Pirates Hope for Stronger Showing in Saturday's Scrimmage
August 15, 2003 | Football
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| Eric Graham (78) and Shauntae Hunt go head to head in Friday's drills |
ECU spent two hours on the field at the Cliff Moore Practice Facility on Friday afternoon. The team will have a light run-through practice on Saturday morning before taking the gridiron at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium at 4 p.m. for a live scrimmage that is open to the public.
Saturday's scrimmage comes in advance of the annual Meet the Pirates fanfest. Expected to draw more than 700 fans, Meet the Pirates features a reservations-only dinner at 7 p.m. and a free autograph/photo session inside the stadium at 8 p.m. Entrance to both functions will be through Gate 7, which will open at 6:30 p.m. for those who have purchased advance meal tickets.
"I hope tomorrow we get better offensive execution than what we did at the first scrimmage on Wednesday," ECU offensive coordinator Rick Stockstill said. "We're just looking for improvement as we go through each day and for each position to get more consistent and not make the same mistakes we've made the last couple of days."
A number of players are involved in tightly contested battles for starting roles, including that of first-string tailback after it was announced Friday that Preseason All-Conference USA running back Art Brown will sit out the season due to a knee injury. Juniors Paul Troth and Desmond Robinson have already received much attention in their efforts to secure the starting quarterback role.
The evaluation of players for starting positions is an ongoing process, according to Stockstill.
"Everyday is an evaluation," he said. "We put them in different situations everyday to find out how they compete and how they handle the fire. It helps us make the decision and in two weeks, that's when it really counts."
Saturday's scrimmage will be the last preseason practice session that is open to the public. The players will have a day off on Sunday, during which they will relocate from their preseason headquarters in a local hotel to their dormitories and apartments. The final two weeks of camp will be closed to spectators.
The Pirates will open the 2003 season on Labor Day Monday, Sept. 1, at Cincinnati. The Conference USA game will kickoff at 12 noon and will be televised nationally by ESPN.
