FOOTBALL |
Kevin's Keys to the Game |
East Carolina heads into
tonight's American Athletic
Conference game at Central
Florida at 4-6 after
consecutive losses to
Temple, Connecticut and
South Florida. In each of
those defeats, ECU led in
the 4th quarter but couldn't
hold on.
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More from Kevin Monroe... |
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GAME DAY WEATHER |
Thunderstorms are
forecast throughout
the afternoon and
evening in Orlando
as East Carolina
visits Central
Florida for a 7:30
kickoff tonight.
Temperature is
expected to be in
the mid-70s at the
start of the game
with a heat index of
81. There is a 75
percent chance of a
shower at the
outset, increasing
to 80 percent by the
end of the American
Athletic Conference
contest. The mercury
will drop slightly
during the game.
Winds will shift
from the
East-northeast to
the north but remain
in the negligible
range at three to
four miles per hour.
(Filed by Al Myatt) |
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FOOTBALL RECRUITING |
Matchup short on prime time luster |
The
Thursday night college football
games on ESPN are scheduled well in
advance. That's why winless Central
Florida hosts struggling East
Carolina on national TV on Thursday
night at 7:30.
The matchup has the makings of a ratings fiasco.
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More from
Al Myatt... |
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FOOTBALL RECRUITING |
Doyle plots growth path with Pirates |
Some
recruiters thought Jack Doyle lacked
the weight to handle an offensive
line position at the college level.
But not East Carolina offensive line
coach Brad Davis. “He told me he's
made a living with guys like me,''
Doyle said.“
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More
from Sammy Batten... |
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BASKETBALL |
Lebo reaches milestone |
GREENVILLE — East Carolina showed
some of the skills Jeff Lebo
possessed as a player at North
Carolina in handing the sixth-year
Pirates coach his 300th career win
on Monday night in Williams Arena at
Minges Coliseum. ...
Story & photos... |
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Pictured: Freshman
Kentrell Barkley
inbounds for the
Pirates during their
Monday night win
over Charlotte. (Al
Myatt photo) |
Post-game
audio: Coaches and players... |
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FOOTBALL |
'Desperation Bowl 2015' |
During
the preseason many thought this
week’s East Carolina-Central Florida
game would help decide the East
Division of the American Athletic
Conference. My how the mighty have
fallen. ...
More
from Brian Bailey... |
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MULTIMEDIA |
Audio: Ruff Weekly
Presser |
ECU
coach Ruffin McNeill met with
reporters on Monday at his weekly
press conference (audio courtesy of
Pirate Radio 1250; file photo):
Select audio
clip... |
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FOOTBALL RECRUITING |
ECU fortifies front lines |
East
Carolina's recruiting class of 2016
has expanded to 15 with verbal
commitments from Mooresville High
School DT Jamil Dukes (left) and
Wake Forest Heritage High School OT
Jack Doyle (right). ...
Thumbnail
sketches... |
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BASKETBALL |
White, Barkley fuel Pirates in
opener |
GREENVILLE — East Carolina won its
season opening basketball game over
Grambling State 61-53 on Friday
night at Williams Arena in Minges
Coliseum as Caleb White scored 21
points. The outcome provided Pirates
coach Jeff Lebo with his 299th
career victory.
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More
from Al Myatt... |
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BASKETBALL |
Pirates sail into uncharted waters |
East
Carolina will be entering the realm
of the unknown in several areas as
it hosts Grambling State in its
basketball opener on Friday at 8
p.m. "We don't have any film on
Grambling or anything," said
sixth-year Pirates coach Jeff Lebo.
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More
from Al Myatt... |
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By
Brett Friedlander
©2015 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
VIEW MOBILE ALPHA VERSION OF THIS PAGE
East Carolina heads
into the home stretch of the 2015 football season needing to win its
final two games, starting with Thursday’s matchup against winless
Central Florida in Orlando, to finish at .500 and achieve bowl
eligibility.
It’s an unenviable
position that might have seemed entirely plausible back in August, after
projected starting quarterback Kurt Benkert went down with a
season-ending knee injury a week before the opening game.
