Author: BY TATE CASTLETON, Assistant Sports Editor
Third-year East Carolina Head Coach Skip Holtz picked up plenty of hardware in earlier endeavors before moving to his current location. Holtz enjoyed success at South Corolina under current Head Coach Steve Spurrier, and also helped lead the Fighting Irish to a 21-2-1 record as a coordinator. His units were ranked third nationally in total offense (470 ypg) in 1992 and ninth nationally in scoring offense (36.6 ppg) in 1993. Prior to his stint in South Bend, Holtz helped lead Florida State (1987-1988), which racked up a 22-2 record, won Sugar and Fiesta Bowl titles and obtained a No. 2 and No. 3 national rank. Holtz is all about winning, and he brought that mentality with him when he jumped on board at East Carolina. After inheriting a program which had gone 3-20 in two consecutive years prior to his arrival, Holtz has navigated the Pirates through the stormy waters of failure to post back-to-back winning seasons (7-6, 7-5). This is a first at ECU since the 1999 (9-3) and 2000 (8-4) campaigns under Steve Logan. In addition to posting consecutive winning seasons, Holtz has guided the Pirates to two consecutive bowl appearances. The last time ECU played in back-to-back-to-back bowl games was in 1999, 2000 and 2001, when it posted a 1-2 record. “[Holtz] is a great coach,” Boise State Head Football Coach Chris Petersen said. “He has had a lot of success wherever he goes and he has brought that with him and installed his system and it’s working. We’ll be facing a very tough team, there’s no doubt about that.” When ECU meets No. 24 BSU (10-2 overall, 7-1 WAC) in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl, the Pirates (7-5 overall, 6-2 C-USA) will be facing their third nationally-ranked opponent of the season. The Pirates have already lost to No. 9 Virginia Tech (17-7) and No. 10 West Virginia (48-7). Heading into the Hawaii bowl, BSU has won 14 of 15 games against current Conference USA members. The Broncos own 5-0 and 4-0 marks against UTEP and Tulsa, respectively. They have also battled SMU (2-0), Marshall (1-0) , Southern Miss (1-0) and Rice (1-1). Before ECU closed out the regular season, senior Chris Johnson rushed for a game-high 155 yards and two touchdowns. He was also on the receiving end of one of three Rob Kass touchdown strikes to lead ECU past Tulane University 35-12 in Conference USA action. The win enabled the Pirates to finish their league slate at 6-2, which marked the highest win total since ECU officially joined the conference in 1997. “They have shown consistent improvement. “They come out and play hard. They’re physical and they don’t give up. That is what makes them dangerous,” Peterson said. The Pirates trailed Tulane 7-6 early in the second quarter, but ECU would go on to outscore the Green Wave 28-6 for the win. “We know they’ll be tough and give us all we can handle,” BSU running back Ian Johnson said. “They’re a good team. They play in a good conference and we know they’ll be up for the bowl game.” Prior to the start of the 2007 season, ECU’s schedule was ranked as the fourth most difficult in the country by www.Rivals.com. Four teams (Virginia Tech, West Virginia, Southern Miss and Houston) participated in bowl contests last season. Each of those four games were played in September. October didn’t shake down much easier. ECU had match-ups against Central Florida (who led the East Division prior to the game), UTEP (led West Division prior to game), BCS member North Carolina State and their divisional nemesis University of Alabama-Birmingham. “They have played some tough teams and I think that gives them a lot of experience that will help them in big games,” BSU senior safety Marty Tadman said. “It should be a good match-up because both teams play really well in big-game environments.” The Hawaii Bowl will mark the first meeting between BSU and ECU. The Pirates currently own a 24-28 (.462) record when meeting current 1-A opponents for the first time, including having won nine of their last 13 series openers. “I’m really looking forward to the challenge. “It will be two really good teams going after each other. Our challenge will be to stay focused and play hard as a team and finish the season on a good note,” Tadman said. When ECU heads to Honolulu, Hawaii for the bowl game, the trip will officially go down in the record books as the longest voyage (4,862 miles) ever made by the Pirate’s football program. “Both programs will be making a long trip and I think both will really just be looking forward to getting out there and getting the game under way,” Petersen said. “We’re ready and we’re excited. It will be a great experience.”
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