I know, I know, the script is still being written on this season, but can you believe what “might” happen if things continue to go well for the Pirates.

The momentum sure seems to be with ECU, as fans are getting excited again, and the Pirates are now within one game of going to a bowl game!

Can this be true??  Can Skip Holtz and his staff really turn around a group of nobodies two years ago and turn them into winners??  Is an 8-4 finish to the regular season really going to happen, or am I just getting all pumped up to be let down again?

If the Pirates win Saturday against Marshall, a visit to the conference championship is likely.  If the Pirates win that, a visit to the Liberty Bowl seems likely, although the Liberty Bowl agreement only states it has 1st pick of C-USA teams.  So even if ECU was to lose the conference championship, but could make the Liberty Bowl more money, the Pirates could be back in Memphis either way.

Ok, somebody stop me.  Am I crazy to even think like this?  Let’s run the other scenario of what could happen.  What if we lose this weekend, the next game to Rice, and then to NC State?  I’ll tell you what happens.  Nothing.  We sit home for the holidays, no bowl game, no winning season (5-7 to end the year), and all if this talk about things turning things around will be just that, “talk”. 

The Pirates must prove it on the field.  These next 3 games can make Holtz and his boys heroes in town, or make them look like (please insert a not so positive adjective here) if ECU loses all three.

These scenarios are both possible, and these are the reasons you won’t hear anybody talk about it.  It is their job to stay focused on the next game, and it really is a one game season, as it could all come crumbling down with a loss Saturday.

Hopefully that doesn’t happen, and at the end of the year we’re talking about one of the great turn-a-round stories in college football…. but just to be safe, let’s not pack our “bowl bags” yet.  At least you’ve been warned.

Troy Dreyfus
troy@pirateradio1250.com