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Senior running back
Breon Allen breaks free to turn a 3rd-and-28 play
into a 44-yard touchdown run against North Carolina
last month. (Photo by W.A. Myatt] |
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FOOTBALL |
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Pirates focused on Pirates |
Just like George Jefferson, the
Pirates are moving on up! That’s a
reference to the theme song from the
70s television show called ‘The
Jeffersons,” which was a spin-off of
“All in the Family.” It fits the
Pirates this week for sure. ...
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 this week was
ECU associate head
coach and inside
linebackers coach
coach John Wiley
(right):
Replay
show... |
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Audio: Coach Ruff
Presser |
  ECU
coach Ruffin McNeill
spoke with the media
at his weekly press
conference on Monday
(courtesy of Pirate
Radio 1250; file
photo):
Select
clip... |
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FOOTBALL |
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Kevin's Keys to the Game |
East Carolina
will have a second straight
home game this week when it
faces Southern Methodist.
The Mustangs have had a
rough start to the 2014
season, going 0-4 with
losses to North Texas and
three nationally-ranked
teams in Texas Christian,
Texas A&M and Baylor.
...
More from Kevin Monroe... |
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FOOTBALL |
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American opts for eight
officials |
The NCAA Football Rules
Committee is allowing every
Football Bowl Subdivision
conference the option to use
eight-person officiating
crews in 2014. The American
Athletic Conference is one
of four FBS conferences to
follow the Big 12's lead by
trying eight officials
instead of seven. ...
More from Greg Vacek... |
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By
W.A.
Myatt
©2014 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
View ECU's
2014 football schedule
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 as a back-up to
Vintavious Cooper. He also had nine catches for 130 yards as a
junior.
Thus far in his
senior season, Allen has rushed for 380 yards on 43 carries with three
scores. A considerable portion of that production came in
a 70-41 win over
North Carolina when Allen ran 18 times for 211 yards with two touchdowns. He
is averaging 8.8 yards per rush for the No. 19 Pirates. He also has 14
catches for 100 yards.
A communications major, Allen made the Honor Roll for
the spring 2014 semester. The Daytona Beach product returns to his home
state for Saturday night's game at South Florida.
Allen spoke with Bonesville after practice Tuesday evening.
Q: Favorite restaurant in Greenville?
A: GK Cafe.
Q: Favorite TV show?
A: 'Tom & Jerry.'
Q: What's the toughest part of being a collegiate athlete?
A: Man, there's nothing tough about being a collegiate athlete. If anything,
probably summer workouts.
Q: How did going to junior college affect you as a player?
A: It made me grow up. It made me appreciate the smaller things in life, it
humbled me a lot.
Q: You seem to be pretty patient waiting for blockers to open up gaps. Is it
tough to hold back in those situations?
A: Sometimes. When you first come back from the summer, being off a long
time, about 6 months on and off... it's tough to wait then... but when you're
patient, the more patient you are, the bigger runs you break and the more
yards you get, so I don't mind being patient.
Q: Is it difficult to disregard the outside noise that comes with being
nationally ranked?
A: No, not at all. Coach Ruff does a great job of keeping us level-headed,
coach Connors does a great job of keeping us level-headed, and we've all got
our minds set on one goal, so we really don't pay much attention to that.
Q: What do you enjoy doing besides football?
A: Hanging out with my teammates, just hanging out with people in general. I
enjoy making people smile, making people laugh, getting to know people. It's
always cool to get to know new people.
Q: Do you have any pre-game rituals or routines?
A: I listen to Adele, the '21' album. While I was in juco, some of my
teammates got me listening to it and I fell in love with it a little bit.
Q: ECU has never beaten USF. What does this team have to do to change that?
A: Be ourselves. Do what we do best. If we work hard and have a great week
of practice and go out there and play hard and I'm pretty sure everything
will take of itself.
Q: What led you to choose East Carolina coming out of junior college?
A: The family atmosphere. When I came here, they didn't lie to me, they
didn't try to boost my head up, they looked me in my eyes and told me, 'If
you work hard, you'll have a place here, you can get some playing time
here.' They kept it completely real with me. That's what swayed me to come
here.
Q: What would you say is your strongest attribute as a running back?
A: My blocking. Any running back can run and do the flashy things, but I can
block really well. That's a part of my game that doesn't really get noticed.
Q: Who's been the most influential person in your life?
A: My mom, she's a warrior. I could go on and on about her, but she's just a
warrior. She raised me and my four sisters by herself. She never gave up on
us and was always positive, always made sure we were taken care of — she's
my hero.
Q: What is your favorite football memory?
A: I'm going to categorize it to my favorite football memory at ECU. It's
singing the fight song after putting up 70 points on North Carolina.
Q: How important is it for the team to play in front of a full Dowdy-Ficklen
stadium?
A: The best fans in the world live in Greenville, NC. The more they're
behind us, the better we play. It's important, it's huge, we love getting
that support from our family.
Q: What is your favorite thing about ECU?
A: The people, just the city in general. The college town, people are nice,
we have beautiful girls, cool guys, the professor are pretty nice — just the
family atmosphere and everyone loves football. I think that's pretty cool.
