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FOOTBALL |
Pirates on pace to
overachieve |
It's hard to
believe, but Saturday’s game
at BYU marks the midway
point in East Carolina’s
2015 football season.
Considering the difficult
front-loaded schedule,
significant graduation
losses and the season-ending
injury to Kurt Benkert a
week before the opening
game, the Pirates can feel
good about their current 3-2
record.
...
More from
Brett Friedlander... |
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FOOTBALL |
Superman to the Rescue |
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All James Summers needed was a red
cape. Superman came to the rescue
again this week for East Carolina.
Summers came off the bench to lead
the Pirates to 42 unanswered points
in a resounding 49-23 win over
Southern Methodist ...
More from
Brian Bailey... |
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MULTIMEDIA |
Audio: Ruff Weekly
Presser |
ECU
coach Ruffin McNeill
met with reporters on Monday
in his weekly press
conference.
(Audio courtesy of
Pirate Radio 1250; archive photo):
Select audio clip... |
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MULTIMEDIA |
Audio: The Brian Bailey
Show |
The
Brian Bailey Show airs on Pirate
Radio 1250 on Mondays at 6:30 p.m.
Brian's guest this week was ECU
outside receivers coach Garrett
Riley (right):
Replay
show... |
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Ruff post-game
audio |
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ECU
coach Ruffin McNeill
spoke with reporters
after the
Pirates defeated
Southern Methodist
(recorded by Al Myatt):
Select audio clip... |
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FOOTBALL |
Kevin's Keys to the Game |
East Carolina
comes into today's game at
Southern Methodist with a
hard-to-decipher 2-2 record.
After opening at home with a
with a win over FCS opponent
Towson in a game that was a
lot closer than expected,
the Pirates traveled to
Gainesville and outplayed
expectations in a close loss
to the Florida Gators. It
has been that type of season
...
More from Kevin Monroe... |
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By
Al Myatt
©2015 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
VIEW MOBILE VERSION OF THIS PAGE
East Carolina and Brigham Young are 1,883 air miles apart but the two
football programs share some common ground.
Former East Carolina athletic director Terry Holland scheduled
Saturday's game at BYU when the Pirates and Cougars were both
prospective members of the Big East Conference. BYU is down to play in
Greenville in 2017.
The Pirates were originally going to go to Provo, Utah, in 2018 when the
series was announced Jan. 25, 2012.
BYU became an independent in 2011 and has remained without a conference
affiliation.
ECU will be playing for the last time outside of the American Athletic
Conference during the 2015 regular season. The matchup at BYU represents
an opportunity for ECU to play a quality opponent with outstanding
tradition. The Cougars were national champions in 1984. BYU's
quarterback factory has produced Super Bowl champions such as Jim
McMahon and Steve Young as well as Heisman Trophy winner Ty Detmer.
Taysom Hill appeared worthy of joining that elite group but was injured
in the season-opening 33-28 win at Nebraska.
Freshman Tanner Mangum has stepped up to complete 60.5 percent of his
throws with an average of 216.8 passing yards per game.
Obviously, both teams will be playing without their projected starters
at quarterback. ECU has regrouped after Kurt Benkert was lost to a knee
injury in the preseason.
Both teams are among the national leaders in attendance among non-Power
Five programs. The Cougars averaged 57,141 per game in 2014. The Pirates
averaged 44,786.
Both teams have had tough schedules. ECU's losses have been
to Florida and
Navy, which are both
unbeaten. Jeff Sagarin's ratings for USA Today have BYU with the
toughest schedule in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
The Cougars (3-2) have faced Boise State (35-24 win), UCLA (24-23 loss
at the Rose Bowl), Michigan (31-0 loss in the Big House) and Connecticut
(30-13 win with 20 fourth quarter points last week in Provo).
For whatever comparisons of common opponents are worth, ECU had a more
dominant period against Southern Methodist last Saturday than either
Baylor or Texas Christian. After falling behind 23-7, the Pirates
responded with 42 unanswered points
for a 49-23 AAC win.
"All four sides really played well together," McNeill said in retrospect
of the contest in Dallas. "I thought the offense did a really good job
of not getting away from the game plan when we were down and stayed with
it. They made great adjustments. The penalties on offense, we talked
about that. We only had one offensively. We thought we had hurt
ourselves in previous games on offense by unnecessary penalties getting
us in bad situations on the sticks. I thought our O-line did a great job
of run blocking as well as our backs did a really good job and ran
hard."
ECU has fallen behind in its last three games, rallying in two,
including
a 35-28 win at home over Virginia Tech
after trailing 14-0.
"I want to start fast on offense, of course, but I was proud of the way
we handled that," McNeill said of the comeback at SMU.
The Pirates were able to get their defense off the field as the game at
Dallas progressed, and after James Summers went in at quarterback ECU
showed a high degree of efficiency on offense.
"Defense, great job on third down," McNeill said. "Two out of 14 on
third down getting off the field. I thought we stopped the run,
controlled the run. Keep improving on our tackling in space and having
great eye discipline."
