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Eight times East Carolina has made the trip to Morgantown. Eight times, the Pirates have come home empty-handed.

Though Pirates coach Steve Logan rarely uses revenge as a motivating factor, that's a fact he's reminded his players of during the course of the past two weeks.

Since Logan has been in Greenville, East Carolina has won in most of the Big East's major venues, including Lane Stadium and the Orange Bowl, but has yet to smoke a victory cigar in Mo'town.

Much has changed at WVU since the Pirates' last visit, a 42-24 drubbing on Don Nehlen Day. Everything from the uniforms to the offense and the coach to the playing surface has undergone an overhaul, as the Moutaineers are focused on the future.

"We're going to entertain a West Virginia football team that is different from anything we have entertained over the years with Coach Don Nehlen," Logan said. "Rich Rodriguez has come in and installed new schemes and really on both sides of the football they look a lot like us.

"They are built for speed and normally over the years you get ready for a West Virginia football game, you get ready for 20-25 toss sweeps coming downhill at you with two tight ends. Those things are not there anymore."

What is in place is an explosive, balanced offense capable of piling points on the scoreboard in bunches.

Also present is FieldTurf, a new state-of-the-art playing surface that has gotten glowing reviews from Logan. The new surface is much more forgiving than AstroTurf, which produced a batch of leg injuries on the Pirates' most recent excursion to the West Virginia hills.

"The last time we were up there, I believe that we had three broken legs on the offensive line by the time we got back on the airplane," Logan said. "So that is a lot less likely to happen.

"The AstroTurf they had was very sticky, it gave very little and if you got hit in the lower leg, you were not coming up. The field turf is just a wonderful product, the players love it and we have played on it at Army."

Logan hopes the changes will be much more conducive to a Pirates win. If not, the Mo'town streak could reach nine.

The Pirates have yet to find consistency or balance on offense, and they'll need both if they plan to bring home a victory.

ECU mounted just one yard rushing in its last trip to Morgantown, a 42-24 loss. If the Pirates can't produce more this time around, expect a more lopsided result.

The Mountaineers line up very similar to Wake Forest defensively, which is a look that caused problems early for quarterback Paul Troth. Over-aggressive against the Deacs, Troth tossed four interceptions, including two in the end zone, nullifying promising drives.

Troth must find a medium between aggressive and passive, which would be aided by a solid running attack and a turnover-free performance. But that might be too much to ask of a young quarterback playing for the first time in a hostile environment.

Rich Rodriguez runs a true spread offense, which is exactly what the East Carolina defense has been built to stop. That will be difficult to do considering the balance the Mountaineers have been able to achieve -- 282-yards rushing, 212-yards passing per game.

Avon Coburn gets the bulk of the work on the ground, averaging 126-yards per contest. He'll have additional help from quarterback Rasheed Marshall, whose 162-yards rushing ranks second on the team.

Marshall, a true run-pass threat, is equally adept at tossing the pigskin and has yet to throw an interception this season.

"Rasheed Marshall is the quarterback that is built along the lines of Shaun King and Woodrow Dantzler," Logan said. "Rich Rodriguez is trying to recreate those two quarterbacks that he's had a lot of success with and this young man is really good."

When Marshall does drop back, he'll be looking for top target Miquelle Henderson, whose 15 catches and 240 yards are tops for the Mountaineers. West Virginia's second-most used receiver has just five catches.

The Pirates have yet to face an offense with athletes of this caliber. Combine that with a balanced gameplan, and the Moutaineers will likely keep the Pirates off balance on defense.

The Pirates have a decided advantage on special teams. Kicker Kevin Miller and punter Jarad Preston are off to solid starts, while punt returner Terrance Copper has been a pleasant surprise in place of Richard Alston.

West Virginia, on the other hand, has struggled with its kicking game. Kicker Todd James has nailed just one of his three attempts, a 34-yarder. Punter Mark Fazzolari isn't exactly booming the ball, either, averaging a modest 40-yards per boot.

The Mountaineers don't have any gamebreakers in the return game, and the Pirates' have been excellent with their coverage, with the lone exception coming on a long punt return by Tulane's Lynaris Elpheage.

East Carolina has taken veteran teams to West Virginia and lost. This is one of Logan's youngest offerings in recent memory and the Mountaineers are the best this team has yet to face. The Morgantown mystique will be too much to overcome, despite the pleasant temperatures and new, forgiving turf. Mountaineers 27, Pirates 17.

Denny O'Brien's C-USA Power Poll

1. Southern Miss (3-1, 1-0) - Golden Eagles laid major egg in Tuscaloosa last weekend. But, they're still the best C-USA has to offer.

2. Louisville (3-2, 1-0) - Cardinals flying high after scalping the 'Noles.

3. Cincinnati (1-2, 1-0) - Bearcats impressive in narrow loss to Ohio State. The thing is, they should have won.

4. TCU (3-1, 0-1) - TCU wishing it could turn back the clock to week one, when it blew a comfortable two-score lead with eight minutes to play at Cincy.

5. East Carolina (1-2, 1-0) - Pirates use off week to heal for trip to Morgantown -- where they've never won.

6. Memphis (2-2,1-1) - Tigers impressive in rout over Green Wave.

7. Tulane (2-2, 1-2) - Wave put up little fight in loss to Memphis.

8. Houston (2-2, 0-1) - Off week gives Coogs the chance to heal after thumping to Texas.

9. UAB (1-3, 0-0) - What can you say about 34-0 loss to Louisiana-Lafayette? Not a whole lot.

10. Army (0-3, 0-1) - Knights desperately need QB Reggie Nevels to heal quick.

The quarterback merry-go-round continues for Army coach Todd Berry. Where she winds up, nobody knows.

With star-in-the-making Reggie Nevels nursing a hamstring injury since the season's first quarter of play, the Black Knights have been plagued by inconsistent QB play with Zac Dahman under center. And even he's doubtful for Saturday's date with Southern Miss.

That's a good thing for Dahman though, as he won't be subject to the pain a flock of angry Eagles will likely present. Even the waterboys get in the action as the Eagles waltz, 49-3.

After consecutive games against traditional powers, the Bearcats get a bit of a break with a trip to Philly. Temple isn't as lowly as it once was, but still -- it's Temple.

Cincinnati should have little trouble with the 1-3 Owls, unless the 'Cats are still reeling from a narrow loss to Ohio State that they should have won.

But even if they are, they'll still have enough in the tank for Temple. 'Cats 30, Owls 17.

Boy, Mack Brown really loaded the front end of his schedule with heavyweights. First North Texas. Then North Carolina. Followed that with Houston. And now, Tulane.

Think Mack's trying to keep that record unblemished before the onset of Big XII play?

The Roy Williams show will light up the Superdome on Saturday, once again making Chris Simms look better than he really is. Tulane may stay close for about a drive or two, but that's about it. Horns 41, Wave 13.

UAB's roller coaster ride through 2002 found its biggest pitfall to date with a 34-0 loss to Louisiana-Lafayette. Yep, that's right, 34-0.

The Blazers have been predicated on defense since Watson Brown arrived, but they haven't shown much of a pulse on that side of the ball thus far. Meanwhile, Memphis got its offense back on track last week with a 38-10 thumping of an improved Tulane team.

UAB's ebb and flow so far this season suggests it will play well this week. However, when you consider that Memphis is much further along than its league foe, neither the ebb nor the flow suggests a Blazer victory. Tigers 28, Blazers 12.