GREENVILLE, N.C. – East Carolina defensive coordinator Greg Hudson was named Rivals.com National Coordinator-of-the-Week after holding No. 8 West Virginia to just three points in the Pirates 24-3 win over the Mountaineers last Saturday afternoon at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
Hudson did what almost no one else in the country has been able to do: bottle up West Virginia’s high-power offense. The Mountaineers failed to score a touchdown for the first time since 2001, which was former head coach Rich Rodriguez’s first season in Morgantown.
East Carolina’s defense wasn’t fooled by West Virginia’s tweaked offense holding Heisman Candidate Pat White to 72 passing yards (11-for-18), which was the fewest passing yards allowed by a Pirate defense since Sept. 2, 2006 when ECU held Navy to just six yards in the air. The Mountaineers were limited to 179 ground yards and White was held to 169 yards of total offense.
After two games, Hudson’s defense ranks among the national leaders in pass defense (13th/105.5), total defense (24th/247.0), scoring defense (25th/12.5) and pass efficiency defense (27th/94.45).
The Pirates will be back in action this Saturday when they travel to New Orleans, La. to face Tulane in the C-USA opener for both schools. Kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. (EDT) in the Superdome.
*****from Jim Modlin GREENSBOROSports.com and proud ECU grad*****