GAME DAY WEATHER |
Conditions in New
England don't look
too severe as East
Carolina visits
Connecticut for a 7
p.m. kickoff in East
Hartford tonight.
The temperature at
kickoff will be 50
degrees, dropping to
44 degrees by the
conclusion of the
American Athletic
Conference contest.
There is a zero
percent chance of
rain during the
game. Clear skies
are expected with
winds out of the
northwest at six
miles per hour
dropping to four
miles per hour.
Humidity will
increase slightly
from 54 percent to
63 percent during
the matchup between
the Pirates and the
Huskies. (Filed by
Al Myatt) |
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FOOTBALL |
'Play the next play' |
It was not a happy
group of East Carolina football
players that left Bagwell Field
after a 24-14 loss to No. 21 Temple
Thursday night. The Pirate
supporters among a crowd of 39,417
at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium were
frustrated, too. ...
More
from Al Myatt... |
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BASKETBALL |
AAC hoops has its
day |
ORLANDO,
FL —
The
three-year-old
American Athletic
Conference continues
to make a name for
itself. The league
currently has three
of the Football Bowl
Subdivision's
unbeaten football
teams.
Houston, Memphis and Temple are all 7-0. The Tigers are
ranked No. 16 by the Associated Press, the Cougars are No. 18 and the
Owls are No. 21 going into a high profile matchup on Saturday in
Philadelphia with Notre Dame.
As good as its going on the gridiron, the AAC has been
even better in basketball. ...
Story, pictures & audio from Al Myatt...
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Pictured: The
American Athletic
Conference
basketball
championship trophy
was on display at
the league's media
day on Tuesday at
the Amway Center in
Orlando, FL. (Photo
by Al Myatt; more
pictures
on this page...) |
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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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Infographic: Dowdy Disappointment |
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14 |
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24 |
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Good
teams find a way to win and P.J.
Walker helped Temple demonstrate the
finer points of that adage Thursday
night at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. The
Owls QB connected with Robby
Anderson three times on the decisive
drive that lifted the Owls to a
comeback victory over East Carolina.
...
Details and
data from Greg Vacek... |
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Ruff post-game audio |
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ECU
coach Ruffin McNeill
spoke with reporters
after the Pirates'
Thursday night loss to
Temple (recorded by Al
Myatt):
Select audio clip... |
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View Mobile Alpha version of this page.
By
Kevin Monroe
©2015 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
The East
Carolina Pirates come into today's American Athletic Conference game at
4-4 while the Connecticut Huskies are 3-4. Both teams are well into
their conference schedules and are in desperate need of an AAC win after
coming off league losses.
The
Huskies opened the season 2-0, but have lost four of their last
five. Their only victory during the downturn came over winless
Central Florida. The Pirates have fared slightly better, winning
three of their last five. But this ECU team, which competes hard
every week, has lost some close contests – including some narrow
misses against very good teams.
This
is only the second meeting between ECU and UConn. The Pirates
took the first one last
season at home 31-21. This time ECU will have to find a way to win
on the Huskies' home turf.
The
Pirates can win today's game if they follow this script:
ESTABLISH THE RUN
ECU is
averaging 139 rushing yards per game. That isn’t a bad number, but the
Pirates have the backs and the talent up front to be averaging 175 to
200 yards per game. Symptomatic of that shortfall, alternating
quarterback James Summers is one of the best rushing weapons in the
conference but he has been bottled up lately.
ECU
has to establish the run in this game early on and continue to run
until UConn proves it can stop it. The Huskies are giving up 184.5
rushing yards per game. Last week against Cincinnati, UConn gave up
more than 300 yards on the ground, including over 100 to two
different running backs. The week before that, South Florida had
similar success against the Huskies with well over 200 yards rushing
and two backs with around 100 yards.
ECU's Chris Hairston, Anthony Scott, Shawn Furlow and James Summers
all have the ability to have big rushing performances tonight, but
the offensive line will be the key.
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MAINTAIN
OFFENSIVE BALANCE AND RHYTHM
If the
ECU offense can get the running game going, that will certainly open up
things in the passing game. The factor that has been hurting the offense
lately is a lack of rhythm. Drives tend to stall when the offense can’t
get into a rhythm.
I
mentioned the threats in the running game. The Pirates' passing game
threats are even greater. Receiver Isaiah Jones has stepped in to
replace Justin Hardy as the go-to guy with 61 receptions and 701
yards through 8 games. Tight end Bryce Williams is the big target on
third downs. Both ECU QBs like to find Bryce because he is hard to
miss with his 6’6" frame. Trevon Brown is ECU’s deep threat – when
the ball is thrown downfield, more often than not it’s being thrown
to Trevon.
ECU
is running the ball on average 35 times per game and passing 39
times per game. That is great balance, but the rhythm needs some
work. Maintaining long drives, moving the chains and getting that
balance of run and pass in sync will put up points and dominate time
of possession. Getting this aspect of the game fine-tuned will help
the Pirates win this game and future games.
DOMINATE
THE LINE OF SCRIMMAGE
The
Pirates are giving up 171 yards per game rushing while gaining an
average of 139 yards on the ground. That means opposing teams are
getting more done at the point of attack. It’s important tonight that
ECU is better up front on both sides of the ball. Some injuries on the
offensive line have hampered the Pirates, but the ECU defensive front
has been dominating at times on pass rushing downs. The "struggle" has
come against the opponent's running game. I use the term struggle
lightly because the Pirates have actually been pretty good against the
rush lately, but they can be even better. If they want to finish this
season on a 4-0 run, they will need to be better than the foe on the
line of scrimmage – starting tonight.
BOTTOM
LINE
The
Pirates play tonight under the lights in East Hartford for the first
time. In addition to the fans at Rentschler Field, the game will watched
by a national television audience. ECU still has an outside shot at the
conference title if Temple loses some games down the stretch, but the
most immediate objectives are winning each game and becoming bowl
eligible.
The
Pirates will win tonight’s game if they establish the run early, get
into a good offensive rhythm and control the line of scrimmage on
both sides of the ball. Tune in. It should be a good one.
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