ECU vs. SMU this Saturday in Dallas

THE GAME

East Carolina will play the first of three inter-divisional

contests on its 2009 Conference USA schedule

when the Pirates face SMU Saturday at Gerald

J. Ford Stadium in Dallas. ECU will try to extend its

C-USA winning streak to five straight and push its

early season record to a Skip Holtz era-best 4-2

after a 21-17 road victory over Marshall last week. The contest against the Mustangs

will also close a two-game road swing for ECU, who will return to Dowdy-Ficklen

Stadium next week for a Homecoming clash against another C-USA West Division

member, Rice, on Oct. 17 – oddly, its last Saturday contest until meeting UAB on Nov. 21.

EAST CAROLINA RECORDS AND STREAKS



Ten winning or .500 seasons in the last 15 years (three straight) …



Nine bowl appearances since 1990; five since 2000 (three straight) …



Has won seven of its last nine road games against C-USA members …



Has won five of the last six games against C-USA West Division members …



Has won three-straight road games against C-USA West Division members …



Has won 14 of the last 15 games when holding its opponent to 24 points or less …



Has forced at least two TOs in 15 of 21 games (12 TOs in its last four games) …

FAST FACTS

Record –

East Division;

3-2 (.600); C-USA Record/East Division Standing – 2-0 (1.000)/1stLast 5 Games – 3-2; Last 10 Games – 6-4; Last 15 Games – 9-6;

Streaks –

Pirates face off against SMU. ECU’s contest against the Mustangs will be the Pirates’

750th since the start of football in 1932 (381-356-12/.517).

Overall, East Carolina will play the 57th game of the Skip Holtz Era when the

SCHEMES

SMU utilizes a Run & Shoot offensive attack while employing a multiple defensive

alignment. ECU will line up in a multiple offense and use a multiple look when defending.

THE COACHES

SKIP HOLTZ

while overall, he is in his 10th year as a collegiate head coach with a 66-47 (.584)

record. When he became ECU’s 19th all-time head football coach Dec. 3, 2004, Holtz

officially finished a six-year stint as South Carolina’s assistant head coach, offensive

coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

Prior to leading the Pirates to three-straight bowl appearances and earning

Conference USA Coach-of-the-Year honors in 2008, Holtz helped guide the Gamecocks

to back-to-back Outback Bowl wins over Ohio State (2001-2002). From 1994 to

1998, Holtz steered the Connecticut program to unprecedented success as its head

coach and layed the foundation for the school’s move to the Division I-A (FBS) level.

UConn was a consistent member of the I-AA (FCS) Top 25 polls during his last four

seasons, which included a school-record 10-win, playoff campaign in 1998. Prior to his

success at Connecticut, Holtz spent four seasons at alma mater Notre Dame and served

as the Fighting Irish’s offensive coordinator in 1992 and 1993 – a period which resulted

in a 21-2-1 record and top 10 national ranks in total offense and scoring offense.

(Notre Dame ‘86) is 32-24 (.571) in his fifth season at East Carolina,

JUNE JONES

football program at SMU and sports a 3-13 (.188) record. Overall, he is in his 11th year

as a collegiate head coach with a 79-54 (.594) mark. Prior to his arrival in Dallas, Jones

was 76-41 in nine seasons at Hawai’i and capped his tenure there by leading the

Warriors to the All-State Sugar Bowl in 2007. He also had a 12-year NFL coaching

career, which included head coaching stops at Atlanta and San Diego.

(New York State Regents College) is in his second season heading the

Game No. 6 – October 10, 2009

EAST CAROLINA

Pirates (3-2, 2-0) vs. SMU Mustangs (2-2, 1-0)

Gerald J. Ford Stadium (32,000/2000/A-Turf), Dallas, Texas

8:00 p.m. (EDT)

East Carolina at SMU Page 2 Game 6 – Oct. 10, 2009

EAST CAROLINA (3-2, 2-0 C-USA)

09/05 APPALACHIAN STATE

09/12 at West Virginia

09/19 at No. 24 North Carolina

09/26 * UCF

10/03 * at Marshall

(ISP) W, 29-24(ESPN360) L, 35-20(ESPN2) L, 31-17(ISP) W, 19-14(CBSCS) W, 21-17

10/10 * at SMU

(ISP) 8:00 p.m.

10/17 * RICE

10/27 * at Memphis

11/05 VIRGINIA TECH (

11/15 * at Tulsa (

11/21 * UAB (

11/28 * SOUTHERN MISS 1:00 p.m.

