University of North Carolina Athletics
Turner's Take: There Be Pirates
September 30, 2011 | Football, Featured Writers, Turner Walston
Sept. 30, 2011
Carolina (3-1, 1-1) steps out of conference for the third time of the 2011 regular season with a trip to Greenville to take on the East Carolina Pirates. East Carolina is 1-2 with a win over UAB following losses to South Carolina and Virginia Tech. It's an in-state rivalry, as East Carolina is the only FBS school outside the ACC. The atmosphere at Dowdy-Ficklen is sure to be electric as 50,000 fans pack the stadium for the eight o'clock kickoff.
Twelve Tar Heels on the two-deep hail from east of I-95 in North Carolina, so Saturday's tilt is something of a homecoming for them. Senior defensive end Quinton Coples is from just down the road in Kinston, and he made headlines early in the week for some comments on his perception of what East Carolina players think of Tar Heels. Though the game won't count in the ACC standings, it is personal.
Tar Heel left guard Jonathan Cooper calls Wilmington home. "I wasn't that familiar with it coming into it," he said of the rivalry with East Carolina, "but there's a lot of guys from our area who come to Carolina and East Carolina." Adding to the intrigue is strength and conditioning coach Jeff Connors' return to Greenville. Connors worked for the Pirates for ten seasons before heading up the Tar Heel program from 2001-2010. He went back to East Carolina in January.
"I know he's over there getting those guys fired up, and I know they'll be ready for war with Coach C," Cooper said. "He'll probably give them the same speech he gave us, and it got us really fired up, so I'll be ready for that."
Cooper expects the game to be a war physically. "Not trying to out-scheme people, just trying to out-tough," he said. "Man the line and push your opponent back. Heated, passionate football."
A New Bern native, linebacker Kevin Reddick expects the Pirates to try to set the tempo early with their spread offense. "Try to make it a fast game up front, that's how they try to do. Throw the ball quick, just try to get us moving outside. [They will] try to use their speed to beat us, but that doesn't happen."
Reddick said he's a trash-talker in any game, but he anticipates this game might be particularly rowdy. "I'm trash talking from jump anyway, regardless of who we're playing, but when we play ECU, [we] trash talk all the time."
Like his `down east' Tar Heel brethren, Reddick is looking forward to Saturday's game because it offers friends and family that might not often travel to Chapel Hill the chance to see the Tar Heels play. "It's just going to be a big game because it's going to be close to home," he said. "Can't go home unless we win this game."
Sophomore defensive end Kareem Martin, a Roanoke Rapids native, said many of his high school classmates are ECU students. "It's a little special because being able to have people there that I know personally being able to see me play," he said.
Martin knows that the Pirates would like nothing more than to send the Tar Heels home unhappy. The challenge is for the Tar Heels to get a win in an unfriendly environment and bounce back from last week's loss at Georgia Tech. "It's a big game for them and it's a big game for us," Martin said, "so we have to go there and match their intensity."
•Personnel notes: Jabari Price (finger) has been cleared to play. Withers said he expects to see Price on the field tomorrow. Zach Brown, who was relegated to special teams last weekend, has been cleared. Todd Harrelson served a suspension for breaking team rules and has re-joined the team. Casey Barth (thigh) will again be out against East Carolina. Safety Jonathan Smith (ankle) is doubtful, and linebacker Ebele Okakpu (ankle) is questionable. Erik Highsmith, who missed last week's game with a hamstring injury, has been cleared to return. With Smith unlikely to play, junior Gene Robinson should start at strong safety.
•Barth, Cam Holland and Kevin Reddick were named permanent captains prior to the start of the season. Each week, the coaching staff selects a fourth captain for the next upcoming game. Thursday, Coples was selected. How have the four prior captains fared in their games?
SS Matt Merletti vs. James Madison: Had three tackles, two of them unassisted. Combined with Zach Brown on a tackle for loss on JMU's first play from scrimmage. Forced a JMU fumble in the third quarter.
LG Jonathan Cooper vs. Rutgers: Helped pave the way for 405 yards of total offense. Had a solo tackle after a Rutgers fumble recovery
DB Pete Mangum vs. Virginia: Appeared on kickoff teams. Had a tackle on kickoff return after penalty pushed the kickoff back to the Carolina 15. The tackle combined with a holding penalty forced Virginia to start at their 22.
LB Dion Guy at Georgia Tech: Did not record a stat.
Turner Walston is the managing editor of Tar Heel Monthly. Turner's weekly Tar Heel football podcast, The Walkthrough, is available on iTunes. In the interest of full disclosure, Turner did earn a graduate degree from East Carolina in 2007 after graduating from Carolina in 2003. Still, he believes, as he has told his pastor - a Duke Divinity grad - one's loyalties should like with the institution one attended as an undergraduate.
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