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GAME DAY WEATHER |
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A clear night is forecast
for Greenville as East
Carolina's nationally-ranked
football team hosts
Connecticut for a 7 p.m.
kickoff tonight. The
temperature is projected to
be 63 degrees at the outset
and will dip to 56 degrees
during the course of the
American Athletic Conference
contest. There is a zero
percent chance of
precipitation. Humidity will
increase from 53 percent to
63 percent during the game.
Wind could be a factor with
a west breeze expected to be
11 miles per hour during
ECU's matchup with the
Huskies. That will be
blowing toward the East or
Boneyard end of
Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. (Filed by Al
Myatt) |
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Full-size radar loop |
Scientific
forecast |
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American Schedule |
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THURSDAY |
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UConn
at ECU, 7 pm (ESPNU) |
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FRIDAY |
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USF
at Cincinnati, 7 pm (ESPN2) |
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SATURDAY |
Memphis
at SMU, 12 pm (ESPNN)
Temple at UCF, 5 pm (CBSSN) |
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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
ECU hall of famer
and three-time Super
Bowl champion Robert
Jones (right):
Replay
show... |
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FOOTBALL |
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SPC a model for success |
Football stadiums will be
buzzing again this weekend
as the second half of the
college football season
begins. But there will be
plenty of empty seats on
game day in many of the
student seating sections
around the country. ...
More from Greg Vacek... |
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FOOTBALL |
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2nd half feeds into 2nd half |
The extended break between
games for the 2014 East
Carolina team amounts to
halftime in the regular
season for the Pirates, who
are 5-1 and ranked as high
as No. 16 in the major
polls. Halftime marked a
significant juncture
Saturday night at Raymond
James Stadium ...
More from Al Myatt... |
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FOOTBALL RECRUITING |
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Future looks bright at RB position |
The pass-centric “Air Raid''
offense that Ruffin McNeill
and Lincoln Riley brought to
East Carolina from Texas
Tech back in January 2010
has from the very start
attracted talented recruits
at the quarterback and wide
receiver positions. ...
More from Sammy Batten... |
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FOOTBALL |
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Swamp Monster a dominant force |
Shane
Carden is “The Captain.”
Justin Hardy goes by
“Deuce.” Breon Allen is “Fun
Size.” Those nicknames can’t
compare with the moniker
Terry Williams goes by. The
6-1, 353-pound Williams is
nicknamed “The Swamp
Monster.” ...
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
director of football
administration Dale
Steele (right):
Replay
show... |
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Pirates End A Competitive Hex |
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TAMPA — East Carolina football
coach Ruffin McNeill has
acronyms for a variety of
things. He formulated TBA for
Trust, Belief and Accountability
to describe the foundation for
relationships among members of
the program. OPAT for One Play
At (a) Time evolved later as a
reminder for the mindset needed
to respond to immediate
challenges. ...
More from Al Myatt... |
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View Mobile Alpha version of this page.
By
Kevin Monroe
©2014 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
View ECU's
2014 football schedule
East
Carolina is back in action today after its second bye week. The opening
in the schedule came at a perfect time for the Pirates. With just one
American Athletic Conference game under its belt, it gave the team the
opportunity to get healthy and recharge to make its first run at the
American title. There was time to not only heal up the bumps and bruises
of the first six weeks, but also to rest bodies and get fresh for the
next several weeks.
After tonight’s game, the Pirates go on the road to Temple and
Cincinnati, which could prove to be their two toughest conference
games. But it starts with tonight. Though the Huskies are 1-5, they
are a competitive 1-5, allowing only 12 points last week at Tulane
and 17 at South Florida three weeks ago.
ECU
is favored and will win this game if it follows this script:
ESTABLISH THE RUN
The
Pirates are rushing for almost 200 yards per game through six games.
The running game is led by scatback Breon Allen who has 504 rushing
yards and 4 touchdowns. Breon is the lead singer, but the band
behind him boasts a core of talented backs that are all prepared to
carry the load when called upon — names like Hairston, Grayson and
Scott to name a few. UConn has a pretty stout run defense, holding
opponents to only 4 touchdowns on the ground and 121 yards rushing
per game. The Pirates need to run the ball early to get the Huskies
on their heels and to open the passing game. It all starts up front
with the offensive line, which must control the line of scrimmage
for the running game to be affective.
APPLY PRESSURE
Coach Rick Smith's ECU defense needs to get after Huskies
quarterback Chandler Whitmer. The senior has started every game this
season except the first one. UConn has struggled offensively,
gaining only 256 total yards per game (178 through the air, 77 on
the ground). A nice mixture of run and pass blitzes that keeps the
QB guessing and out of rhythm would disrupt the Huskies' offensive
efforts. Whitmer is only completing 55% of his passes and there
hasn’t been much of a running game to support his passing effort.
The Huskies are converting just 32 percent of the time on third
down. The Pirates need to make sure that percentage doesn’t improve
tonight.
PROTECT THE FOOTBALL
East
Carolina has a minus-1 turnover margin, which is not bad. Coach
Ruffin McNeil would rather it be positive, but it could be worse
considering that UConn is at minus-9. Those numbers are derived by
starting with the number of takeaways your team gets while on
defense and subtracting the number of times your team has turned the
ball over on offense. That simple calculation can give some clues
about a team's chances of winning. Shane Carden has protected the
ball really well this season, only turning it over multiple times in
one game. Shane has 16 touchdown passes and just 4 interceptions.
ECU has lost only 3 fumbles season-to-date. If the Pirates protect
the ball and avoid giving UConn easy opportunities, they should be
in good shape.
BOTTOM LINE
The
Huskies are looking for an opportunity to turn their season around.
As it stands right now, they have three conference losses, but they
still have five more on the slate to get things headed in the right
direction. UConn also still has a chance to become bowl eligible. As
long as a team has something to fight for, it won’t quit. ECU cannot
expect the Huskies to show up tonight and just lay down. The Pirates
need to take the fight to UConn. Establish the running game early
and then open it up downfield with the passing game. Play up-tempo,
high-intensity defense, showing a number of different looks. ECU
must protect the football and not allow turnovers to be its undoing.
Deliver on those tasks and the Pirates will win this game..
Send an e-mail message to
Kevin Monroe.
Dig into Kevin Monroe's
archives.
ECU
coach Ruffin McNeill spoke
with the media at his weekly
press conference on Monday
(courtesy of Pirate Radio
1250; Bonesville file
photo):
