ECU LINEBACKERS: THE BACKBONE AND HEART OF THE DEFENSE The East Carolinian Craig Barnes The linebacking core for the Pirates has been a strong suit the last few seasons and this year should be much of the same. With new faces and veteran leaders, the ECU linebackers are as good as they come. As the football team continues to prepare for the season opener against Old Dominion, the linebackers are steadily working on perfecting their craft. The linebackers have been one of the most consistent and cohesive units for the Pirates defense during the Ruffin McNeill era and last season they did not disappoint. The combination of Jeremy Grove, Kyle Tudor, Derrell Johnson combined for 207 tackles last season and with that core group returning, the Pirate faithful should expect more of the same results. The defense finished last season 53rd in rushing defense, the linebackers showed they had the ability to stop the run. As a unit, we pretty much focused on tackling and pass coverage, said Grove. The linebacker unit is led by Johnson, who finished last season ranked third on the unit with 62 tackles and finished in the Top 10 in the conference with seven sacks. Johnson was named to Second Team All-Conference USA to conclude the 2012 season and began the preseason as a 2013 Defensive First-Team All-Conference Selection by Athlon Sports and Phil Steele s College Football Preview Magazine. Johnson has been named to the College Football Performance Awards Watch List for the top 40 linebackers at the FBS level and the 2013 Butkus Award Watch List. According to outside linebackers coach Duane Price, Johnson has worked relentlessly in practice at getting better. I m more so focused on working on the things I did wrong more so than the things I did correct, said Johnson. I m just trying to become a better all around player and a more outspoken leader. Grove finished last season as the team leader in tackles for the second consecutive year albeit dealing with ailments throughout the season. Grove finished with 83 tackles and garnered an Honorable Mention for the All-Conference team. Tudor used last season to make his mark on the Pirate defense. Tudor shared starting duties with recently departed senior Daniel Drake the last two seasons. Coach Price praised Tudor for his tenacious attitude and his hard-nosed aggressive approach to the game. Tudor was rewarded this preseason for his hard work last season with a 2013 preseason Second- Team All-Conference selection by Phil Steele s College Football Preview Magazine. With the scheme not changing much from last year the unit is expected to have another stellar season and with a new found confidence in Defensive coordinator Rick Smith be on look out for a greater deal of energy shown on the field this season.
INELIGIBLE The East Carolinian Josh Graham ECU wide receivers Justin Jones and Jabril Solomon were declared ineligible for the 2013 football season in an announcement from head coach Ruffin McNeill Wednesday. While the support system we have in place here has been of great benefit to our student-athletes, we unfortunately reached a point where we are unable to help Justin and Jabril retain their eligibility, said McNeill. The expectations we have for everyone in our program are high, both on and off the field, and I m disappointed whenever those met or even exceeded. Jones, a towering 6-foot-8-inch target for Pirate quarterbacks since 2010, began his career with a surplus of promise he caught a last-second hail mary to defeat Tulsa in his first game as a Pirate but instead, completes his career with disappointment and unfulfilled expectations. Last season, Jones played in each of ECU s 12 games, starting five of them, at both inside receiver and tight end. He was redshirted in 2009, and during his three seasons of eligibility, amassed 52 receptions for 598 yards and 12 touchdowns. Solomon burst onto the scene in 2012 as one of the team s true deep threats. Even though his 17 catches and single touchdown don t seem all too impressive, he made the most of his grabs with a team-best 24.1 yards per catch. Unlike Jones, Solomon s days at ECU may not be finished. Since he is only a sophomore, he still has two years of eligibility remaining if he can meet the team s academic standards. ECU completed its fall camp without the two receivers and currently has its sights set on next Saturday s season opener against Old Dominion at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. With the school s fall semester starting earlier this week, McNeill and his staff had no choice than to declare both ineligible. We still have enough people to get eleven out there, said offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley after the team s Wednesday evening practice. That s why you recruit well; because things come up, and things happen and you have to be prepared for them. I think we re prepared to do that and this team is full speed ahead. It s always tough when you lose any player, not able to retain [their eligibility], McNeill said. My job is to make sure all of them achieve that. McNeill did not elaborate any further on the specific details regarding each of the player s ineligibilities.
