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ECU quarterback Shane
Carden (5), receiver Bryce Williams and offensive
lineman Adhem Elsawi (57) embrace after Carden and
Williams hooked up on a scoring pass on the Pirates'
opening drive against Virginia Tech last September.
It proved to be ECU's only touchdown as the Tech
defense clamped down and helped the Hokies secure a
15-10 victory. (Photo by W.A. Myatt] |
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Bud Foster (pictured)
arrived at Virginia Tech as an assistant with head
coach Frank Beamer in 1987. He served as linebackers
and special teams coach until 1995, when he became
defensive coordinator. East Carolina, which faces
the Hokies on the road on Saturday, has seen its
offense muzzled by Foster's charges on a number of
occasions during the teams' long-running series. The
most recent example was last season when the
Pirates, one of the nation's most explosive teams,
scored on their opening drive but failed to reach
the end zone again in a 15-10 loss in Greenville.
(Photo from
Wikipedia] |
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FOOTBALL RECRUITING |
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Florida talent pool still
producing |
 C.J.
Maybin has always like to
hit people on the football
field, even when it wasn’t
appropriate. “When I was
younger my Dad started me
off by signing me up for
flag football,’’ Maybin
recalled recently. “But it
wasn’t fun to me just
grabbing somebody’s flag. I
wanted to hit. So I
immediately started tackling
the other players. “The
other parents did not like
it. So they moved me up to
the tackle league.’’ ...
More from Sammy Batten... |
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FOOTBALL SPECIAL
FEATURE |
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Fifteen Questions
for Cam Worthy |
|
 Cam
Worthy (6-3, 220)
provides the 2014
East Carolina
football offense
with a big, physical
weapon at the
outside wide
receiver position.
The Blair, SC,
native caught 19
passes for 295 yards
and two touchdowns
in the 2013 Pirate
campaign. Thus far
in his senior
season, Worthy has
five receptions for
78 yards including a
17-yard touchdown
catch last week at
South Carolina. ...
More from W.A.
Myatt... |
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Pictured: ECU
receiver Cam Worthy
has carved out a
role as a key
starter since
joining the program
as a walk-on from
Yuba (CA) Community
College. The Lower
Richland (SC) High
School product is a
senior
communications
major. (ECU Media
Relations photo) |
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MULTIMEDIA |
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Audio: Coach Ruff Weekly
Presser... |
  At
his weekly press conference,
ECU coach Ruffin McNeill
touched on his team's loss
at South Carolina and
discussed the Pirates'
planning and approach to
Saturday's game at Virginia
Tech (courtesy of Pirate
Radio 1250 via Brian Bailey):
Replay
show... |
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FOOTBALL |
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Hokies ripe for the plucking |
I am a firm
believer in the psychology
of sports. How a team is
thinking goes a long way
toward how that team
performs each week. With
that in mind, I thought
South Carolina played with a
hint of desperation in its
33-23 victory over East
Carolina in Columbia on
Saturday night.
...
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
East Carolina
outside linebackers
coach Duane Price
(right) and Mike
Steele:
Replay
show... |
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Audio: Coach Ruff
Presser |
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East
Carolina
coach Ruffin McNeill
addressed the media
at his weekly press
conference on
Monday (courtesy of
Pirate Radio 1250
via Brian Bailey):
Select
clip... |
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Pirates move ball in loss |
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COLUMBIA, SC —
COLUMBIA, SC — Regardless of the
venue and caliber of opponent, East Carolina's goal was to
win a football game at Williams-Brice Stadium on Saturday
night. The fact that the Pirates topped No. 21 South
Carolina 453-441 in total yardage was little consolation in
a 33-23 ECU loss. ...
More from Al Myatt... |
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ECU coach
Ruffin
McNeill
discusses a
clock issue
with the
referee late
in the
fourth
quarter of
the Pirates'
loss to
South
Carolina
Saturday
night.
Photo by W.A.
Myatt. ©Bonesville.net.
View W.A.
Myatt's
complete
gallery... |
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Audio: Coach Ruff Post-game... |
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East
Carolina coach Ruffin
McNeill spoke
with the press after the
Pirates' loss at South
Carolina Saturday night
(recorded by W.A. Myatt;
file photo):
Select audio clip... |
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By
Al Myatt
©2014 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
View ECU's Football
Schedule
East Carolina averaged 40.2 points per game in 2013. The
potent Pirates exceeded 50 points five times.
