East Carolina quarterback went through a baptism under fire last season and from that process comes game experience that can't be duplicated in practice.

Last season, Minshew played in six games including a pair of starts after Philip Nelson went down with an injury.

Minshew completed 58.9 percent of his passes, going 119 of 202 for 1,347 yards and eight touchdowns in 2016 against just four interceptions. His season best was for 336 yards against Tulsa, completing 29 of 46 passes in a 45-24 loss to the Golden Hurricane.

He hopes to get is team off to a fast start on Saturday night. when the Pirates host the FCS defending national champion James Madison Dukes.

"It's going to be huge. There is going to be a lot of energy, there always is in the first game especially in front of our fans," Minshew told PirateIllustrated.com, "I'm really excited. We just want to go out there and execute and play our game."

"They're obviously really talented, really disciplined and well coached and they play really hard and you can really see that on film," Minshew said.

Offensive coordinator Tony Petersen comes into this week with an abundance of confidence in Minshew and he's looking forward to seeing the finished product.

"I think he's so much better at making the little plays, but the big plays also and then taking of the football and making great decision," Petersen told PI on Tuesday.

"He did good last year," said Petersen, "We could have won with the decisions he was making but with the quarterback it just keeps getting better and better an better and I can't wait to watch him play this year."

PirateIllustrated.com was there to bring you the very latest on James Madison week. Catch the post-practice comments of quarterback Gardner Minshew and offensive coordinator Tony Petersen as PI continuing coverage of opening week continues.

ECU QUARTERBACK GARDNER MINSHEW TALKS JAMES MADISON

ECU OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR TONY PETERSEN UPDATES JMU PREPARATION