ROOMIES IN SYNC FOR ECU The Daily Reflector By Nathan Summers As roommates, South Carolina native Ike Harris and New Yorker Adhem Elsawi are something of an odd couple. On the football field, however, they think they can be a perfect pair as the starting bookends of the East Carolina offensive line. Elsawi, one of three seniors up front, is a consummate hard-worker who transferred from Campbell after his freshman year, walked on at ECU and battled his way into a starting position at left tackle by his junior season. Harris, a sophomore, traveled the more traditional route to the Pirates and has college football in his pedigree. The 6-foot-7, 304-pounder quickly emerged as a legitimate candidate to become a starting tackle after redshirting in 2011 and taking over the top reserve spot last season behind Elsawi on the left side. Now the transition is complete, as Elsawi has shifted to right tackle for his final season to allow Harris to step in on the left. He s been my roommate now since the beginning of last year, and that s been a real cool dynamic for me, said the 6-5, 308-pound Elsawi, who started all 13 games for the Pirates last season. One of the things I like about Ike is that when I play, I play fierce but it s a calm fierce. I don t just yell and scream for the hoopla. I see the same kind of intensity in Ike. When he s in the zone you can see it. Elsawi said the mentoring process with Harris has been made easier by the bond between them. The Saratoga Springs, N.Y., native said he can read Harris mind, especially when it comes to football. But Elsawi is quick to point out that the learning process has been mutual. I m from New York, he s from South Carolina, so there s a bit of a culture shock there, Elsawi said. I really the way he conducts himself in certain situations. I think we ve learned a lot from each other. The feeling is mutual. Harris, a native of Irmo, S.C., said the adjustment has gone smoothly for he and Elsawi, and that the rest of the line has made the adjustment with them. We have to think on the move very quickly every play on the snap of the ball, said Harris, who played in 12 games behind Elsawi last season. You have to take a bunch of steps to get one task accomplished. On the offensive line as a whole, we ve all helped each other a lot.
PIRATES WANT ONE LAST C-USA CROWN The Daily Reflector By Nathan Summers The 2013 East Carolina football season will be characterized by many firsts, one last and a 50th, but the Pirates and head coach Ruffin McNeill would also like to add a third into the mix before they re done. ECU s roster is crammed full of experience and talent, and the expectation is for the Pirates to cap their final campaign as a Conference USA member with their third league crown. It s a part of our vision, said McNeill, who guided the Pirates to an 8-5 finish last season and enters his fourth season at the helm with an even 19-19 mark. The standard is high here, so we expect that as a team, a unit, an organization and a program. To play extra games is always a part of that vision. This team is doing a good job of attacking each day and making sure we win today. Among the 12 teams standing in ECU s way are four first-time opponents, including non-league Old Dominion to open the season at home on Aug. 31, then first-time C-USA tilts versus Florida Atlantic (Sept. 5), at Middle Tennessee State (Oct. 5) and at Florida International (Nov. 2). The Pirates round out their league slate with more familiar foes at Tulane (Oct. 12), Southern Miss (Oct. 19), Tulsa (Nov. 9), UAB (Nov. 16) and at Marshall (Nov. 29) to close out the regular season. The remaining non-conference slate is fierce as ever, beginning with a noon home kickoff against Virginia Tech on Sept. 14 and continuing at North Carolina on Sept. 28 and at N.C. State on Nov. 23. (The schedule) is challenging, but it s exciting and that s why you get into it, McNeill said of the slate for the Pirates, whose pass defense continued to struggle through a season-ending loss to Louisiana-Lafayette at last year s New Orleans Bowl, prompting the postseason firing of coordinator Brian Mitchell and the hire of former ECU secondary coach Rick Smith. We started breaking down all the new teams back in June and have a pretty good idea of what they ll run scheme-wise. When the Pirates stare down the Monarchs in a 7 p.m. kickoff, ECU will christen the 50th year of Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, formerly just Ficklen Stadium. The facility, which has steadily grown to 50,000 seats and promises to expand even more in the future, has become not only a fixture in the state, but by far the most packed house in C-USA during the Pirates tenure. McNeill played in a much different, albeit rapidly growing stadium in the late 1970s under coach Pat Dye. When I first played I can remember looking around and it was always packed, said McNeill, a former defensive back. Then coming back (as head coach in 2010), that first game seems like yesterday against Tulsa, winning that thing and just the way the fans support our football team. It s amazing, the Boneyard with our great student section, the pregame atmosphere of smelling barbecue, there s no place like Greenville, North Carolina, on a Saturday, or this year on a Thursday also.
