It's fitting that East Carolina is celebrating the 50th anniversary of Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium this season. At a school steeped in passing tradition, we could be witnessing the best quarterback-receiver battery in the program’s history.

Shane Carden hooked up with Justin Hardy 16 times for 191 yards in the Pirates' Saturday night win over Old Dominion. It’s the second time the duo has connected 16 times in a game, the previous one occurring in last year’s regular season finale against Marshall.

Continuity between the two clearly is a factor in their production.

“It’s experience, and not having the quarterback battle like we had (last year) has helped us out a lot,” Hardy said. “I’m not necessarily going to say that he looks for me, but we know each other. I know that if he puts the ball out there, I’m going to catch it.

"That’s the faith that he’s got in me. We have trust and faith in each other, and that helps out a lot.”

So does the fact that Carden doesn’t have to lock in on Hardy each play. Carden completed passes to ten different receivers, making it impossible for ODU to key on Hardy.

Carden finished Saturday with an ECU single-game record 447 yards.

The lack of receiver depth had become a worry after the dismissals of Jabril Solomon and Justin Jones from the team, but that concern, at least for the time being, can be put to rest.

Junior Danny Webster registered one of his best games ever in an ECU uniform, hauling in eight passes for 79 yards and a score. He also demonstrated that he is more than just a possession receiver who can move the chains.

Senior Reese Wiggins also looks more dependable than in years past, and newcomers Davon Grayson, Cam Worthy, and Isaiah Jones each look like capable options.

“People were worried about our receiver depth,” Pirates coach Ruffin McNeill said. “I thought we answered that tonight. We feel good about our receiving corps.”

Given the good mix of experience and youth here, this group should only improve as the season progresses.

Missed opportunity

It would be an understatement to say that linebacker Ty Holmes’ 26-yard touchdown rumble off a fumble recovery to open the second half was the differentiator in the Pirates’ victory Saturday.

Given the way the ECU defense was otherwise playing, it was the equivalent of a 14-point swing — the difference when the final cannon fired.

“That was a big play,” safety Damon Magazu said. “That really sparked the entire team, not just the defense, and got the whole team rolling together. He comes up with big plays when we need them.”

It was the type of play that you thought might swing the momentum in the Pirates’ favor for good. And for a moment it looked like it would.

On the ensuing possession, the ECU defense stiffened for the first two plays, only to let Monarchs quarterback Taylor Heinicke scramble for 15 yards on 3rd and 10. It shattered any brief momentum the ECU defense had and returned the game to track meet status.

It also prevented the Pirates from putting the Monarchs away early.

Looking special

One of the overlooked details of ECU’s win Saturday was the play of its special teams. Though only one game into the 2013 season, it’s clear that coordinator Kirk Doll has constructed a very tight unit.

It certainly doesn’t hurt that place kicker Warren Harvey and punter Trent Tignor both are back. They provided great height and depth on their kicks, enabling the Pirates’ coverage units to corral the Monarchs’ return specialists.

As a result, ODU’s best starting position was its own 35-yard line.

The only glitches Saturday were a 41-yard field goal attempt that Harvey pulled left and a kickoff that he sailed out of bounds. But given how this kicking tandem operated, there doesn’t appear to be much that needs fixing here.

Offensive imbalance

It’s hard to find much fault in an offense that racked up nearly 500 yards and 45 points. But the Pirates' inability to manifest much of a ground attack could be cause for concern.

Some of that can be attributed to the fact that ECU didn’t make much of an attempt to do so. Of the Pirates’ 76 offensive plays, 17 were designed runs, the type of imbalance that will hurt them against more talented defenses.

Even when ECU did try to run the ball, it didn’t find much room to operate. Returning 1,000-yard rusher Tay Cooper averaged only 3.2 yards per rush while carrying it only 12 times.

Neither statistic is ideal.

One of the catalysts to East Carolina’s offensive surge last year was coordinator Lincoln Riley’s development of a running game. It kept opponents off balance and made the Pirates more difficult to defend.

There’s nothing wrong with employing a pass-first mentality, especially in this age of the spread offense. But the ability to complement that philosophy with a solid running game is generally a necessity to go far, regardless of classification or conference.