Holton Ahlers Faces Stiff Test in First Start at QB Against #9 UCF

This Saturday ECU takes on (9)UCF who brings their 19 game win streak into Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium for a 7 o'clock showdown on ESPN 2.

It wasn't long ago when the Knight's pulled off a big upset of the Pirates on a hail Mary in Greenville on the last play of the game. That thwarted ECU's chances of winning a conference title under then head coach Ruffin McNeill and offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley.

This year the tables have turned and there are several factors that could play a positive role in ECU's chances to pick up a their third win of the season.

First is the fans. If UCF arrives to a lackluster Pirate crowd the Knights are likely to smell blood before the game even begins. Having a big representative, loud ECU crowd will go a long way toward at least looking the part for television purposes.

With the game scheduled during the latter days of ECU's fall break for the students, it remains unclear how many of them will make the effort to show up for the game.

Then there is a fan base that has been split into two factions where it comes to the current coaching regime in Greenville. Some of the alumni base is still at a loss as to why former coach Ruffin McNeill was let go the first time he fell below .500. Then there is another faction that understands that Lincoln Riley was a lot of the reason for ECU's offensive success and it wasn't going to get any better once he left for Norman, Oklahoma.

There were other factors as well with the McNeill saga but the bottom line remains that ECU hasn't won but eight games in two and a half seasons since and this one doesn't exactly set up in the likely win category either.

ECU stands at just 2-4 and it would have likely been 2-5 right now had they played the game at Virginia Tech. The Pirate defense has improved under new defensive coordinator David Blackwell and while the offense has shown signs of improvement, it has been anything but easy to score points this season in Scottie Montgomery's third year at the helm.

Part of the issue has been up front where the Pirates have had problems running the football north and south. Another issue has been at quarterback where Reid Herring was pretty effective throwing the football but did not provide an ample threat to run the ball when his receivers were not open. That sometimes forced him to throw into double coverage and turn the football over a little more often than one would like.

So enter Holton Ahlers. The highly publicized true freshman quarterback out of nearby D.H. Conley who threw for 10,000 yards in high school. Ahlers comes into Saturday's game with the bare minimum of experience at the collegiate level but has been getting more acclimated with each passing game.

Last week, Ahlers went 11 for 18 for 137 yards and a touchdown late in ECU's 42-20 loss to Houston. He also led the team in rushing with 45 yards and a one-yard touchdown run.

The 6-4, 238 pounder does give ECU a run threat and make no mistake about it, he can also throw the football. If ECU suddenly finds an offense to go along with an improving defense, things could soon turn around for the Pirates, but it isn't likely to happen immediately otherwise.

But so far, things are on schedule for Pirate offensive coordinator Tony Petersen who also handles the quarterbacks for ECU. The third year offensive coach has seen this movie before when he coached at Marshall.

"I remember at Marshall I had Rakeem Cato. He weighed 165 pounds and we went to West Virginia and played. I've had plenty of freshmen and they usually act like true freshmen," said Petersen, "They're going to have good and they're going to have bad. You've just kind of have to try to control them with the plays that you let them run, but you also have to lock them in the week of practice and that's our job to do. To make sure that they understand what a bad play is. A bad play can't be a turnover."

Petersen talked about what if anything that makes this freshman different.

"Holton is just naturally that guy, the leader, the dude. He's always been that guy, especially in this town. He brings that to the table which is great," Petersen told PirateIllustrated.com, "Plus he's a grown-ass man. He's a big 6-4, 235 pound tough to tackle guy. You can do a lot more with him and you can be a lot safer because of his legs, but they've still got to respect him throwing the football.

So far Ahlers has taken to the starting job like he always did in high school. Petersen says he has had a solid week and he would obviously like to see Holton play the whole game but that depends on how good or bad he does in game conditions.

"As long as he's taking care of the football and he's making good decisions, I would anticipate him playing the whole game. I don't think anything will change there."

"He has handled it great. He's done a good job anytime he has been in there. He came here early, so he's been here longer than just a true freshman and I think Holton will go out there and play great," Petersen said, "But he's still a true freshman. He's going to have his ups and his downs."

"We've just got to make sure to control his bad plays. The bad plays aren't turnovers. The bad plays might be a throwaway, maybe I get a yard, I lose a yard. Control the bad plays with a young quarterback and let him go out and play his game."

Some of Reid Herring's issues at quarterback for ECU were a product of great defensive linemen in his face like veteran all-league defensive lineman Ed Oliver last week with Houston.

"I talk to the quarterbacks about your bad plays. What are your five to seven bad plays out there. Two of Reid's were turnovers that at the end of the day he could have done a little better job but we had number 10 turn scott free in his face and that's not fair to the kid. But it still happened and that's the way it goes, so we've got to clean it up everywhere," Petersen said.

"For us to be successful, we can't turn people free on our quarterback. We have to make plays. Our first five to seven plays, we had a bunch of mental errors all over the place and it's not just the quarterback. But usually when you do well the quarterback gets too much credit and when you do bad he gets too much blame, kind of like head coaches and coordinators and that's just life."

If John Spellacy is unable to go, look instead for freshman Peyton Winstead at center which could set up as the battery of the future for ECU.

"He's young, he's a freshman. We need to be old and stay old but we're not right now and that's what we've got. He'll do a good job and we've got to get him ready to go this week," said Petersen who outlined what UCF is doing defensively this season after losing two of the best defenders in the American Athletic Conference.

"18 (Shaquem Griffin) and that corner (Mike Hughes) ain't in there no more. They're still a really good defense, but it sure is nice to not have to see those two kids. I thought those defensive players were even better than number 10 (Ed Oliver for Houston)," Petersen said, "They were the two best players in the conference. They've changed, but they're still good. They were an odd front, more zone. They're playing an even front, a little more match - zone and man type coverage so they've changed what they do and they've changed by losing just two great players."

UCF comes in at a perfect 6-0 and 3-0 in AAC play. The Knights are ranked as high as 9th in the country against a Pirate team that is just beginning to try to find some offensive and defensive traction. It will take all the positive Pirate factors in place for ECU to make a game out of it on Saturday.