Saturday's game vs. West Virginia was a very impressive showing by the Pirates, but it was also very frustrating at the same time.  The Pirates started slowly and were down by 17 points at one point in the first half.  By late in the second quarter, East Carolina figured out a few things about the WVU offense and began to make some plays.

East Carolina began to dominate a West Virginia offense that rushed for 478 yards against them last year and just came off a 301-yard performance vs. Maryland just one week ago.  It didn't hurt that ECU was able to knock the starting QB (Bednarik) out of the game in the first quarter.  The Pirates managed to get three interceptions and a fumble recovery from the Mountaineers but were unable to score a touchdown off any of the turnovers. 

Offensively, the Pirates never seemed to get into a rhythm.  QB James Pinkney was very ineffective at times and was even pulled for a series and replaced by Kort Shankwieler, who hasn't taken a QB snap since Rose High School. The second half was better for Pinkney and the Pirates, but they still were not able to put together enough sustainable drives to beat the Mountaineers.

For the third game in row, wideout Andrae Allison had a 100-yard receiving day and a touchdown.  He has been the ECU offense thus far in 2005. 

This week's game vs. Southern Miss. should be a good one.  Against the Demon Deacons, the Pirates played fairly well on offense. but poorly on defense. Against the Mountaineers, ECU had a subpar offensive day, but played outstanding defense.  The Pirates will need to play well on both sides of the ball to beat the Golden Eagles.