Pirates Continue Preparations For Second Scrimmage
August 26, 2005 | Football
Aug. 28, 2005
ECU Football Preseason Camp Notebook #15
GREENVILLE, N.C. - The Pirates continued preparations for their second intra-squad scrimmage of preseason camp with a spirited three-hour practice in shells Thursday at the Cliff Moore Practice Complex.
After a light fine-tuning session Friday afternoon, East Carolina will head over to Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium Saturday afternoon to engage in perhaps its most important internal test of the young season which will determine the preseason depth chart heading into game-plan mode for the season opener against Duke.
"There's a progression with everything we've done so far," said head coach Skip Holtz. "We started with individual work, moved to small groups, then to situational drills, and today, our goal was simply to move the ball up and down the field trying to get our team ready to play a game."
The Pirates opened their workout with blitz packages and offensive line drills before spending the remainder of the practice conducting 11-on-11 ball movement. ECU capped off the session, held under comfortable breezy conditions, with its standard two-minute, hurry-up session which resulted in a pair of second series stops by the defensive unit.
Only 15 days remain before East Carolina's opener against the Blue Devils and Holtz maintains the belief that realizing success lies much deeper than executing plays on offense and defense.
"We'll find out where we are as a team against Duke, but the key will be how we handle adversity," Holtz explained. "The question is how we are going to respond if we give up a big play or a touchdown. You hope the offense comes back on the field and gets a quick score. More importantly down the road, is how we will respond after the Duke game itself regardless of the outcome."
NOTES: Freshman OL Paul Walsh was activated to the Pirates' official 105-man preseason camp roster Thursday after missing the first 14 practices because of a nagging ankle injury ... Freshman LB Jarrett Wiggins recorded a safety during the "coming out" segment of the workout where the offensive unit opens a possession at its own one-yard line ... Sophomore CB Travis Williams picked off a pass to close out the two-minute drills ... Junior PK Robert Lee successfully converted 20- and 44-yard field goal attempts while freshman walk-on Ben Hartman drilled threes from 20, 35 and 44 yards out ... ECU will take just its second day off Sunday after the scrimmage before conducting its final two-a-day schedule of camp Monday morning and afternoon ... Friday's Practice Time: 3:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.; Season Opener: Sept. 3 vs. Duke (1:00 p.m.)
TICKET INFORMATION
2005 East Carolina Football tickets are currently available online at www.ECUPirates.com or at the ECU Athletics Ticket Office (adjacent to Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium) from 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Reserved season ticket packages can be purchased for $125.00 (reserved), $100.00 (faculty/staff), $100.00 (economy plan) and $75.00 (graduate plan) while single game tickets can also be obtained for $25.00 (adults) and $15.00 (12 and under). To reserve your seats, please call (252) 328-4500 or 1-800-DIAL-ECU.
