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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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Infographic: Pick 6
set the tone |
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30 |
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17 |
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East Carolina forced
two turnovers, kicked three field
goals and pulled out a 30-17 win
over Tulsa Saturday afternoon in
front of a Homecoming crowd of
43,065 at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
Cornerback Josh Hawkins set the tone
early for the Pirate defense,
returning an interception 100 yards
for a TD ...
Details and
data from Greg Vacek... |
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Ball 'Hawk' boosts Pirates |
GREENVILLE — Everything seemed
to feed off one game-changing
play in East Carolina's 30-17
American Athletic Conference
football win over Tulsa on
Homecoming Saturday.
The
Golden Hurricane was moving the
ball as advertised after taking
the opening kickoff and
traversing from their 19 to the
ECU 12 over the manicured turf
of Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. Tulsa
came in averaging 568 yards of
total offense and 36.6 points
per game. ...
More from Al Myatt... |
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View W.A.
Myatt's game day photo gallery... |
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Ruff post-game audio |
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ECU
coach Ruffin McNeill
spoke with reporters on
Saturday after the
Pirates' Homecoming win
over Tulsa (recorded by
Al Myatt):
Select audio clip... |
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FOOTBALL |
Kevin's Keys to the Game |
East Carolina
comes into today's American
Athletic Conference contest
with Tulsa at 3-3, while the
Golden Hurricane has a 3-2
record. The Pirates are 1-1
in the AAC and Tulsa is 0-1,
making this a pivotal game
for both both teams in terms
of their conference
championship ambitions.
...
More from Kevin Monroe... |
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FOOTBALL |
Home sweet Homecoming |
Homecoming
at East Carolina is a party that
will attract around 50,000 guests.
ECU coach Ruffin McNeill is in
charge of the entertainment. McNeill
and the late Ed Emory are former
Pirate players who have gone on to
become head coaches at their alma
mater ...
More
from Al Myatt... |
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By
Brett Friedlander
©2015 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
VIEW MOBILE VERSION OF THIS PAGE
No game last season
sticks in the craw of East Carolina fans more than the Senior Night loss
to Central Florida in which the Pirates
pried defeat from the jaws of victory
by allowing the Knights to score on a 51-yard Hail Mary pass as time
expired.
But that wasn’t the most damaging loss of 2014.
Not by a long shot.
That distinction goes to the
sloppy, self-inflicted 20-10 setback
to Temple on a cold, wet November afternoon in Philadelphia – a game ECU
fumbled away by coughing the ball up five times to negate a 428-135
advantage in total yardage.
In retrospect, it was the difference between a truly
great season and a just plain good one.
It’s also a big reason why so many of the Pirates who
were there that day are so amped up about getting another shot at the
Owls Thursday night at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
“I can’t wait,” senior linebacker Zeek Bigger said only
moments after last Saturday’s
workmanlike 30-17 Homecoming win
against Tulsa. “I just can’t wait.”
The nationally-televised rematch is a virtual mirror
image of last year’s AAC East showdown, in which ECU was riding high,
ranked 21st in the nation on the strength of a five-game winning streak.
This time the roles are reversed with 22nd-rated Temple coming in as the
hot team with five straight victories.
Revenge, however, is hardly the only – or most important
– reason Thursday’s game is so important to the Pirates. As was the case
was a year ago, the battle with the Owls represents a distinct seasonal
crossroads for coach Ruffin McNeill’s team.
Though it’s still far too early for it to be a
make-or-break proposition, the outcome will determine the course ECU
takes for the remainder of the season.
Win and the Pirates will have the inside track on a
division title no one would have dared predict after quarterback Kurt
Benkert went down with his season-ending knee injury a week before the
season opener. Lose and focus shifts to the more modest goal of winning
at least six games and earning the best bowl trip possible.
Of course, you won’t hear McNeill or anyone on his staff
has mentioning such things as they work their way through the short week
of preparation for Temple.
“Not one second. Not one syllable. Not one word,” the ECU
coach said. “The reason we need it is because it's the next game. That's
the motivation. Our thought process isn't going to change. We know we
have a great opponent in Temple. They're a great team. They're not
winning by luck. It's execution.
“I talk about getting better. Let's play our best game
our next game. Temple has a great team and proposes a great opportunity,
but a challenge for us.”
The Pirates answered one challenge last week when their
defense rose to the occasion by shutting out for the first three
quarters a Tulsa team that came into the game ranked seventh nationally
in total offense.
Not only did coordinator Rick Smith’s unit take care of
the business of stopping the Golden Hurricane, it also picked up an
out-of-sync offense by scoring one touchdown on a school-record tying
100-yard interception return by cornerback Josh Hawkins while setting up
another score with a fumble recovery deep in Tulsa territory.
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This week, whether it’s James Summers or Blake Kemp
getting the bulk of the work under center, it will be the offense’s turn
to rise to the occasion against an Owls’ defense that allows only 14.7
points per game and held UCF to 134 total yards in a come-from-behind
win last Saturday.
If nothing else, ECU should have plenty of motivation to
fuel it after its 2014 disappointment in Philly.
Just not too much.
“We can’t look back on last year’s game because we aren’t
last year’s team and they aren’t last year’s team,” Hawkins said. “We’re
just going to worry about this team that we’re playing, ourselves and
what we can accomplish now.”
The last thing the Pirates want to do is lose sight of
what’s still there for the taking by spending too much time staring
wistfully in the rearview mirror.
Not that a little revenge wouldn’t be sweet.