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photo) |
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FOOTBALL |
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Teams going in opposite
directions |
The last time Southern
Methodist came to
Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, the
Mustangs were in the midst
of a football revival under
coach June Jones. The date
was Nov. 26, 2010 and East
Carolina was in its first
season with alumnus Ruffin
McNeill as head coach. ...
More from Al Myatt... |
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FOOTBALL |
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Drowning out the positive noise |
Successful
college football teams often
have a bunker mentality
during the season. It’s us
against the world, with
every man putting the team
first. It’s a great outlet
in bad times and it’s often
very effective during losing
seasons to try and drown out
the negative comments from
the outside. ...
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 was college
football referee
Darrell Harrison
(right):
Replay
show... |
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FOOTBALL |
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Right time, right place,
right man |
Ruffin
McNeill is a humble man
clearly uncomfortable when
talking about his feelings,
especially as they pertain
to his East Carolina
football team. So it should
come as no surprise that
even after the most
emotional victory of his
five-year tenure with the
Pirates, McNeill tried his
best to downplay the
significance of Saturday’s
70-41 dismantling of rival
North Carolina.
...
More from Brett
Friedlander... |
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FOOTBALL |
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Pirates live Dye's dream |
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Pat Dye went undefeated
(6-0-1) his last seven games
at East Carolina. The tie
(24-24) came at North
Carolina on Oct. 27, 1979.
ECU always had to play
in-state ACC teams on the
road in those days. ...
More from Al Myatt... |
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FOOTBALL SPECIAL
FEATURE |
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15 Questions for
Warren Harvey |
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 Warren
Harvey (5-11, 225)
is in his third
season as the East
Carolina kickoff
specialist and
placekicker. Harvey
is an ECU legacy as
his father, Charlie
Harvey, played
soccer as a Pirate
and also was the
program's head coach
in 1987. ...
More from W.A.
Myatt... |
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Pictured: ECU
kicking specialist
Warren Harvey is
climbing his way up
the career record
charts in points
scored and PATs
made. The senior
from Greenville, who
once converted 86
PATs in a row, has
posted 11
multi-field goal
games. (ECU Media
Relations photo) |
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FOOTBALL |
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Been there, done that |
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Shortly
after East Carolina's upset
win over Virginia Tech in
Blacksburg two Saturdays
ago, someone with the school
told me he wished the
football team would "act
like they had been there
before."
...
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 was ECU
offensive line coach
Brandon Jones
(right):
Replay
show... |
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Work pays off as Pirates party |
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GREENVILLE — North Carolina's
second trick play for a
touchdown, a 29-yard pass from
holder Tommy Hibbard to a wide
open Eric Albright from field
goal formation, momentarily
subdued the excitement at rowdy
Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium on
Saturday. The score came with
12:15 left in the first half and
gave the Tar Heels their last
lead at 20-14. ...
More from Al Myatt... |
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By
Greg Vacek
©2014 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
View ECU's Football
Schedule
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. The Pac-12 opposes the idea, but the SEC,
Big Ten and ACC also are using an eighth official in some form this
season.
American officiating coordinator Terry McAulay talked
about the concept in an interview with CBS Sports in April.
“I've been a big fan of this since it came up in an NFL
meeting many years ago when talking about an eighth guy who's in the
defensive backfield," he said. "We weren't in favor of that. But in the
offensive backfield, for coverage purposes it gives you that triangle
(between the referee, umpire and eighth official) working eight to nine
players.”
“We have to show we do get better coverage to justify
that extra cost of an official,” McAulay added. “Will you maybe get more
fouls? Yeah, if they foul that's what's going to happen. I know fans
don't like fouls. But if they commit a foul, they commit a foul and it
needs to be called. You shouldn't have anybody not seeing anything in
this coverage.”
I followed up with McAulay prior to last weekend’s games.
So far this season the league has used eight-person officiating crews
for all conference games and for Navy contests worked by AAC crews.
McAulay assigns umpires or officials with umpire/referee experience for
that eighth position. The addition of the extra official provides
“enough eyes,” and McAulay said he has been “pleased with better
coverage at the line of scrimmage.”
The league has its own officiating crews and does not use
a consortium like some conferences do. When evaluating officials, some
factors McAulay looks at are athleticism, instincts and positioning.
Each official progresses at a different pace as he fine tunes at a
higher level of FBS.
The American (and previously the Big East) has had
success hiring officials from Colonial/Ivy/Patriot leagues where
officiating is considered to be very good. Although those officials are
primarily from the Northeast, McAulay said they do have officials from
all over the league’s footprint (Texas, Oklahoma, and North Carolina).
Citing games
involving high-tempo teams like East Carolina, McAulay acknowledged that
crews sometimes face stiff tests.
“It is a challenge," he said. “The speed and pace do not
allow much downtime for officials to reset before the next play.”
McAulay noted that game prep for officials includes “a
good amount of video review” on the teams they are about to cover.
“They will be ready,”
McAulay said of the crew assigned to Saturday's ECU-Southern Methodist
game.
Scoreboard watching
Memphis at Cincinnati:
East Carolina fans may want to pull for the Bearcats in this one. The
Tigers' only losses are to No. 8 UCLA and No. 11 Old Miss. Memphis does
not play ECU or Central Florida this year and if it can get by
Cincinnati, only Temple may stand in the way of an undefeated conference
run for the Tigers.
Marshall at Old
Dominion: The first of three games (ODU, Middle Tennessee, Rice) that
most likely stand between the Thundering Herd, an undefeated season and
possibly the Group of Five major bowl invite.
This week ECU moved up a
spot in the polls without even playing. There may be more chances for
the No. 22 Pirates to move up this week if they take care of business
against SMU. Six games will match ranked teams against each other on
Saturday, including three SEC showdowns involving six West Division
rivals.
Some games of interest:
— No. 3 Alabama at No. 11 Mississippi
— No. 4 Oklahoma at No. 25 TCU
— No. 15 LSU at No. 5 Auburn
— No. 6 Texas A&M at No. 12 Mississippi State
— No. 14 Stanford at No. 9 Notre Dame
— Arizona State at No. 16 USC
— No. 17 Wisconsin at Northwestern
— No. 19 Nebraska at No. 10 Michigan State
— Texas Tech at No. 23 Kansas State
— Virginia Tech at North Carolina
— Utah State at No. 18 BYU (Friday)
ECU
coach Ruffin McNeill spoke
with the media at his weekly
press conference on Monday
(courtesy of Pirate Radio
1250; Bonesville file
photo):