12/05 C-USA Championship

(MASN) 3:30 p.m.(ESPN2) 8:00 p.m.ESPN) 7:30 p.m.ESPN) 8:15 p.m.ISP) 3:30 p.m.(ESPN) TBA

*C-USA game; all times Eastern; ISP (WITN-TV/MASN)

SMU (2-2, 1-0 C-USA)

09/05 STEPHEN F. AUSTIN W, 31-23

09/12 * at UAB W, 35-33

09/19 at Washington State L, 30-27 (OT)

10/03 at TCU L, 39-14

10/10 * EAST CAROLINA 8:00 p.m.

10/17 NAVY 8:00 p.m.

10/24 * at Houston 7:30 p.m.

10/31 * at Tulsa 2:00 p.m.

11/07 * RICE 3:00 p.m.

11/14 * UTEP 3:00 p.m.

11/21 * at Marshall 4:30 p.m.

11/28 * TULANE 3:00 p.m.

*C-USA game; all times Eastern



INJURY REPORT

DT Antonio Allison r. foot OUT

RB J.R. Rogers l. knee OUT

WR Michael Bowman l. arm QUESTIONABLE

OG Terence Campbell l. shoulder QUESTIONABLE

WR Jamar Bryant head PROBABLE

RB Dominique Lindsay r. shoulder PROBABLE



GAME-DAY CAPTAINS

Offense: …………………………

senior QB Patrick Pinkney

Defense: ……………………………..

senior FS Van Eskridge



IN 2008

The Pirates posted a 9-5 overall record last year, which marked

East Carolina’s highest win total since 1999. In league play,

ECU was 6-2 to claim a divisional title before capturing the CUSA

championship with a 27-24 road triumph over Tulsa. In

addition, the Pirates made their third-straight bowl appearance,

facing off against Kentucky in the AutoZoneLiberty Bowl. SMU

recorded an 1-11 overall mark and finished sixth in C-USA’s

West Division with a 0-8 ledger. After posting its only win of the

campaign against Texas State (47-36) during the second week

of the season, the Mustangs dropped their remaining 10 games.

Five of SMU’s eight leagues losses were by an average of

only 7.6 points per game, including narrow six-point setbacks

to division heavyweights Tulsa (37-31) and Houston (44-38).

.



C-USA PRESEASON PICKS

Individually,

Johnson and DE C.J. Wilson

the Preseason All-Conference USA squad, while

C Sean Allen, FS Van Eskridge, LB Nickwere first-team selections toWilson

was also tabbed as the league’s preseason defensive playerof-

the-year.

C-USA does not sponsor a preseason team poll.



ECU BRIEFLY

The Pirates return 55 lettermen off their 2008 squad. Offensively,

ECU brought back nine starters (C Sean Allen, OT

Terence Campbell, OG Cory Dowless, FB/TE Kevin Gidrey,

WR Dwayne Harris, QB Patrick Pinkney, OG Doug Palmer,

OT D.J. Scott and WR Alex Taylor ), while on the other side

of the ball, the Pirates welcomed back eight (LB Jeremy

Chambliss, FS Van Eskridge, LB Nick Johnson, DT Linval

Joseph, CB Dekota Marshall, DT Jay Ross, CB Travis

Simmons and DE C.J. Wilson). P Matt Dodge, KR Dwayne

Harris, PK Ben Hartman, PR Travis Simmons and H Joe

Sloan were regulars on the special teams’ squad a year ago.

THE SERIES

East Carolina leads 2-0 … The Pirates picked off three passes, used a 17-point second quarter and

benefitted from a trio of James Pinkney rushing touchdowns to book a 24-17 win against SMU in the

series opener in Dallas … Pinkney followed by accounting for 422 of ECU’s 438 total yards with a

career-high 391-yard passing effort to overcome a 36-yard team rushing performance a year later

in Greenville to extend the Pirates’ series lead to 2-0 … A closer look:

Date Site Result Attendance

Oct. 15, 2005 Dallas, Texas ECU 24-17 11,715

Oct. 21, 2006 Greenville, N.C. ECU 38-21 34,141

HOLTZ AGAINST THE MUSTANGS

The Pirates’ 24-17 and 38-21 victories in 2005 and 2006, respectively, serve as Skip Holtz’ only

meetings against the Mustangs as a collegiate coach … Yet, while Holtz was a player at Notre Dame,

the Fighting Irish defeated SMU 61-29 in South Bend on Nov. 8, 1986.

