Offensively, the 2011 Pirates looks sound as quarterback Dominique Davis returns for his senior year after re-writing the ECU record books as a junior. Davis, a JUCO transfer from Fort Scott CC, set single-season marks in passing yardage (3,967) and touchdown passes (37) in his first year as a Pirate.
The offense will rely heavily on two other JUCO transfers this season as senior wide receiver Lance Lewis will assume the role of top target left vacant by Dwayne Harris, who is now catching passes for the Cowboys, and running back Reggie Bullock will fill the void left by Jonathan Williams, who signed a free agent deal with the Cincinnati Bengals.
Lewis had a monster year in 2010 as the 6-3 wideout caught 89 passes for 1,116 yards and a school single-season record 14 TDs.
The wide receiving corps will be a bit hampered today as it will be without senior Michael Bowman who is serving a one-game suspension and 6-8 sophomore Justin Jones who is shelved with a knee injury. However, 6-3 wideout Andrew Bodenheimer (40-370, 2 TDs) will be back, and coupled with Lewis, present two big targets for Davis.
Making their ECU debuts at the wide receiver will be potential-filled freshmen Danny Webster and Justin Hardy.
Bullock will look to have a major impact his first year at ECU, as he and sophomore Michael Dobson will assume a large portion of the running duties. Bullock, a 5-9, 176-pound transfer from Arizona Western CC led the NJCAA in rushing with 1,830 yards while scoring an NJCAA-best 20 rushing TDs.
The elusive Bullock will have to gain yards with the help of a revamped offensive line that lost two-year starting LT Willie Smith, who signed a free-agent deal with Washington, along with long-time starters LG Cory Dowless and RG D.J. Scott.
This year’s group is big but a big green. Sophomore Left tackle Jordan Davis (6-3, 290), sophomore left guard Adhem Elsawi (6-5, 319) and sophomore right guard Will Simmons (6-5, 310) will each make their first start in a Pirates uniform today, while senior center Doug Polochak will make his first start at center. The only lineman returning from last year in the same spot is 6-6, 287 pound sophomore RT Grant Harner, who started all but one game last season.