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FOOTBALL |
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Drowning out the positive noise |
Successful
college football teams often
have a bunker mentality
during the season. It’s us
against the world, with
every man putting the team
first. It’s a great outlet
in bad times and it’s often
very effective during losing
seasons to try and drown out
the negative comments from
the outside. ...
More from Brian Bailey... |
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MULTIMEDIA |
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Audio: The Brian
Bailey Show |
  The
Brian Bailey Show
airs on Pirate Radio
1250 on Mondays at
6:30 p.m. Brian's
guest was college
football referee
Darrell Harrison
(right):
Replay
show... |
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FOOTBALL |
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Right time, right place,
right man |
Ruffin
McNeill is a humble man
clearly uncomfortable when
talking about his feelings,
especially as they pertain
to his East Carolina
football team. So it should
come as no surprise that
even after the most
emotional victory of his
five-year tenure with the
Pirates, McNeill tried his
best to downplay the
significance of Saturday’s
70-41 dismantling of rival
North Carolina.
...
More from Brett
Friedlander... |
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FOOTBALL |
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Pirates live Dye's dream |
Pat Dye went undefeated
(6-0-1) his last seven games
at East Carolina. The tie
(24-24) came at North
Carolina on Oct. 27, 1979.
ECU always had to play
in-state ACC teams on the
road in those days. ...
More from Al Myatt... |
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FOOTBALL SPECIAL
FEATURE |
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15 Questions for
Warren Harvey |
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 Warren
Harvey (5-11, 225)
is in his third
season as the East
Carolina kickoff
specialist and
placekicker. Harvey
is an ECU legacy as
his father, Charlie
Harvey, played
soccer as a Pirate
and also was the
program's head coach
in 1987. ...
More from W.A.
Myatt... |
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Pictured: ECU
kicking specialist
Warren Harvey is
climbing his way up
the career record
charts in points
scored and PATs
made. The senior
from Greenville, who
once converted 86
PATs in a row, has
posted 11
multi-field goal
games. (ECU Media
Relations photo) |
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FOOTBALL |
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Been there, done that |
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Shortly
after East Carolina's upset
win over Virginia Tech in
Blacksburg two Saturdays
ago, someone with the school
told me he wished the
football team would "act
like they had been there
before."
...
More from Brian Bailey... |
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MULTIMEDIA |
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Audio: The Brian
Bailey Show |
 The
Brian Bailey Show
airs on Pirate Radio
1250 on Mondays at
6:30 p.m. Brian's
guest was ECU
offensive line coach
Brandon Jones
(right):
Replay
show... |
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Work pays off as Pirates party |
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GREENVILLE — North Carolina's
second trick play for a
touchdown, a 29-yard pass from
holder Tommy Hibbard to a wide
open Eric Albright from field
goal formation, momentarily
subdued the excitement at rowdy
Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium on
Saturday. The score came with
12:15 left in the first half and
gave the Tar Heels their last
lead at 20-14. ...
More from Al Myatt... |
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By
Al Myatt
©2014 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
View ECU's Football
Schedule
The last time Southern Methodist came to Dowdy-Ficklen
Stadium, the Mustangs were in the midst of a football revival under
coach June Jones.
The date was Nov. 26, 2010 and East Carolina was in its
first season with alumnus Ruffin McNeill as head coach.
The Pirates erased a two-touchdown deficit in the fourth
quarter before Zach Line scored in overtime on a 1-yard run for SMU. ECU
absorbed
a 45-38 loss as an ensuing
interception by Richard Crawford ended the Conference USA contest.
The Mustangs went on to win the West Division of C-USA
before falling 17-7 at Central Florida in the league championship game.
That matchup in Greenville in 2010 continues to influence
the Pirates program, which was playing a four-front defense at the time.
"They're the team that made us think about going to a 3-4
because it fit what personnel they had," McNeill said. "The front seven
philosophy by SMU shaped our thought process, too."
The Mustangs peaked with a 43-10 win over Fresno State in
the 2012 Hawaii Bowl. Jones coached the Rainbow Warriors to a 76-41
record from 1999 to 2007 before taking on the rebuilding task at SMU,
which hadn't made a bowl trip since 1984. Jones directed the program to
four straight bowls.
The Mustangs missed the postseason in 2013, their first
in the American Athletic Conference as quarterback Garrett Gilbert was
injured and missed the last two games. SMU dropped season-ending tilts
with Houston and UCF, finishing one win shy of bowl eligibility at 5-7.
The Mustangs have struggled in an 0-4 start against an
ambitious schedule in 2014. They have been outscored 202-12 against a
gauntlet that has included Baylor, North Texas, Texas A&M and Texas
Christian.
