By By BRIAN HAINES, Sports Writer
GREENVILLE — After grinding out a 21-17 win over Conference USA East rival Marshall on Saturday, the next challenge for East Carolina will be to hit the road and take on a feisty SMU team in Dallas.
Along with the change in time zones, the C-USA East-leading Pirates (3-2, 2-0) will also face an opponent whose style is a complete contrast to the any other opponents ECU has faced so far this season.
The Mustangs (2-2, 1-0) hail from the C-USA West division, and play C-USA West-style football. SMU quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell is scorching opposing defenses in his second year in coach June Jones’ system.
Mitchell, a true sophomore, is averaging over 300 passing yards per game, as the Mustangs are posting 26.8 points a contest.
Mitchell can get the ball to several imposing targets, but the most dangerous one is wideout Emmanuel Sanders. The senior leads Conference USA in receptions per game with a 10.8 average, while his 43 catches is also tops in the conference. Sanders is second in receiving yards with 466.
Jones took over the reigns at SMU last season, brining his run-and-shoot style offense to Texas after it flourished in Hawaii.
Jones finished just 1-11 last year, but already his Mustangs have earned two wins. SMU is coming off of a 39-14 loss to No. 10 TCU, but before that it knocked off UAB with a 35-33 win.
Saturday’s game, which kicks off at 8 p.m., will be an interesting clash in philosophies, with the winner being determined by which team imposes its style on the other.
“It’s going to be detirmined by who is going to control the football game, that’s what it’s going to come down to,” ECU coach Skip Holtz said during his Monday press conference. “We can’t let them play their game. We have to keep the ball in front of us, the home run ball is going to be critical. … It’s going to be whose will is going to be forced. We have been more ‘don’t give up the big play’ and they have been more ‘make the big play.’”
So far the Pirates offense hasn’t had too many big plays, but they have had just enough to win. Against Marshall, ECU quarterback Patrick Pinkney improvised a 30-yard TD run when a screen attempt broke down. Holtz said he would like to see his QB make more plays with his feet, when the initial play isn’t there.
“It was nice to see, wasn’t it,” Holtz said. “When you look at Patrick he was more of a threat running two years ago than he was last year. I would like to see Patrick carry the ball more. With a freshman and a red shirt freshman behind him, I’m not looking for him to carry it 15 times a game, but if he could do what he did Saturday two or three times a game (I would be happy). … I’m not taking about designed runs, but (for him to run) when coverage breaks down or they blitz.”
Buried treasure
Left tackle Terrence Campbell injured his arm midway through the Marshall game and did not return to action. Campbell is listed as questionable for Saturday’s game against SMU. If he can’t start, backup tackle T.J. Harper will get the call. … In other injury news running back J.R. Rogers is said to be getting closer to getting back on the field. Rogers injured his knee and Holtz said on Monday that he feels he can be back within two weeks. … The Pirates announced on Monday that they hired John Gutekunst to fill in for Rock Roggeman, who is battling cancer and is out on medical leave. Gutekunst has been coaching for over 40 years, and has worked at Minnesota, Duke and UNC, amongst several other high-level universities. Gutekunst will be primarily working with special teams.