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Bailey's
Take on Pirate Sports
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From the Anchor Desk
Tuesday, October 1, 2002
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By Brian Bailey
Sports Anchor of WNCT-TV 9 |
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Tweaks of O-line and running tactics in the
works
©2002 Bonesville.net
On paper, it just doesn’t look like the offensive line is
playing very well for East Carolina.
Sometimes, though, statistics are deceiving. Pirate
offensive line Coach Steve Shankweiler says it’s just a matter of this group
meshing together.
“We have some outstanding talent on this line,” Shankweiler
said. “We just haven’t meshed together as a unit. I think we will, though,
because this is the same group that has played so well over the last couple
of seasons.”
Head coach Steve Logan touched on a similar thread in his
evaluation of the offensive line, especially when he talked about running
the football.
“We have to remember that we have two very different running
backs this year,” explained Logan. "Art Brown and Marvin Townes are very
different then Leonard Henry. If you remember, it took Leonard almost a year
to really understand the blocking lanes, and it took about that long for the
offense to get the plays called to really show off Leonard’s strengths.”
Logan continued with his in-depth analysis of the running
game:
"We've got some subtle changes that we need to make. For us
it was a work in progress. For instance, with Leonard Henry, going back to
his junior year where he had 800 yards running, and finally as we got enough
information and definition on film, we changed the angle of departure of our
offensive line and we gave Leonard one cut, that's it.
"Every time we found him running on film east-west, he got
in trouble. Once we got him coached to be a north-south guy and to use his
215 pounds to his advantage, he jumps up and runs for 1,500 yards.
"We don't have that now — we've got two guys that are more
Junior Smith-type running backs and we have to change some subtle things on
the offensive line and play checks at the line."
Ironically, Junior Smith is on Todd Berry’s staff at Army.
It will be good to see the former Pirate star back on the sidelines at
Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
Berry’s return tough for Logan
Bowden Bowl IV is the feature game this Thursday night, when
Florida State and Bobby Bowden take on Clemson and Tommy Bowden.
I asked Coach Logan this week if this match-up against his
good friend Todd Berry was similar to Bowden Bowl IV.
Logan broke into a big smile before answering.
“No, I would really like to beat my Dad if we played,” joked
Logan. “He’s not a football coach, but that would be a lot of fun. Playing
against a guy that you’re so close to in the business, that’s a little more
difficult.”
Logan says that it is a game featuring two very similar
philosophies on both sides of the football.
"You can call each other's plays to a degree. Todd obviously
worked here a long time and took this offensive idea. He has got his own
wrinkles, additions and subtractions to it. But that is one of the reasons
we are going out Tuesday and Wednesday and work against ourselves full
speed. Because it will be a great picture for both sides of the ball."
ECU, Army among nation’s worst in
turnovers
It’s a pair of struggling teams that will play in
Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium on Saturday.
Forget the problems with running the football and stopping
the run. The reason both of these football teams are losing is turnovers.
In the NCAA statistics, the Pirates are 116th in turnover
margin. Army is ranked 117th.
There are 117 teams playing Division I-A football this
season.
Statistics sometimes lie, but that one screams out the
truth. If you turn the football over, you are destined to fail.
Here’s hoping things turn around for East Carolina on
Military Appreciation Day at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium!
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Brian Bailey.
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archives.
02/23/2007 01:23:02 AM
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