The bombshell along the way was the apparently-unforced
resignation by Jones on Monday, Sept. 8, after a 43-6 loss to the Mean
Green.
"It was a very difficult decision for me to make, as you
can imagine," Jones said in a statement released by the university. "I
have devoted my life for the last 50 years to playing and coaching this
game and it has been a great journey. This job has a lot of demands, as
you know, and along with that journey comes a price that is paid.
"I have some personal issues I have been dealing with and
I need to take a step away so I can address them at this time."
Jones didn't elaborate on the personal issues. He was
making over $2 million a year.
As the teams prepare for their second meeting in the
McNeill era, the stage has changed. The noon kickoff (ESPNU) on Bagwell
Field will be the first AAC game for the Pirates.
Wins
over Virginia Tech and
North Carolina have
lifted ECU (3-1) into the polls. The Pirates are currently ranked No. 22
by the Associated Press and No. 21 by the USA Today coaches panel.
"We're looking forward to it," McNeill said. "It's an
historical moment for our university. It's homecoming on top of that."
Despite all the peripheral factors, the Pirates are
aiming for consistency in their focus.
"We have to do a good job of making sure we continue to
do what we've done for five years — just focus on us," McNeill said. "As
for what we can control and what we can't, we need to stay with what we
can control and that's how we prepare and play and how we approach the
day. ... We know SMU will come in and give us their best shot. We can't
control that but we've got to get ready to control what we can and
that's to make sure we're ready to go on all four sides of the ball —
offense, defense, special teams and the sideline with excitement."
The Pirates have had an open date since completing the
preconference season with
a 70-41 win over North Carolina
on Sept. 20.
"We divide the season into four quarters," McNeill said.
"That was the first quarter we just finished. The bye week came at
really a most opportune time for us to get some guys somewhat healed up,
hopefully, for the guys who get the majority of the reps. That was a
tough nonconference stretch. We have some guys who we're counting on in
the backup roles and competitive depth roles. We got those guys some
extra reps where they may not have gotten a lot in those first four
games. Then we got some redshirt guys some work.
"We got on the road recruiting. The open date came at a
great time. Now we're into the second quarter of our season and the
first American Conference game this Saturday."
Jones' resignation surprised everyone with the possible
exception of his agent, Leigh Steinberg.
"With June stepping down, it caught me off guard,"
McNeill said. "They've got an experienced staff. Tom Mason (defensive
coordinator, interim head coach) has been down there a long time. June
has always recruited great skill position kids. ... Right now, they're
going through some growing pains and that's the part we can't control.
"We have to make sure we stay focused on us and make sure
East Carolina is ready to go."
Four quarterbacks have thrown 11 or more passes this
season as the Mustangs have sought offensive leadership.
"They're doing some rotating there," McNeill said. "I'm
not sure of the cause or if they're trying to find that one guy. They're
played a few different guys at that position. Again, I think if June was
still there, June has always settled on one guy to operate his offense.
They've gone through several guys. We've watched all four. It's still
the same offensive scheme. I'm not sure if it's injury or just trying to
find the most productive guy."
Mason said the Mustangs' program goal is continued
improvement and he said he saw signs of progress in a 56-0 loss to the
Horned Frogs last week.
McNeill is looking for improvement, too.
"We need to make sure we keep working on reducing our
penalties," said the Pirates coach. "We need great ball security on
offense. More takeaways on defense is an emphasis for us. ... Make
routine plays and play the next play is very big this week. We like to
have sustained play for four quarters, frenzy-type action on all three
sides at the same time, feeding off one another."
East Carolina lost its first Southern Conference game on
Oct. 2, 1965, by a 14-7 score at Furman. The Pirates dropped their first
C-USA contest 23-13 to visiting Southern Miss on Oct. 11, 1997.
Perhaps the third time will be the charm as ECU seeks a
winning start in a new league. The betting line has the Pirates as a
six-touchdown favorite.
ECU's lead up to the game will feature Friday night at
the new Denzel Washington movie, "The Equalizer."
The Pirates have already been through the schedule of a
noon start at Blacksburg.
The real challenge may be avoiding the pitfall of playing
down to the level of a struggling opponent. ECU handled the challenge of
performing up to its capabilities in
a 52-7 win over Football
Championship Subdivision foe N.C. Central to start the season.
The nation has seldom paid so much attention to the
Pirates. There's no room for a letdown to start the second quarter of
the season.
ECU
coach Ruffin McNeill spoke
with the media at his weekly
press conference on Monday
(courtesy of Pirate Radio
1250; Bonesville file
photo):
