Noel Devine has made a big splash in his initial campaign and is making a strong case for more touches. The diminutive rookie, who stands only 5-feet 8-inches tall, has racked up an astounding 256 yards on only 17 carries. He had his “coming out party” in the victory over the Terrapins when he rushed for 136 yards on five carries before a national television audience on ESPN.

The power back is senior Owen Schmitt, who will likely be a fullback on an NFL roster in ’08. Schmitt doesn’t get many touches, but don’t fall asleep on him. He has 72 yards on 11 carries—including a 44-yarder against Maryland.

When the Mountaineers put it in the air, they usually turn to Darius Reynaud. The Pirates know just how explosive Reynaud—who has 18 catches for 281 yards and 2 scores this year—can be. He scorched them for a game-breaking 60-yard touchdown on a screen play in ’06.

As tough as WVU has been to defend the past two years, no one has limited its attack anymore than East Carolina. The Mountaineers have only been held below 200 yards on six different occasions during that span and two of those games were against the Pirates. ECU limited WVU to 127 yards in ’05 and then 153 last season.

Why, you ask? Well, there are a few contributing factors.

Number one, East Carolina possesses a tremendous defensive coaching staff. However, the key member of this staff with regard to preparations for a Rodriguez spread scheme is secondary coach Rick Smith. Smith and Rodriguez were on the same Tulane staff in the late 90’s, which means he is familiar with the WVU coach’s schemes, thought processes, etc.

Secondly, the Pirates run a similar offensive scheme that features a pair of athletic signal-callers in Patrick Pinkney and Dwayne Harris that can probably simulate WVU’s attack as well as anyone can.

Finally, East Carolina’s tackling has been stellar under the current regime and this has allowed them to bring down White and Slaton in the open field.

WVU is well aware of East Carolina’s quality front seven and Rodriguez doesn’t think the Mountaineers will be forced to block better linebackers all season long. The seventh-year coach was highly complimentary of the Pirates’ Quentin Cotton, who has registered 25 tackles and 4.5 for losses through three contests.

ECU’s defensive is athletic, fast and deep. 15 different Pirates have been in on negative yardage plays and seven have recorded sacks. Defensive end Zach Slate has recorded two sacks and 5.5 tackles behind the line.

The Pirates’ downfall to date has been the inexperienced secondary’s susceptibility to play-action passing and the inability to get off the field on third down and longs.

ECU has excelled at forcing turnovers, as they are currently plus six—which places them sixth nationally.

East Carolina Offense vs. West Virginia Defense

Advantage: WVU

In order to prepare for East Carolina’s spread attack, Rodriguez stated that his team’s practices would likely feature more “good on good” reps than a typical week’s preparation since ECU’s offense includes a similar package of read option, play-action and sprint out passing plays. The ‘Neers “O” should provide a great look for their defense, but it may be tough to replicate some of the passing game elements moreso than the running game. This is key to note since WVU’s struggles have occurred here more often than stopping the run, as they have allowed 230 yards per game through the air.

Patrick Pinkney, who will be making only his third career start, has been effective with his arms and legs while demonstrating decision making that would lead you to believe he is a seasoned veteran—as evidenced by the fact he has thrown only one pick. Pinkney has completed nearly 66 percent of his passes in throwing for 724 yards and five scores.

Pinkney does a superb job of spreading the ball around and going through his read progression. He has thrown multiple touchdown passes where he went to his outlet after the initial target wasn’t there.

The Pirates battled the Mountaineers down to the wire in 2005 before dropping a heartbreaking 20-15 decision in the third game of the Skip Holtz era.

Phillip Henry leads ECU with 13 catches for 145 yards. Jamar Bryant, who is the team’s top deep threat, has hauled in 12 balls for 152 yards. Steven Rogers, who assumes more of a possession role, also has double figures in receptions with 11.

Dwayne Harris, who has seen a handful of snaps at quarterback, is used in a variety of ways and caught a 20-yard touchdown against Southern Miss. Harris is a very shifty and powerful runner, who often makes something out of nothing.

A key element of the Pirates’ passing game that has been missing is the contributions of JUCO transfer TJ Lee, who has been battling a shoulder injury.