But then the Pirates
slogged through a monsoon at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium
to beat Virginia Tech and
suddenly everything changed. Even an unexpected run at the American
Athletic Conference’s East Division title seemed possible.
As it turned out,
though, that 35-28 victory against the Hokies was the high point of a
season that has since gone off the rails.
So what went wrong?
Did the bar simply
get re-set too high after a promising start that distracted us all, at
least momentarily, from the reality that the Pirates were forced to
replace the most prolific pass-catch duo in school history and the
dynamic young offensive coordinator who called the plays for Shane
Carden and Justin Hardy?
Or did something
change after
a homecoming victory against Tulsa
improved ECU’s record to 4-3?
The answer is a
little of both.
Despite a wealth of
talented receivers including tight end Bryce Williams, a Mackey Award
candidate who has already accepted an invitation to play in the Senior
Bowl, this year’s offense is nowhere near as talented as those of the
previous few seasons. And that might have been the case with or without
Benkert.
“We have a very fast
football team and a very athletic team, but we’ve been hurt by some key
injuries in key places that are hard to come by,” coach Ruffin McNeill
said. “You can say ‘next man up, next man up’ and Ohio State can go to
their third quarterback, but that’s Ohio State. The kids make no excuses
and no complaints.”
Even with those
shortcomings, however, the Pirates still seemed to be trending in the
right direction until the past three games – all losses in which they’ve
failed to score at least 20 points.
Some of that slump
can be blamed on injuries to guard Quincy McKinney and tackle Donate
Levingston that left two gaping holes in ECU’s offensive line. But the
real culprit can be traced even farther back than that.
Remember that high
water mark in the rain against the Hokies? Well, an argument can be made
that it was also the tipping point that sent the Pirates’ season sinking
in the wrong direction.
That was the game in
which James Summers came off the bench and looked like the second coming
of Cam Newton in rushing for 169 yards and two touchdowns while
completing five of eight passes for 110 yards and another score.
It’s also the game
that convinced McNeill to go against his publicly stated better
instincts and begin shuffling quarterbacks faster than a casino
Blackjack dealer.
There’s something to
be said for a two-quarterback system when used judiciously. That could
have been done had McNeill and offensive coordinator Dave Nichol
continued to use Summers and his running ability as a change-of-pace guy
off the bench.
But that didn’t
happen.
McNeill and Nichol
became infatuated with Summers and strayed from an offensive philosophy
that has worked so well in the past, limiting the ability to get the
ball to playmakers Isaiah Jones, Trevon Brown and Davon Grayson in the
open field. In the process, whatever rhythm passing specialist Blake
Kemp might have built when he was getting a majority of the snaps was
stunted.
The proof is in the
numbers. ECU is 4-2 with Kemp as the starter and 0-4 in games started by
Summers.
The converted wide
receiver played the entire game two weeks ago,
a 22-17 loss to South Florida
in which the Pirates gained only seven first downs – none of which came
in the first half. Perhaps that’s why McNeill has decided to revisit his
quarterback situation during the past week’s bye.
"We're going back to
(the two-quarterback) system,” McNeill said Monday. “It wasn't fair to
James and we put James in a tough spot. He's trying to learn this
offense.
“When you work all
summer at wide receiver, that was a tough spot and that kid didn't back
down from the challenge. So did Blake. We were trying to get one guy
ready, but our best combo is using both of them, so we'll do that.”
Having the time to
come to that realization is only one of the many reasons why the
long-awaited bye week couldn’t have come at a more opportune time for
the Pirates.
In addition to the
strategic adjustments, personnel moves – including the demotion of
embattled cornerback Josh Hawkins from a starting position to the third
team – and the physical healing it allowed, the week off gave ECU’s
players a chance to reset, recharge and get ready for what has become a
do-or-die two-game stretch against UCF and Cincinnati to finish the
regular season.
“Not hesitating was
the biggest thing,” McNeill said when asked about his emphasis during
the bye. “Just play. Swing your sword. Don’t swing it wildly, just swing
it.”
That’s about all the
Pirates can do at this point. The only other option is going down
without a fight.