Against this week's opponent, Virginia Tech, ECU was
on the short end of a 15-10 score last season.
After a 22-yard scoring pass from Shane Carden to Bryce Williams in the
first two minutes, the end zones were off limits to the Pirates.
Carden was sacked seven times and threw three
interceptions as the offense managed just 204 total yards. That figure
represents an average half for the Pirates in most games.
It can be different when Bud Foster is making the
adjustments.
"He's very good at the game, what are they trying to do
to us?" said Hokies coach Frank Beamer via the ACC football
teleconference on Wednesday. "He has enough experience where he can get
an adjustment going very quickly. There's none better. ... To me, he's
the best defensive coordinator in the country."
There were 107,517 fans at Ohio State last Saturday night
and a national television audience who would probably agree with Beamer.
The Buckeyes yielded seven sacks in a 35-21 Virginia Tech
win that was capped by a 63-yard interception return by Donovan Riley
with 46 seconds left.
The largest crowd to ever watch the Buckeyes went home
disappointed. Ohio State had not lost to an unranked nonconference
opponent at home since 1982.
The Hokies (2-0) have since surged to No. 17 in the
Associated Press poll and No. 19 in the coaches' rankings. The
conquering heroes host ECU on Saturday at noon (ESPN).
So who thinks the Pirates have a chance?
Well, Beamer, who seldom could be accused of providing
foes with bulletin board material, sounds like he's expecting a battle.
Having played the Pirates three times in the Ruffin
McNeill era, Beamer sees the progress that's been made. The Hokies
rolled to
a 49-27 win in Blacksburg in 2010.
They took
a 17-10 win in Greenville in 2011.
A safety with 1:31 to go capped last year's 15-10 victory.
"Coach McNeill has really done an excellent job, both in
recruiting and development of their team," Beamer said. "They really are
a very, very good football team. Carden can really throw the football.
Very, very accurate. He's got some excellent people there to throw to."
ECU managed just 46 yards on the ground against the
Hokies last season.
Despite the loss of Will Simmons, Jordan Davis and Adhem
Elsawi from the 2013 offensive front as well as the departure of
1,000-plus yard rusher Vintavious Cooper, the Pirates ran for 132 yards
on 21 carries in
a 33-23 loss at No. 21 South Carolina
last week. That's a solid 6.3 yards per tote.
"They can run the ball better," Beamer said. "They've
added a couple of guys there in the offensive line that's allowing them
to run the ball better."
Familiarity with the opposition and preparing accordingly
are reasons Beamer has built a successful program.
The Hokies lead the series with ECU, 13-5, but the
Pirates have prevailed just once in the last 11 games going back to
1993. The ECU win in that span was provided by a 27-yard return of a
blocked punt by T.J. Lee that
lifted the Pirates over Virginia Tech, 27-22,
in Charlotte in 2008. If you like omens, the Hokies also
were ranked No. 17 at that time.
ECU's last win over a nationally-ranked opponent was on
Dec. 5, 2009, when the Pirates
beat Houston, 38-32, in the Conference USA
championship game at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium in the final
game as ECU coach for Skip Holtz.
For the Pirates to record the first triumph over a ranked
foe in the McNeill era, ECU offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley is going
to have to avoid the dementor's kiss of Foster's defense. Riley better
be ready to go to plan B and on through the alphabet as Foster adjusts.
When the Hokies zig, the Pirates have to dial up a zag.
ECU will have to get touchdowns instead of field goals.
An early 6-0 ECU lead at USC could have been 14-0.
"We played well on all sides of the ball," Carden said.
"We've just got to score in the red zone. ... We expect to put up more
points than we did. Those field goals at the beginning — we don't expect
field goals, we expect touchdowns. (Kicker Warren) Harvey did a great
job. I told him when he was making them to keep doing his thing and we'd
try to get him some extra points."
McNeill sees Virginia Tech's effectiveness on defense as
a combination of talent and schemes.
"Bud Foster has got some great players there," said the
Pirates coach. "They do a great job. They're well coached."
After recently reviewing last year's tape with the Hokies,
McNeill said missed opportunities were apparent, just as on the most
recent trip to Columbia.
" ... In a game of any magnitude, not just last week's
game or this week's game, you have to be able to make plays at certain
critical points in time in the game," McNeill said. "We have to make
sure we do our job at a high level. That's everyone on all three sides
of the ball.
"Being able to make routine plays is very important in
all games, but in this game particularly."