JONES AGAINST THE PIRATES

Although his successful college coaching career spans a total of 144 games, June Jones will see

ECU on the opposite sideline for the first time Saturday … The Pirates have never competed against

Hawai’i, either during his time as a head coach (1999-2007) or as an assistant (1983).

HOLTZ VS. JONES

Saturday’s matchup will also mark the first time that East Carolina’s Skip Holtz and SMU’s June Jones

will stand on opposite sidelines during a contest … South Carolina had two (‘77, ‘81) previous

meetings against Hawai’i, but those came well before Holtz’ and Jones’ arrival at their respective

institutions … Holtz faced the Warriors while serving as an assistant at Colorado State (‘87) and

Notre Dame (‘91), also well before Jones took over the UH program.

AGAINST THE LONE STAR STATE

The Pirates have won 14 of 20 all-time matchups (14-6) against programs from Texas … ECU is 5-

4 against UH, 2-1 vs. TCU, 2-0 vs. SMU, 2-0 vs. UTEP, 1-0 vs. Texas Tech, 1-0 against North

Texas and 1-1 vs. Rice … East Carolina has never faced Big 12 Conference members Baylor,

Texas A&M or Texas on the gridiron.

LAST MEETING

East Carolina 38, SMU 21

<Oct. 21, 2006 @Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, Greenville, N.C.>

Senior quarterback James Pinkney established new career highs in total offense yards, passing

yards and completions to lead the Pirates to an impressive 38-21 Conference USA victory over

SMU … After throwing for just 92 yards a week earlier against Tulsa, Pinkney bounced back to

complete 31-of-40 passes for 391 yards and a pair of scores … The aerial effort ranked as the thirdbest

in school history … In all, he accounted for 422 of ECU’s 438 total yards and was directly

responsible for three of five TDs … Senior receiver Aundrae Allison returned to the lineup after

missing the previous two contests (ankle injury) and grabbed a career-best 13 catches for 138

yards – including a 30-yarder which closed out the Pirates’ scoring efforts late in the fourth quarter

… ECU got off to a torrid start, scoring on three of its first four possessions to build a 21-14 halftime

lead … Sophomore tailback Brandon Simmons booked a pair of one-yard scoring runs in the first 30

minutes, the last breaking a 14-14 deadlock and seizing the momentum away from the Mustangs

with 29 seconds remaining before intermission … After Ben Hartman’s 36-yard field goal pushed the

Pirate lead to 24-14 early in the third period, ECU put the game away with a pair of TDs in a 1:18

span midway through the fourth stanza – quickly converting a SMU fumble into a Pinkney-to-Allison

scoring strike … Defenses were stingy against the run as both teams combined for just 125 ground

yards (SMU 89, ECU 36) … Pinkney completed his first seven passes on the way to a career-high,

269-yard first-half effort … East Carolina matched a season-best effort (Navy) by converting eightof-

13 third down situations and cashed in all five of its redzone visits during the afternoon.

SMU 0 14 0 7 -21

EAST CAROLINA 14 7 3 14 -38

Quarter Time Play Score

1 8:40 Brandon Simmons 1 run (Ben Hartman kick) 0-7

1 2:10 Davon Drew 17 pass from James Pinkney (Hartman kick) 0-14

2 12:10 Emmanuel Sanders 6 pass from Justin Willis (Tom Morstead kick) 7-14

2 5:34 Sanders 32 pass from Willis (Morstead kick) 14-14

2 0:29 Simmons 1 run (Hartman kick) 14-21

3 11:08 Hartman 36 field goal 14-24

4 7:19 Pinkney 10 run (Hartman kick) 14-31

4 6:01 Aundrae Allison 30 pass from Pinkney (Hartman kick) 14-38

4 1:04 Columbus Givens 10 pass from Willis (Morstead kick) 21-38

SMU STATS ECU INDIVIDUAL STATS

21

89

224

313

29:36

1

1st Downs 24 Rushing – J. Mapps (SMU), 8-37, 0 TDRush Yds. 36 J. Pinkney (ECU), 10-31, 1 TDPass Yds. 402 Passing – J. Willis (SMU), 33-22-0, 224 yds, 3 TDTotal Yds. 438 J. Pinkney (ECU), 40-31-0, 391 yds, 2 TDPoss. 30:24 Receiving – E. Sanders (SMU), 8-87, 2 TDTurnovers