Pirates will lean on seniors against the surging Green WaveECU needs help from veterans and UTEP to make conference championship

November 20, 2007

Greenville, NC (CSTV U-WIRE) -- And then there was one.

Fresh off a bye week after 11 straight games, the Pirates [6-5, 5-2] prepare to play host to Tulane [4-7, 3-4] this Saturday at Dowdy-Ficklen.

Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.

"This will be a great challenge for us and we are looking forward to it," said ECU head coach Skip Holtz. "We still have a lot to play for this season and although we won't know the outcome of the [UCF] game when we kick off, we have to take the approach that we are playing for the conference championship. We haven't won six conference games here since the 1970s and that would show great growth for our program.

"I think this team is very motivated and I hope the feeling that they had after the Marshall game lingers. It was certainly one of the worst losses we have had since I have been here because there was so much on the line for us."

The Green Wave will be riding a two game winning streak when they make their way to Greenville on Saturday.

Holtz seemed concerned about going against one of the nation's most elite running backs in Matt Forte during his weekly press conference Monday.

Forte has quite the impressive resume and even has his own website. The senior Louisiana native has become just the eleventh player in NCAA Division-1 Bowl Subdivision history to rush for over 2,000 yards in a season, accomplishing the feat last week against Rice.

Proving to be not just a treat running the ball, Forte has also caught 29 passes for 257 yards on the season.

"Matt Forte is obviously a great running back," said Holtz. "He is the focal point of their offense and is the leading rusher in our league as well as the nation. He is powerful, balanced and speedy.

"He is a lot like [Kevin] Smith from UCF. However, I think he is bigger and more physical than Smith. Both are durable, carrying the ball 336 and 330 times. They are both so good at what they do. [Forte] has balance, athleticism, power and speed. He is also [Tulane's] second-leading receiver out of the backfield."

"There have been a bunch of bumps, bruises, strains and sprains that have had the opportunity to heal," said Holtz. "However, Marcus Hands, Fred Hicks, Danny Muhwezi and Willie Barton are all out and will not play. Some of the guys on the bubble that we are hoping to make it back for the last game, Brandon Setzer, T.J. Lee, Khalif Mitchell, Nick Johnson, Quentin Cotton, Jeremy Chambliss do not look like they will be able to go Saturday.

"Chris Mattocks is also a question mark. I'm concerned about it because those are about eight players off the defensive two-deep that have made significant contributions this year. We are about to go play an explosive offensive team."

While the Pirates will undoubtedly be focused on stopping the run Saturday, Holtz knows that keying in on the run leads to getting burned by play-action passing.

"Their passing game is based off the run then play-action," said Holtz. "[Anthony] Scelfo, their quarterback, is very accurate off of the play-action as they get their safeties downfield into the running game. They are very good at what they do and very patient with what they do."

Redshirt sophomore Scelfo has played fairly well this season in throwing for an average of 115 yards per game and six touchdowns on the season. The main receiving threat for the Green Wave is Jeremy Williams, who has racked up five touchdowns and 701 receiving yards. The aforementioned Forte is an additional threat.

While the Green Wave boast a potent offense, their defense has been just as good recently.

"From a defensive standpoint, they are very good up the middle and against the run," said Holtz about the Green Wave, who rank second in rushing defense in C-USA. "They held LSU to 39 yards rushing through three quarters earlier in the season. Their two inside players are very good and their middle linebacker is their leading tackler.

"Additionally their next five top tacklers are all safeties. They incorporate a five-defensive back system which creates a lot of confusion and those safeties are like bonus linebackers. We haven't seen that from many teams this season. They are centered on stopping the run and have done a great job of that."

This week will be a test for the Pirates and hopefully they have done some soul searching after an inexcusable loss to Marshall two weeks ago.

The good news for the Pirate Nation is that ECU has locked up a bowl berth after UTEP lost last weekend, giving C-USA six bowl eligible teams with six tie-in's.

But the Pirates still want more. They want the chance to play in the conference title game, which means taking care of business against Tulane and a UCF loss to UTEP.

(C) 2007 East Carolinian via CSTV U-WIRE