Offense Junior quarterback Shane Carden will lead a talented, up-tempo offense that could post the eye-popping numbers that fourth-year coordinator Lincoln Riley has promised. In 11 starts as a sophomore, Carden unleashed 3,116 pass yards, threw 23 touchdown passes and rushed for a team-high eight more. Eleven of those scoring throws landed in the hands of 1,000-yard receiver Justin Hardy. He ll be joined in the slot by fellow junior starter Danny Webster (34 receptions, 332 yards, five TDs in 2012), and behind them are talented freshmen Quataye Smyre and Jimmy Williams, who reeled in a TD catch in the Pirates final scrimmage. On the outside X and Z posts, senior Reese Wiggins (25-205-1) is vying for time at both positions, while fellow senior Lance Ray is hoping for a breakout season. They have plenty of talented company, though, including sophomore Marshall transfer Bryce Williams (team-high four catches in second scrimmage), and freshmen DaQuan Barnes (fastest 40-yard dash on the team at 4.2), Davon Grayson (TD catch in first scrimmage) and Isaiah Jones (TD catch in second scrimmage). Rounding out the Pirates power trio last season was 1,000-yard rusher Vintavious Cooper, a late signing for ECU in 12 and the undoubted surprise of the season. Entering Cooper s senior season, depth has built behind him in the form of sophomore former walk-on Cory Hunter, sophomore Chris Hairston and freshman Marquez Grayson. They will run behind the most veteran line of the McNeill coaching era. Senior guards Will Simmons and Jordan Davis will flank junior center Taylor Hudson with senior Adhem Elsawi at right tackle and promising sophomore Ike Harris at left tackle. This year we ve got to do something different to win, Webster said of the Pirates quest for a title. We didn t win two years ago. We didn t win last year. And 8-4 or 8-5 (records), those aren t good enough. We want to be 14-0 or 12-0. Defense Smith has spent the better part of the offseason retooling a pass defense that often could not keep the Pirates in games last season, and while plenty of progress has been made, the veteran coach knows there is no telling what will happen when the real tests come. Senior free safety Damon Magazu (second on the team with 80 tackles last season) will join senior strong safety Chip Thompson, while senior Adonis Armstrong figures to return to the field corner starting spot with either sophomore Josh Hawkins or junior Detric Allen at the boundary. Michael Dobson, redshirt DeShaun Amos and freshman DaShawn Benton have also featured in August camp at corner. We ve got a chance if we stay together, Smith said of his defense. I just don t know what s going to happen when that adversity hits. In front of the secondary is a deeply experienced front seven, led by four veteran linebackers. On the inside, main cog Jeremy Grove (team-high 83 tackles, two forced fumbles) joins fellow senior Kyle Tudor (62 tackles, forced fumble), while a pair of seniors will start on the outside in Derrell Johnson (62 tackles, team-high 11 tackles for loss and seven sacks) and Gabe Woullard (49-5-1). Up front, junior nose guard Terry Williams is back to anchor the line, with senior Lee Pegues and sophomore Terrell Stanley on the ends. Special teams There are more knowns than unknowns, with senior punter Trent Tignor back for his final campaign and junior Warren Harvey returning to his placekicking post.
In the return game, Hardy is likely to again be the lead punt man, while Ray and Wiggins are among the frontrunners to return kicks.
PIRATES FINISH SESSION IN DOWDY-FICKLEN The Daily Reflector By Nathan Summers The East Carolina football team returned to Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium for the first time in nearly two weeks on Thursday afternoon. The Pirates began practice in their usual complex, but moved over to the stadium to finish out the session, with an increased concentration on their Aug. 31 season opener against Old Dominion. Wet weather forced the team to conduct last Saturday s preseason scrimmage on the practice fields. The biggest thing was we wanted to get in the stadium, fourth-year ECU head coach Ruffin McNeill said, noting a focus on sideline communication and organization along with personnel substitution. We went good on good, offense versus defense today with some scout looks as well getting ready for ODU. McNeill continued to stress nutrition to his players now that they are mostly on their own with the start of classes. He also addressed focus, knowing his players will be getting plenty of attention on campus, and issued his mantra of drowning out the noise. We ve got to make sure we drown it out and focus on ourselves, McNeill said. The Pirates return to the practice field this afternoon before getting Saturday off. Sunday night will mark the beginning of the team s first official game week.
ECU STILL SORTING OUT SECONDARY ROLES The Daily Reflector By Nathan Summers With the final days counting down to East Carolina football s season opener against Old Dominion, there are still players locked in camp-style battles for potential starting and top reserve positions. Some of the most heated are in the team s revamped secondary, where the most attention was needed after the 2012 season. Incumbent starting strong safety Chip Thompson is still being pushed by senior former running back Michael Dobson, and even though Thompson spent spring practice and the beginning of August camp still a clear-cut No. 1, Dobson has closed the gap in the final days before the Pirates Aug. 31 kickoff against the Monarchs. Mike is a hell of a player, and he s making me better and me likewise for him, Thompson said of his continued tussle for repetitions with Dobson. Camp is over and we re back in class so it s time for all of us to get ready for these games. Thompson transferred to ECU from Mississippi s Hinds Community College and started 12 of the Pirates 13 games last year. He is one of three seniors along with field corner and fellow former Hinds standout Adonis Armstrong and two-year starting free safety Damon Magazu who are set to start against ODU. Sophomore former walk-on Josh Hawkins will take over at the boundary corner ahead of junior Detric Allen to round out a unit that hopes to make an immediate impact after a rough season. We just have to remain ourselves, be fundamentally sound and tackle, said Thompson, who made a big splash in his first game as a Pirate, returning a fumble 45 yards for a touchdown against Appalachian State. We have almost 20 (total) starters returning so confidence is through the roof. We ve got older guys in all positions and we re ready to play. Behind him, Dobson is ready to play too, and will most certainly see his share of field time. After three seasons of limited action in the ECU backfield Dobson scored four rushing touchdowns in that span the Mount Airy native is embracing the change and the chance. It s a little bit of a rebirth, said Dobson, who was briefly moved to corner before coming back to safety during the preseason. It s my senior year and I m going all out. The secondary has made a big improvement and the guys are playing with a lot more intensity and focus.