C-USA Sunday Night Special
East Carolina at Central Florida
Bright House Networks Stadium • 8:15 p.m. • ESPN
By Jamie Lay (Posted 10-30-08)

A few months ago it seemed Patrick Pinkney couldn’t miss. He had one of the best completion percentages in the country and his team was ranked in the Top 25. Now the Pirates are fighting for first place in the C-USA East and Pinkney is sharing his position with backup Rob Kass. The quarterback, nearly every one in the country was praising after impressive wins over Virginia Tech and West Virginia, has become less effective with every game. He completed nearly 80 percent of his throws in the first two games but is now struggling to make 50 percent.

With East Carolina, it’s not “they are who we thought they were,” as Dennis Green said of the Chicago Bears, it’s that ECU’s lack of depth and injuries has left them vulnerable at a tricky time in their schedule. Pirates coach Skip Holtz is the first to admit it. Of course, this admission is saturated with Holtz’s blind optimism.

“On the offensive side of the ball, the only injury that is new is the D.J. McFadden situation, as he is out with a hamstring injury,” he said. “On the defensive side of the ball we've had a number of injuries. When you look at Marcus Hands, he's a new one who is going to be out with his back. Khalif Mitchell, on the defensive front, is going to be out. Melvin Patterson is out with a leg injury. J.J. Milbrook is very doubtful right now with an ankle injury. Jerek Hewett is out with a shoulder injury, as he underwent shoulder surgery last week. All of a sudden you take those five out of a group that had already lost Brandon Setzer, Quentin Cotton and some of those players and there are a lot of young players who are now going to have to turn and play.

“It's going to be a challenge as a program,” he continued. “I'm not certainly here complaining about it, moaning and groaning or trying to make an excuse. That's just the challenge of where we are right now and what we're facing as a program as we get ready to get into this five-game conference race, and the final five games of the year."

The final stretch begins on Sunday against a young but improving University of Central Florida team that lost last week to No. 19 Tulsa, the nation’s best offense. The Golden Knights are still trying to replace Kevin Smith’s 2,000 yards on offense, and have split the load between redshirt freshmen Ronnie Weaver and freshmen Brynn Harvey. Junior quarterback Michael Greco, who has been inconsistent all year, has shared the position with true freshmen Rob Calabrese from Long Island.

The UCF offense hasn’t produced more than 24 points all year, while ECU averages about 24 per game. A win over UCF places the Pirates in tie with Marshall for first in the C-USA East. The only two C-USA teams (Tulsa and ECU) to spend time in the Top 25 this year should face one another in the C-USA Championship Game on Dec. 6, with Tulsa having the obvious advantage.

ECU 28, UCF 17