East Carolina fans watching today's Purple-Gold football game won't see the Pirates' true strength, partly due to injuries and partly because teams don't show and tell all in spring scrimmages.

What fourth-year coach Skip Holtz will tell, however, is there's an insatiable hunger for championships.

The Pirates have posted back-to-back winning seasons, capped by a victory in the Hawaii Bowl last year. But late-season upset losses to Rice in 2006 and Marshall in '07 prevented ECU from claiming a division title and playing for the Conference-USA crown.

That frustration has fueled additional motivation for a team that returns 20 starters, including specialists, who helped set 39 school records last fall.

While experienced and deeper, there are challenges. The Pirates need to:

* Fill a crater-sized hole created by the departure of all-purpose wonder back Chris Johnson and get solid quarterback play again.

* Shore up a pass defense that ranked 114th among 119 Division I teams.

* Brace for a heavyweight nonconference schedule.

On top of that, ECU loyalists have to deal with the annual anxiety about retaining Holtz, who has pumped life back into the program and grabbed the attention of other schools.

"We have had opportunities to leave, and you never say never," Holtz said. "We enjoy Greenville. I'm content here and how we are trying to build. We want to win some championships."

High-scoring Pirates focusting on 'D'

QUARTERBACK

Skip Holtz prefers a one-quarterback system, and if he had to choose today he said ever-mobile Patrick Pinkney would be the man.

"He's not the tallest quarterback, not the strongest armed, but is very efficient,'' Holtz said. "He's doing a nice job running the team. He has athleticism, does things with his feet, throwing the ball, reading down field. I want a quarterback who can put the ball in the end zone. I'm prejudiced to that."

That doesn't mean Rob Kass is stuck on the sideline. A 6-foot-4, 255-pound pocket passer, he shared time last year in a two-quarterback rotation, completing 54.9 percent of his passes for 1,164 yards and nine touchdowns in 10 games.

Pinkney, a double threat, ran for 306 yards, threw for 11 TDs and hit on 60.4 percent of his passes for 1,358 yards in 13 games. In the win over North Carolina, he aired it out for 406 yards.

"Both brought something to the table [last year]," Holtz said. "I'm not opposed to playing two, but I'd rather it be one if I had my druthers."

RUNNING BACK

The Pirates don't have an explosive back like Chris Johnson, who recently clocked a blazing 4.24 40-yard time for NFL scouts and gained 2,960 all-purpose yards last season.

The good news is ECU has a committee of capable ball carriers: Seniors Dominique Lindsay and Brandon Simmons, sophomore Jonathan Williams and junior J.R. Rogers.

"We have a better group of running backs, but might not have the game-breaking back,'' Holtz said. "Simmons and Lindsay are solid, sound, good pass protectors, more physical. Williams and Rogers are more of a big-play threat once in the open field. Rogers, on the scout team last year, is one of the surprises."

They will be running behind a line that includes three returning regulars who helped produce 31 points and 385.5 yards per game in '07.

DEFENSE! DEFENSE!

The Pirates need to bow up here.

Opponents averaged 30.4 points, 431.2 yards per game and 5.7 yards per play last season, with the bulk of the breakdowns coming against the pass.

Nine starters are back, but six have been sidelined with injuries, which clouds the overall defensive outlook.

"Our front seven has a chance to be pretty good, but we are not there yet,'' Holtz said. "It's hard to put a picture on the defense [with the injuries]." I feel we have created a lot more depth. So many young guys are doing well."

Holtz cited 6-6, 335 pound senior defensive tackle Brandon Setzer for having a "great" spring. Maurice Mercer, a redshirt freshman, and Josh Smith, a sophomore walk-on from Garner, are two others who have emerged.

THE SCHEDULE

Nobody can call the Pirates fraidy cats.

They'll take on four BCS-level opponents in their first six games, beginning Aug. 30 against Virginia Tech in Charlotte. Then they host West Virginia on Sept. 6, play at N.C. State on Sept. 20 and travel to Virginia on Oct. 11.

How they manage those early nonconference games could set a tone by either being a confidence booster or confidence buster.

Last season, the Pirates defeated North Carolina 34-31 and lost to Virginia Tech (17-7), West Virginia (48-7) and N.C. State (34-20).

"We start with two top 10 teams," Holtz said. "It's a great challenge, [but] in the long run I believe it will be a real positive for us."