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American Schedule |
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FRIDAY |
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Temple at Houston, 9 pm
(ESPNU) |
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SATURDAY |
Tulane at UCF, 12 pm (ESPNU)
USF at Tulsa, 12 pm (ESPNN)
Cincinnati at SMU, 3:30 pm (CBSS) |
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FOOTBALL RECRUITING |
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Future looks bright at RB position |
The pass-centric “Air Raid''
offense that Ruffin McNeill
and Lincoln Riley brought to
East Carolina from Texas
Tech back in January 2010
has from the very start
attracted talented recruits
at the quarterback and wide
receiver positions. ...
More from Sammy Batten... |
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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
director of football
administration Dale
Steele (right):
Replay
show... |
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Pirates End A Competitive Hex |
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TAMPA — East Carolina football
coach Ruffin McNeill has
acronyms for a variety of
things. He formulated TBA for
Trust, Belief and Accountability
to describe the foundation for
relationships among members of
the program. OPAT for One Play
At (a) Time evolved later as a
reminder for the mindset needed
to respond to immediate
challenges. ...
More from Al Myatt... |
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BULL
FIGHTERS:
ECU
quarterback
Shane Carden
works the
zone read
with fellow
senior Breon
Allen on
Saturday at
Raymond
James
Stadium in
Tampa. The
duo
connected on
a 35-yard
pass for the
Pirates'
first
touchdown
late in the
first
quarter and
both were
instrumental
in ECU's
28-17
comeback
victory over
the USF
Bulls. Photo
by Al Myatt.
©Bonesville.net. |
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View more
pictures in
"Inside Game
Day." |
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Audio: Ruff Post-game |
  ECU
coach Ruffin McNeill spoke
with the press after the
Pirates defeated South
Florida on Saturday
(recorded by Al Myatt; file
photo):
Select audio clip... |
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FOOTBALL |
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Kevin's Keys to the Game |
The Pirates
arrived in Tampa to a sunny
87 degrees on Friday.
Somebody forgot to tell
Florida that it was almost
the middle of October. The
weather will still be sunny
and 80-plus at kickoff time
today. Those kind of
conditions bode well for
East Carolina's Air Raid
passing attack.
...
More from Kevin Monroe... |
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FOOTBALL |
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Pirates in jeopardy? |
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Two games after a big win
has occasionally been a
letdown time for the East
Carolina football team. It
happened just a year ago
when the Pirates were
overcome 36-33 in triple
overtime at Tulane, the
second contest after the
elation of a 55-31 win at
North Carolina. There have
been other instances. ...
More from Al Myatt... |
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FOOTBALL SPECIAL
FEATURE |
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Fifteen Questions
for Breon Allen |
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 East
Carolina running back Breon
Allen is listed at 5 feet, 8
inches and 190 pounds. He
once referred to himself as
"Fun Size" and teammates
have made the nickname
stick. The transfer from
Snow (Idaho) College had 62
carries for 321 yards and
five touchdowns in 2013 ...
More from W.A.
Myatt... |
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Pictured: Breon
Allen came to ECU as
a juco All-America
in 2013 and saw
action in 10 games
as a backup to
All-Conference USA
performer Vintavious
Cooper. Allen is
making his own bid
for honors this
season, rushing for
380 yards through
five games,
including a 211-yard
outing against North
Carolina. (ECU Media
Relations photo) |
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By
Al Myatt
©2014 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
View ECU's Football
Schedule
The extended break between games for the 2014 East
Carolina team amounts to halftime in the regular season for the Pirates,
who are 5-1 and ranked as high as No. 16 in the major polls.
Halftime marked a significant juncture Saturday night at Raymond James
Stadium in
ECU's 28-17 win over South Florida at the Bulls' homecoming.
On the road and trailing 17-7 at the break, the Pirates fought back in a
manner that characterizes established programs.
The Bulls got the ball to start the second half because the Pirates, as
has been their custom 29 times in the last 30 games, went on offense to
open the game.
The defense got a stop to open that second stanza and the offense moved 84 yards in 12 plays
despite a first-and-30 situation that developed because of two holding
calls.
Breon Allen had a 19-yard gain and Shane Carden had a 14-yard completion
to Justin Hardy for a first down.
"When you say play the next play that's what it means," said ECU coach
Ruffin McNeill. "You've got a penalty, you can't do anything about that
so play the next play. ... The guys didn't flinch."
Hardy had 10 catches for 114 yards. He has caught multiple passes in 42
consecutive games, which ranks first among active receivers in the
Football Bowl Subdivision.
Hardy has 313 career receptions and needs 37 catches to break the FBS
record of 349 set by Ryan Broyles of Oklahoma from 2008 to 2011.
