ShareThisBy JIM MASILAK
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
There was no hiding how much East Carolina's overtime victory Saturday over Southern Miss meant to the Pirates.
It was written all over their faces.
"There was so much joy, excitement and celebration in those players. So many of the older guys had tears in their eyes in the locker room after the game," ECU coach Skip Holtz said after the 20-17 victory, which left the Pirates alone atop Conference USA's East Division. "It was a great feeling. It's one of the reasons you coach is for games like that, to be in that locker room afterwards."
All of a sudden in Greenville, the disastrous two years known as the John Thompson era, during which the Pirates went a miserable 3-20, seem like little more than a bad dream.
With four wins in its last six games, ECU (4-4 overall, 3-2 in C-USA) has positioned itself as a bona-fide contender for the division title, if not the league championship.
"They're playing with a lot of positive energy. You can see that on the field," said Central Florida coach George O'Leary, whose Golden Knights play ECU on Saturday in Orlando. "The quarterback (James Pinkney) is making plays ... and they're playing very sound defense."
Southern Miss coach Jeff Bower grunted at the memory of the 26 yards his team managed in the second half against the Pirates.
"We didn't do much at all. It was poor offensively," Bower said. "They did a good job on us."
With wins over the University of Memphis, Virginia, SMU and now Southern Miss, East Carolina needs to win just two of its last four games to become bowl eligible.
The Pirates need to win three of their last four _ against Central Florida, Marshall, Rice and North Carolina State _ to ensure their first winning season since 2000.
After going 5-6 in his first season, Holtz is continuing the process of turning the Pirates' ship back in the right direction.
Beating Southern Miss _ something ECU had done just once in 10 tries since 1996 _ was another step back toward respectability.
"It was a huge win from a program standpoint. I talked all week with the team about trying to keep things in perspective and not look at the big picture," Holtz said. "The thing that I enjoyed the most about this football game was to watch the team come into its own."
Just glad to be here
