ECU Preps For Second Scrimmage
April 06, 2005 | Football
Spring Notebook No. 11
GREENVILLE, N.C. -- East Carolina resumed its spring practice schedule with full intensity Wednesday afternoon, engaging in a 145-minute workout in pads at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
In addition to their light practice in shells Monday afternoon, Wednesday's session put the finishing touches on the Pirates' preparation efforts for the program's second official intra-squad scrimmage scheduled for Friday night.
"I think we're all looking forward to having another chance to compete in game-like conditions Friday," said first-year head coach Skip Holtz. "This one will be a more traditional scrimmage compared to what we did a week ago. It's pretty simple - the goal for our offense will be to pick up first downs and score while our defense will key on forcing turnovers and holding them to three downs and out."
Holtz indicated all levels of East Carolina's current depth chart would be utilized during the contest, which is tentatively scheduled for a minimum of 60 to 80 plays depending on the Pirates' injury situation during the scrimmage and possible threatening weather.
"We'd like to go as long as we can," Holtz explained. "However, since we were a little thin to begin with, we can't really afford any more injuries in some areas."
After conducting brief standard individual sessions to open Wednesday's practice, the Pirates spent the majority of the segment working primarily on team drills, concentrating on situational tendencies such as down and distance and red-zone efficiency on both sides of the ball.
After Friday's scrimmage, ECU will have just two more afternoon practices remaining before completing its spring schedule with the playing of the Purple-Gold Game April 16.
