GREENVILLE — No bowl bid was on the line, so East Carolina was playing
for pride and its seniors Friday night.
With red-hot Cincinnati looking to secure a share of the Conference USA
title and a bid to the New Orleans Bowl, the Pirates once again found
themselves in the role of potential spoiler.
But on a night that will no doubt be remembered more for the controversy
leading up to it than the game itself — and for the bone-chilling weather of
a night game in December — East Carolina would stir no nightmares in the
Bearcats' postseason dreams.
Led by its talented young field general and solid supporting class,
Cincinnati (7-6, 6-2 C-USA) did the spoiling, sending 17 East Carolina
seniors away with a bitter 42-26 defeat to earn a share of the C-USA crown
and a trip to Bourbon Street in less than two weeks.
"I told our football team that it needed to examine perspective,"
ECU coach Steve Logan
said. "With Cincinnati winning that football game out there, (it) became a
co-conference champion.
"We just got through playing them 57 minutes head-up. We beat the other
conference champion and I was just pointing out to them how very, very
close, and yet how far away we are from re-establishing ourselves."
The Pirates' secondary certainly seemed distant for much of the night.
Cincinnati quarterback Gino Guidugli had another royal performance,
completing 15-of-28 passes for 323 yards and four touchdown tosses. Three of
those TD's were snared from long distance by Jon Olinger, who finished the
night with four catches for 194 yards.
Former backup quarterback George Murray corralled the final scoring
strike, a 26-yarder that pushed the 'Cats lead to 35-26 with 9:35 to play.
"Cincinnati had a great game plan," Pirates defensive tackle Ja'Waren
Blair said. "They ran the ball effectively. They passed the ball
effectively. They beat us effectively.
"We did play them pretty solid in the first half. They just went into
halftime and tweaked it a little bit and just came out and took it to us."
East Carolina (4-8, 4-4) kept Cincinnati at bay for much of the first
half, yielding just one offensive touchdown, the first of three explosion
hookups between Guidugli and Olinger.
The second half would be much different, though, as Guidugli followed his
usual script of second-half heroism. He would have plenty of help, too,
including Olinger and running back Demarco McCleskey, who finished with 161
yards on 30 carries.
McCleskey pounded out most of his yardage at crunch time, piling up 134
yards on 20 carries following the intermission. He tallied 45 yards on a
late fourth-quarter possession with UC leading 35-26, milking valuable time
from the clock.
Just as the ECU defense returned to its struggling ways, the offense
re-discovered its rhythmic beat. The Pirates finished the evening with 458
total yards and 27 first downs, many of which were achieved on the sturdy
legs of senior linebacker-turned-running back Christshawn Gilliam, whose 27
carries and 158 yards were both career highs.
"He really is one of the finest college football players in my
experience," Logan said of Gilliam, who moved over from defense a week ago
to fill in for Art Brown, the Pirates' injured 1,000-yard rusher. "He just
understands intuitively everything about the game.
"He could have played outside linebacker, inside linebacker, rush end,
running back, maybe an H-back, maybe a safety. He's just a great player,
period."
Split end Richard Alston, another senior, also went out with a bang,
hauling in eight passes for 120 yards, including a dazzling 54-yard
touchdown that pulled the Pirates to within 28-26.
"Terrance Copper had a wonderful block," Alston said. "Terrance hit the
guy that was on me, and once I saw that, I said 'nobody's going to catch me
— I'm going to get to the end zone.'
"It was a great throw by Paul (Troth) from the get-go. He made a good
read."
Troth finished the night 20-of-42 for 285 yards, with one touchdown and a
late interception by Zach Norton, who returned the tipped pass 30 yards for
the game clinching score.
For Troth, it was the disappointing end to a disappointing season, one
for which he had set high objectives.
"It just didn't turn out the way I hoped it would, but it's all a
learning experience," said Troth. "It was way below my expectations. I
figured we would at least go to a bowl game. I figured we would challenge
for the conference, which we did up until this game."
With East Carolina trailing 14-6 at the break, the Pirates kept the
pressure on the Bearcats, who answered each challenge. Twice, Gilliam inched
the Pirates close with barreling touchdown runs, only to have them offset by
the Guidugli-Olinger battery.
UC even one-upped Alston's highlight-reel score when Murray slithered
through the Pirates' defense to give the 'Cats a two-score advantage.
"Their receivers were fast, but they weren't as fast as our corners
were," Pirates cornerback Kelly Hardy said. "It was just inexperience."
Kevin Miller's 40-yard field goal with 9:29 to play in the first quarter
gave East Carolina an early 3-0 lead.
That was erased moments later when Blue Adams stepped in front of an
errant Desmond Robinson pass and galloped 12 yards to the end zone give
Cincinnati a 7-3 advantage.
It was Adams' sixth interception of the season, the 12th of his career.
Both are school records.
The Bearcats' offense got into the action when Guidugli hit Olinger on a
78-yard catch-and-run to up the lead to 14-3.
The Pirates answered 42 seconds before the intermission when Miller
nailed his second field goal, this one a 45-yarder that closed the gap to
14-6.
"We had been to three bowl games in the last three years, but this year
was basically a disappointment," Hardy said. "We thought we were going to do
better, but it just didn't happen that way."