ECU went for a fourth-and-one at the USF 48 and converted on a 10-yard
pass to Cam Worthy who was welcomed back after a two-game suspension.
Worthy had five receptions for 56 yards in his return.
Another completion of 11 yards to Worthy preceded another holding call
and left ECU in a first-and-20 at the Bulls 37.
A 13-yard toss to Hardy was followed by a 24-yard scoring run by Marquez
Grayson and the tone for the second half was effectively set.
"I thought we learned a lot about ourselves," McNeill said after the
Pirates improved to 2-0 in the American Athletic Conference. "Conference
games are always hard. ... When you watch film every day you understand
you're going to face a talented, well-coached team. Wins are hard,
period. Wins on the road are even harder. Conference wins are harder.
Conference wins on the road are even harder than that. We were very
fortunate. I thought it was a victory well-earned by our team."
An interception by Josh Hawkins on USF's second possession of the second
half led to the go-ahead score for ECU. The pick at the Pirates' 14-yard
line came with one second remaining in the third quarter.
Carden connected with Worthy for 12 yards on a third-and-7 at the ECU
17. On a third-and-8 at the USF 13, Carden kept for a 9-yard gain.
The Pirates converted four of five third downs in the fourth quarter
after going two for nine in those situations in the first 45 minutes.
The late domination was similar to
a win 21.2 miles away at Tropicana
Field to close the 2013 season in the Beef O'Brady's Bowl when ECU
outscored Ohio 20-3 in the fourth quarter for a 37-20 victory in St.
Petersburg. The Pirates were the fresher team in the late stages of both
contests, a tribute to ECU's conditioning under Jeff Connors.
Allen scored on a 4-yard run with 11:42 remaining to put the Pirates
ahead for good, 21-17, with Warren Harvey's conversion kick.
The defense went three and out before a valiant punt return by Hardy. He
netted just six yards but made a statement by staying on his feet
through a wave of Bulls defenders.
Carden went to Hardy for a 19-yard gain on the first play of the ensuing
series. On a third-and-4, Isaiah Jones caught an 8-yard pass for a first
down in USF territory. True freshman Anthony Scott swept the left side
for a 20-yard touchdown with 6:28 to go.
The Bulls converted a third down and a fourth down on their last
possession but missed a 28-yard field goal with 31 seconds remaining to
effectively seal the outcome.
The Pirates held the Bulls to a net of 10 rushing yards after
intermission.
"They run the football which is going to run the clock," McNeill said.
"Defensively, we needed great first down play and get them in long
yardage situations and get them off the field. Offensively, with our
possessions reduced because of the game plan the opposition was using,
we had to value each possession.
"In the second half, our defense did that assignment of getting off the
field and our offense made each possession count.
"It was good to see us win in that type of action where we had to run
the football because they gave us that. Shane did a great job of getting
us into the right play. Our offensive line did a great job of getting
our running back committee some lanes to run in."
Four backs — Allen, Grayson, Scott and Chris Hairston — averaged more
than six yards per carry as ECU had 37 rushes for 231 yards.
Carden completed 24 of 33 passes for 250 yards with one interception and
one score, a 35-yard toss to Allen with 37 seconds left in the first
quarter.
"We were very proud about the interaction between offense, defense and
special teams," McNeill said.
Worth Gregory averaged 43.4 yards on five punts.
The Pirates were penalized 12 times for 148 yards at USF, a factor that
will surely get some attention as ECU resumes its focus for the last six
games of the regular season.
ECU was on its fall break Monday and Tuesday.
"The kids who didn't travel had an opportunity to go home and the travel
kids could if they were within range," McNeill said. "We had a team
meeting (Tuesday) night. There was no practice Sunday, Monday or
Tuesday."
McNeill wanted to get young players some reps on Wednesday and today.
The Pirates are scheduled to begin game planning Friday for a Thursday
night game (Oct. 23) at home with Connecticut.
The ECU coach is expecting an approach from the Huskies that will be
comparable to the one that was successful for USF for the first half.
"Connecticut is a pro style offense like what Willie (Taggart, Bulls
coach) did," McNeill said. "Willie came from Stanford. If you watch the
(San Francisco) 49ers (coached by former Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh)
play and Stanford play with all the wings and the shifting and all that
to get leverage, Bob Diaco (UConn coach) has the same type offense and a
3-4 defense. It will be another tough game."
After playing on six Saturdays to start the season, the Pirates will be
in action three times on Thursday nights and once on Friday in the
second half of the 2014 season.
"It's getting ready to get a little non-traditional here
but we've been preparing for it," McNeill said. "We designed a calendar
for our team."