The Pirates allowed just 40 yards rushing in evening their league
record. The assortment of special teams did their part, too.
"Special teams has been really great for us," McNeill said. "We have to
keep that going. Worth Gregory is one of the best punters in the
country. He's pinning people back. He's doing a great job of getting it
off, giving us hidden yardage and great field position there
defensively. Caleb Pratt, our kickoff player, he's doing a great job. As
a freshman, he's come in and really stepped up to the challenge. Our
coverage teams are doing a great job, let's continue that. ... Return
teams with Quay Johnson and Trevon (Brown) are doing a great job with
getting us positive yardage.
"I was proud of the way we handled things after the way we began playing
on all sides of the ball."
Christian Matau, a sophomore from New Bern, played center at SMU and did
so effectively.
"Christian started at guard against Virginia Tech and J.T. (Boyd) at
center when C.J. (Struyk) went down," McNeill noted. "Brad (Davis,
offensive line coach) is a big time coach. Glad we got him. His group is
improving as the year goes on. Brad made the switch and put Christian at
center and put J.T. back at guard, which was a great move. I liked the
way Christian handled the center position, making the calls. J.T. is so
smart and experienced at guard. He went back to back where he had been
playing all year. A great job up front."
Yiannis Bowden also stepped up with 2.5 of ECU's eight sacks last week.
"Proud of Yiannis," McNeill said. "We always felt like he had a lot of
talent. He's got the height (6-5) and length we like. We talked about
three weeks ago about taking guys and using their strengths like Shawn
Furlow (true freshman running back), Justin Brown (true freshman
defensive lineman), Yiannis Bowden (redshirt freshman outside
linebacker) and putting those guys in a position where they could help
us. Yiannis has a knack for being a really good pass rusher. He has an
instinct. He'll be a great all-around player as he gets older and
stronger. Rick (Smith, defensive coordinator and secondary coach) and
Duane Price (outside linebackers coach) put Yiannis in on our third down
and long packages. He did a great job. He and Montese (Overton, senior
outside linebacker) did a great job getting pressure on the quarterback
once we controlled the run."
BYU features receivers with size. Mitch Mathews, who snared the
game-winning Hail Mary at Nebraska is 6 feet, 6 inches. That presents a
challenge for the ECU secondary, which teamed well in its coverage with
the pass rush at SMU.
"We just have to be ready to make competitive plays," McNeill said. "You
have to be physical with them. Get great pass rush to force the
quarterback to make untimely throws. ... They catch the ball, compete
for the ball well. They're really sound up front offensively with the
offensive line. They have a lot of starts up front. They have two backs
that you really have to be ready to control."
Both teams align in a 3-4 defensively.
"We've studied with them," McNeill said. "They've come over here and
studied with us. They do a great job. Very physical. A lot of blitzing
and stunts. Changing of coverages. Big safeties. They're a tall team.
6-3, 6-4 safeties that are really active. It'll be a great test. One
offensive lineman, Bronson Kaufusi, his dad (Steve) is a coach
(defensive line) on the staff. He's 6-8, 280. He's very active so we
have to be ready to go."
McNeill made the trip to BYU as defensive coordinator at Nevada-Las
Vegas in 1998 so he knows what to expect from the atmosphere.
"It's going to be a very inspired crowd, an excited crowd," said the
Pirates coach. "They support the team. A lot of energy will be going on
at that stadium. We've got to be ready to combat that, do our jobs, stay
focused and play the next play. Just sustain it throughout the game."
Provo is 4,549 feet above sea level, which raises some concerns about
the effect altitude could have.
"Jeff Connors is the best I've been around," McNeill said of the
Pirates' strength and conditioning guru. "He's got us in great
condition, ready to go. We've got guys to rotate if we do get tired.
We'll put 'em in there and let 'em play."
UConn coach Bob Diaco downplayed the elevation although his team was
outscored 20-3 in the final period.
"I don't think it's even a factor for teams coming here," Diaco said. "I
would say to most teams coming here to not even prepare for it."
The Pirates need to build on their winning momentum.
"Execution on offense, defense and special teams again," McNeill said in
regard to game keys. "Making competitive plays and routine plays. Being
mentally tough and ready to face a very physical football team, which
we've faced all year. Every game has been physical. First down control.
Having great first down presence offensively and defensively and third
down on both sides of the ball, too. Making plays when our number is
dialed up. Offense, take care of the ball. Defense, get some take-aways
on defense."
With a longer trip, ECU will take a larger airplane today.
"It's a bigger plane so we're going out of Kinston," McNeill said.
"We're leaving earlier. Four-hour flight. Bigger plane. We'll let the
guys stretch their legs a little bit. We'll get out there earlier so we
can start our routine earlier. Let's go play."
The Pirates will have chapel, meetings and a movie, all part of the
routine.
"We'll get 'em in bed earlier, two hours earlier than we normally do,"
McNeill said. "Eight o'clock, their time (Mountain time zone)."