Pirates give fans reason to believe

Sept. 4, 2005

By CAULTON TUDOR, News & Observer Staff Writer

GREENVILLE -- Football fever returned to East Carolina University on Saturday.       It came back on the right arm of prodigal quarterback James Pinkney and in the spirit of new coach Skip Holtz.

But it took a lot more than two people to re-light the long-flickering flame in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.

On this sunny, warm afternoon, it really did take a village to accomplish the task. It also took some generosity from Duke's Blue Devils, who pitched in with three pass interceptions, a lost fumble and enough special-teams calamities to last a month of Saturdays.

But at the end of the day, the Pirates had a 24-21 victory, and it's difficult to imagine a program in Division I-A that was more in need of something to cheer about.

After winning just three games during the past two seasons, the once-proud Pirates had virtually fallen off the regional radar. The players and their fans had gone through a prolonged period of frustration through futility. Anything remotely close to a competitive performance was cause for a minor celebration.

Before Saturday, the last season-opening win for ECU was in 2000 -- against Duke. The mere fact that 35,107 customers showed up may have been largely due to the coaching change -- Holtz for John Thompson. But it also said something about the spunk in the fan base. That likelihood didn't go unnoticed in the locker room.

"I think I'm more excited for our fans than I am for the team, and believe me, we're really excited," said linebacker Richard Koonce, a senior from Jacksonville. "It was such a great feeling to look out there in those stands at the end of the game and see all of those fans standing up and cheering."

Much of that excitement was supplied by Pinkney, who was academically ineligible last semester and missed the entire offseason practice period. Although he injured his left shoulder early, he was almost flawless, completing 17 of 21 passes for 236 yards.