ECU has been forced to go to the air more often than it would probably like because of sub-par running game. Skip Holtz stated the need to establish something in this area and voiced his concern over Chris Johnson and Dominique Lindsay’s inability to create to date. Therefore, don’t be surprised if Norman Whitley, who is a small and shifty back, and/or Jonathan Williams see their first action in the Pirate backfield.

The Pirates will face a West Virginia defense that experienced marked improvement in their last outing versus Maryland. The Mountaineers incorporate the same 3-3-5 scheme the Pirates have seen the past two years, but it features more aggressiveness than ever before.

While the ‘Neers have allowed 230 yards per game through the air, they have done a phenomenal job of pressuring the quarterback. They rank ninth nationally with 3.67 sacks per game.

The secondary leader is Eric Wicks, who halted two Terrapin drives with interceptions the last time out.

Linebacker Marc Magro recorded two of WVU’s five sacks against UM.

Linebacker Mortty Ivy and defensive end Johnny Dingle have combined for 8 tackles for loss and six sacks.

Special Teams

Advantage: Even

Both teams have had their share of success in the return game while each has experienced its struggles in the kicking and punting phases.

Noel Devine and Darius Reynaud handle the kickoff returns for WVU while Chris Johnson and John Williams bring them back for ECU. Each team’s respective coverage unit will have to continue their sound play in this one.

Defensive back Vaughn Rivers will return the punts of East Carolina’s Matt Dodge. Rivers averages 8.7 yards per return and could get some prime opportunities in this one if Dodge doesn’t improve his distance and hang time. Dodge averages 41.9, but has benefited from rolls.

Dwayne Harris appears to have emerged as the Pirates’ punt return specialist. He has a knack for making the first guy miss and don’t be surprised if he takes one to the house before the season is over.

Pat McAfee handles all of the kicking duties for WVU. McAfee is averaging 35.5 yards per punt on 11 attempts. He has also struggled in the PAT and field goal area, as he missed a 22-yard field goal against the Terps after missing point after touchdowns in the two prior games.

East Carolina’s Ben Hartman can relate. After connecting on only 2-of-6 field goal attempts in the last two games, Hartman has been forced to keep his job by winning a kicking competition during practice this week. Per Holtz, Hartman has responded by connecting on 14 of his 15 attempts and it appears he will remain the team’s top option. It seems that he just needs to experience some success to wash the negative thoughts out of his mind.

Intangibles

Advantage: WVU

West Virginia knocked on the door of the national title hunt last season, but suffered a late season home loss to South Florida that shot down those chances. However, the Mountaineers are back in the picture again this season and are looking to keep those chances alive each and every week.

The Mountaineers know just how much of a challenge Skip Holtz’s Pirates have presented in each of the past two seasons and should not be looking forward to next week’s huge Big East match-up versus South Florida in Tampa. The Bulls handed WVU its lone loss last year.

Rich Rodriguez’s teams do the little things that are necessary to win and have only been flagged 14 times through three games.

Meanwhile, an inexperienced East Carolina team is still trying to figure out how to win the close games against quality competition. The Pirates have been their worst enemy so far, as they’ve committed an inordinate amount of penalties. They have been whistled for 31 through three games after being flagged only 38 times in 13 contests in ’06!

East Carolina does come into the game with the desire to shock the nation by recording a win on the road versus a top five program. The Pirates should also benefit from their previous successes versus WVU.

Final ECU/West Virginia Prediction

It appears as though the Mountaineers will enter this game with the Pirates as 3.5-4 touchdown favorites.

It will be a surprise if East Carolina doesn’t at least cover the spread.

However, in order for Holtz and company to pull the shocker they will have to obviously play their most complete game of the season.

Offensively, ECU must not squander scoring opportunities as it has made habit of doing while eliminating the silly false start penalties. It also needs to at least establish some running attack to take the teeth out of a stellar pass rush of WVU.

Defensively, the Pirates must play fast while getting 11 men to the football and tackling well in space. They must prevent the explosion plays they’ve allowed through the first three games and force Pat White and company to work for everything they get.

ECU has picked off White five times over the past two seasons. Another couple picks would greatly help the Pirates’ upset cause on Saturday.

Expect the Pirates to compete with the Mountaineers and to challenge them for a third consecutive season. However, in the end WVU will be too potent for East Carolina. The addition of Devine and White’s play-action passing versus the Pirates’ secondary will spell doom.

West Virginia 34 - East Carolina 20