East Carolina Ready To Defend C-USA Title

(Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

The East Carolina football team under Skip Holtz has had the same two goals every season: win a conference championship and win a bowl game.

As Holtz enters his fifth season as ECU's head coach, the Pirates have accomplished both — just  not in the same season.

Last year, ECU captured its first-ever Conference USA title after toppling Tulsa in the conference championship game. The Pirates then lost to Kentucky in the Liberty Bowl.

Two years ago, ECU fell short of its C-USA title hopes, but beat Boise State in a memorable Hawaii Bowl.

In Holtz' second season, the Pirates won seven games, but lost to South Florida in the Papajohns.com Bowl.

ECU enters this season returning a wealth of talent on both sides of the ball, including sackmaster CJ Wilson and sixth-year senior quarterback Patrick Pinkney. Yes, sixth-year senior.

Pinkney had shoulder surgeries each of his first two years in Greenville, so the NCAA granted Pinkney a sixth-year of eligibility.

"Patrick getting another year of eligibility was huge for us," Holtz said during C-USA's media days in Memphis. "It's a real tribute to Patrick and where he is, to work through the two surgeries and become the type of player he is."

Pinkney is entering his third season as the starter after taking over for the highly productive James Pinkney (no relation). It will be Pinkney's second full season as starter, and he'll have plenty of weapons around him with a deep backfield and three senior wideouts.

Also returning this season are tailback Jonathan Williams, arguably ECU's most talented runner, and wideout Jamar Bryant. Both were suspended for most of the 2008 season, but both are dynamic playmakers who, if they can remain on the field for the entire season, will be gamechangers for the Pirates.

With what could be a very good offense, the Pirates return a defensive unit that could rank, statistically in the nation's top 10 by season's end. Wilson recorded 10.5 sacks to lead the team. Van Eskridge and Emanuel Davis each had four interceptions as the Pirates were one of the nation's top units in terms of takeaways. ECU forced seven turnovers in last year's conference championship win over Tulsa.

"Defensively, we have some high expectations for 2009," Holtz said. "When you look at what we were able to accomplish last year, so many of the young guys who were able to step up, and then what we return.

"It's a real tribute to the leaders like Jay Ross, CJ Wilson, Nick Johnson, Jeremy Chambliss, Chris Mattocks, Van Eskridge and Dekota Marshall, and so many of these guys that have played a prominent role. They've been playing for the last two or three years, and now they're coming into their senior year. We do have a great group of leaders (on defense)."

Holtz said the defense carried the Pirates last season amidst a rash of injuries to the offense, but the defense was not immune. In Week 3 at Tulane, following the upset wins over Virginia Tech and West Virginia, middle linebacker Quentin Cotton tore his ACL and was lost for the season. He was the best player on defense for the Pirates, and the pulse of the unit.

Without him, the Pirates lost three straight and fell out of the top 25 before finally righting the ship with consecutive overtime wins over UCF and Marshall.

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?