The Pirates struggled offensively against Houston, rushing for 126 yards (second lowest of the season) and throwing for their lowest total of the year (149 yards). That prompted Holtz to employ two quarterbacks, starter Patrick Pinkney and back up Rob Kass. He didn’t hint of going to a dual-QB system going forward but suggested, “We’ve got to look at what we are doing on offense; we can’t continue doing what we did [against Houston].”

With that in mind, let’s take a closer look:

Statistics

• The Pirates produced 275 yards in their 41-24 loss to the Houston Cougars. That marked the lowest offensive output of the season, 88.5 yards below their season average of 363.5/game.
• ECU will enter the Virginia game with an active streak of 131 games of not suffering a shutout – a new school record. The last time the Pirates were blanked was on Oct. 4, 1997 when Syracuse white-washed ECU in a 56-0 victory at the Carrier Dome. UVa has shut out three of its last seven opponents.
• East Carolina has turned the ball over 11 times this season and nine have occurred in the last three games.
• The Pirates are still trying to snap a 28-game losing streak in games in which they have scored fewer than 20 points. Their last win when scoring less than 20 was a 14-9 decision at Southern Miss Nov. 24, 2000.

Personnel & Strategy

Personnel. The ECU offense is led by dual-threat senior QB Patrick Pinkney (#15). After opening the season completing 76% (63 of 74) of his passes, Pinkney has struggled by completing just 55% in his last two outings, both Pirate losses. As a starter (6-4 record), he has completed 167 of 256 passes (65.2%) for 1,833 yards – an average of 183.3 yards per game. His TD pass to interception ratio is 13:6.

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