East Carolina made some progress in key areas. After giving up 39.9 points per game in 2004, it surrendered 28.8 in 2005. That's still high, and the defense will be a concern going into next season after allowing 217.6 yards rushing per gameI'll take a reduction of 12 points a game on defense.
On offense, the Pirates will return quarterback James Pinkney, running back Chris Johnson and probably receiver Aundrae Allison, although Allison has said he'll consider the NFL. However, he injured his right knee in the final game and must recover in the offseason. The Pirates aren't sure yet of the extent of the damage.
The Pirates are viewing their final two wins as a springboard to what ECU hopes will be a rebirth of a solid program.
ECU beat Marshall and UAB to wrap up the season. In fact, the Pirates won their final game for the first time since 2000. Under Thompson in 2003 and 2004, the Pirates finished with five- and four-game losing streaks, respectively.
Hopefully Pinkney will remain in form next year. I recall many ECU quarterbacks having trouble with consistency following stellar years.
The end-of-season losing streaks under Thompson were certainly depressing. According to this article, he's now sharing defensive coordinator duties at South Carolina. I'll keep an eye out for his complete dismissal.
By the way, former ECU quarterback David Garrard will be starting for the Jacksonville Jaguars until the playoffs. The Jaguars apparently extended his contract to 2008 before the season just in case of an injury to Byron Leftwich. It'll be fun to watch him play, and good exposure for East Carolina.
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