news-record.com

GREENVILLE (AP) — Don't blame East Carolina coach Skip Holtz for feeling optimistic about the days ahead. After all, things just have to get better after a rough week.

His Pirates have limped into the midway point of the season with injuries, flu bugs and frustrating on-field mistakes — all of which surfaced during a weekend loss at SMU. So Holtz gave his players some extra time off when they returned home to help them get healthy and regroup for a winnable home game against winless Rice on Saturday.

The Pirates (3-3, 2-1 Conference USA) are coming off a 28-21 loss to the Mustangs in which SMU scored touchdowns on a blocked field goal, an interception return and a 96-yard pass play. Meanwhile, the Pirates aren't getting quite so many of those game-changing plays, most notably with an offense that is relying almost exclusively through methodical, couple-yards-a-play gains.

Then there's the Pirates' health. Holtz said Monday he had to leave five players at home with flulike symptoms — including starting running back Brandon Jackson — then have another four players develop 100-degree temperatures once they arrived in Texas. That group included sixth-year quarterback Patrick Pinkney, who required some bed rest on IV fluids before playing — an added bit of uncertainty that forced the coaching staff to spend extra time prepping redshirt freshman backup Josh Jordan before learning Pinkney would play.

During the game, backup running back Jon Williams injured his right knee during the game and is out indefinitely. Holtz said that Williams will have an MRI to determine the extent of the damage suffered when a player rolled into his leg while he was blocking, though he said Williams would likely be out a few weeks.

When the Pirates returned home, Holtz canceled the typical Sunday night workout, then kept things light on Monday to coincide with the school's fall break and let his players recharge.

"I'm trying to give them as much rest and sleep they can have so they can get their legs back under them," Holtz said.

The loss capped a tough opening schedule that included an opener with Championship Subdivision power Appalachian State before traveling to West Virginia and North Carolina. But the Pirates will have 10 days off after this weekend's game against the Owls (0-6, 0-2), which oddly is East Carolina's last Saturday game until Nov. 21.

East Carolina travels to Memphis for a Tuesday night game on Oct. 27, then hosts fourth-ranked Virginia Tech in a nationally televised Thursday night game on Nov. 5. Then comes a trip to Tulsa for a Sunday night game on Nov. 15.

At least the Pirates will have a bit of extra time off between those games as they try to defend their C-USA championship.

"We really pushed to try to get to 4-2. That's where we wanted to get at the midway point," Holtz said. "Unfortunately we weren't able to do it. We're exactly where we were a year ago at this point. We're 3-3 with one loss in the conference and we've got to rally things together and pull the team back together."