Pirates face numerous challenges in "Hokie Nation"

By Jared Jackson East Carolinian

August 22, 2007

Greenville, NC (CSTV U-WIRE) -- All eyes will be on Blacksburg, Va. Sept. 1 as the college football season kicks off for ECU when it matches up against national title hopeful and preseason ACC champion pick Virginia Tech in Lane Stadium at noon.

The Hokies, winners of five straight over the Pirates in the all-time series, have a big top-10 match-up with No. 2 LSU in Baton Rouge the second week of the season, but after a gunman claimed 32 lives on the VT campus in the deadliest school shooting ever, the Pirates have become the Hokies number one priority in an effort by the football-laden community to bring back some sort of normalcy.

Upon entering his third year, ECU football coach Skip Holtz knows the pre-game memorial ceremony will be emotional, but once it's game time both sides have to play football.

"When you look at the hurt and the healing that still needs to go on at Virginia Tech, it's going to be a very emotional time for their family, for their fans, for their football team and it will be an emotional time for our team," said Holtz, who owns a 12-13 overall record at the helm of ECU.

"I think that tragedy hit every college campus and every college student around the country because it could happen anywhere. So it's something that we're going to address and talk about, but the bottom line is once the memorials and everything else is done, the ball is going to be put on the tee and we have to play football."

In the wake of the tragedy, ESPN selected the match-up between the Pirates and Hokies as the game of the day on the network, and is sending "College Gameday," the once-a-week pre-game college football special, featuring analysts Kirk Herbstreit, Lee Corso and Chris Fowler to Blacksburg, Va.

Picked as a huge underdog by expert analysts, ECU and redshirt junior defensive tackle Khalif Mitchell believe the bowl game atmosphere will motivate the team.

"The tragedy is going to make us play harder because we are going to be in an environment on the ESPN game of the day," he said. "The students who were slain are students. We are student athletes with student being a first priority and even though we love football it could have happened at any school. Everything happens for a reason and the tragedy, although bad in its nature, brought all universities together and when we go out there we will play for them [the victims] even through they were Hokies."

ECU will enter the game with many questions surrounding the offensive unit. In his first start replacing former senior quaterback James Pinkney redshirt sophomore Rob Kass will face a Virginia Tech defense that has ranked No. 1 in total defense for the past two years.

"The first game is going to be a tough task, without a doubt," said Kass, who completed 14-of-30 passes last year for 184 yards and one interception in limited playing time. "They say that playing at Virginia Tech is one of the toughest places to play in the nation and I take that on as a challenge. I feel like it's a great opportunity for me to make my first start in the toughest place to play in the nation."

Kass added, "I think that as long as I play within the system, under offensive coordinator Todd Fitch and head coach Skip Holtz, they will prepare me to go into any situation, not only against Virginia Tech but what any team on our schedule throws at us...as long as I play within this system, which has worked for many years, I feel I'll be ok going out there."

The Hokies are not without there own concerns on the offensive side of the ball however. Senior quarterback Sean Glennon hopes to perform better in his second season as the full time starter. Glennon threw for 2,191 yards and 11 touchdowns, to go along with 11 interceptions last season.

Many of the struggles that ECU dealt with on offense last year were the result of an offensive line that opened up few holes, and ranked 77th nationally in pass protection. Kass will only be able to go as far as his line takes him and that means that they must protect him or it will make for one tough day in the pocket.

After losing three of their top four receivers to graduation, including standout Aundrae Allison to the Minnesota Vikings, the Pirates must turn to more raw receivers. Senior wide receiver Phillip Henry, a former walk-on who had 34 catches for 484 yards and 2 touchdowns in 2006, will be counted on as the most experienced and versatile of ECU's wideouts and is listed on the preseason depth chart as the first-unit slot receiver. Joining Henry on the first-unit are sophomore Jamar Bryant, who caught 11 passes for 108 yds in 2006 and senior Steven Rogers, who averaged more than 17 yards on 22 catches last year.

While the Hokies offense features stand out running back Branden Ore, who rushed for 1,187 yards and 16 touchdowns last season, the Pirates will look towards senior Chris Johnson to prove that he is an all-purpose back. In 35 career games Johnson has rushed for 1,559 yards and 19 touchdowns. Dominique Lindsay and redshirt freshman Norman Whitley will also add depth to the Pirates rushing attack that could prove to be one of the better units in C-USA.

Everyone knows how tough the Hokies defense will be given the team's track record. However, the Pirates will be returning proven veterans across the defensive line and linebacker units. The imposing defensive line forms a tall front wall that averages about 6-foot-5. Against VT, defensive tackle Marcus Robinson could turn out to be the biggest key along the front after proving to be a consistent run stopper last year. Standing next to Robinson will be University of North Carolina transfer Khalif Mitchell. Marcus Hands and Zach Slate round out the unit as the starting defensive ends, explosive players that can wreak havoc on the opposing quarterback.

The starting linebacker unit will be made up of juniors Quentin Cotton and Pierre Bell, while senior leader Fred Wilson will contain the middle after tallying 39 solo tackles last season. The defensive backs will be in transition mode going into the season. Former linebacker Van Eskridge has moved to free safety, while Chris Mattocks will helm the strong safety position. How well the Pirates pass defense succeeds, however, will be in the hands of cornerbacks Leon Best and Jerek Hewett.

If the Pirates can hang with the Hokies long enough to make special teams a pivotal point of the game then the Pirate Nation will be left holding their breath. After playing in four games and making 3-of-5 kicks last year, sophomore Ben Hartman is poised to take over the placekicking duties. While losing the punting services of Ryan Dougherty hurts after he averaged almost 44 yards a punt, either redshirt freshman Nathan Przestrzelski or sophomore transfer Matt Dodge should be able to handle the punting duties.

"It will be a war and we have to go out and play like it is the last game as we will do every game," said Khalif Mitchell explaining the mindset the Pirates come Sept. 1.

Win or lose, the Pirate faithful will use the VT game as a measuring stick to see how far the program has come in the last two years. But don't expect the boys from Greenville to lay down for the more talented Hokies. They are planning on winning and don't tell them otherwise.