From the Anchor Desk Wednesday, November 23, 2011 By Brian Bailey

Win and you're in

By Brian Bailey
©2011 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.

This 2011 football season comes down to those simple words. Win and you’re in.

East Carolina needs one more victory in order to make bowl plans. It’s basically comes down to a one-game playoff, with Marshall facing the exact same scenario.

I’ll say again that I’m not in favor of 6-6 football teams being rewarded with a bowl game. However, that’s the way it is in college football these days and so the Pirates will have a shot at a sixth consecutive bowl trip.

East Carolina made enough winning plays to slip past Central Florida last Saturday night at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.

Perhaps this team is growing up right before our eyes.

Sophomores Torrance Hunt, Damon Magazu and Reese Wiggins were the stars in the must-win victory over the Golden Knights.

Hunt galloped 56 yards with just over two minutes to play for the game winning touchdown.

Magazu came up with 12 big tackles in the game — and the game-clinching interception. In a play very similar to the play he made to finish off the overtime win against N.C. State last year, Magazu jumped a slant route and preserved the Pirates win over UCF with the interception.

Wiggins caught two touchdown passes and had one called back because of a penalty. He electrified the crowd with his play. Wiggins can flat out fly and looks like he might be a star in the future.

"Reese is one of those guys who were mature enough to play last year,” said Coach Ruffin McNeill. “I've told him that. He was on the scout team for us.

"He has a great mentality right now. He's believing in himself and working hard. The key is doing the little things. He's putting in the extra work with Coach (Jeff) Connors and doing additional film study to better understand coverages and routes.

"He's making sure he does all those things. He has to make sure he stays that course. He has a chance to be a good one. I'm proud of him and his progress."

Now the Pirates head to Huntington, WV, with a trip to a bowl game as the prize for the winner.

"We know Marshall has the same goals in sight that we do,” said McNeill. “They're also playing for a bowl game. It'll be a battle. [Head coach] Doc Holliday has done a great job. I've known him for a long time. He's a really good football coach who is building his program the same way we want to build ours here."

East Carolina is simply a better offensive team when it can run the football. Despite a plague of injuries, the Pirates were able to use a “blended” running game in the victory.

"We wanted to blend Dominique (Davis), Torrance (Hunt), Zico (Pasut) and (Michael) Dobson,” said McNeill. “We wanted to use Dobson and Torrance on specific plays. Zico's strength is downhill running and we wanted to mix that in, too.

"We wanted to establish the running game. We still want to throw the football for a living. That's not changing. We wanted to establish that running game with a blend.”

McNeill said the blending brought dividends in the end.

"I think it paid off for us,” McNeill explained. “On the last run, Torrance was still fresh. He was able to make one cut and go downhill. Torrance is one of the fastest guys around and was fresh when he touched the ball.

"Every back was a different mold. Dobson presents a different look because he's able to catch the ball out of the backfield. Dobson is a slasher and Torrance is a speed guy. Dominique is also a dual threat at quarterback.”

McNeill hopes that successful “blend” does the trick one more time, as the Pirates play for a bowl berth this Saturday in Huntington.

BB

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PAGE UPDATED 01/03/12 02:39 AM.