Inside Game Day Saturday, October 20, 2012 By Al Myatt

Pirates master Momentum 101

Al Myatt
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BIRMINGHAM — There was a sense of deja vu about East Carolina's loss of momentum against UAB at Legion Field on Saturday night. The Pirates were up by two scores when a big play set up a Blazers touchdown and the hosts used that as a springboard in climbing out of a 10-0 hole to lead 14-13 at the half.

A 66-yard pass from Austin Brown to Nick Adams provided the spark for UAB, a deflating about face for ECU — much like a 99-yard kickoff return by Quincy McDuffie that was so devastating at Central Florida.

Unlike the 14-0 lead that evolved into a 40-20 loss at UCF, the Pirates were able to regain some traction at UAB.

"Our kids learned from that experience," said ECU coach Ruffin McNeill of the loss in Orlando on Oct. 4. "They took advantage of their opportunities, which I was proud of. They fought, they hung in there and they took momentum back."

ECU improved to 5-3 on the season and 4-1 in Conference USA with a 42-35 win over the Blazers.

"Don't let one game beat you twice," said sophomore quarterback Shane Carden. "Two weeks ago we got up big and we let something affect us, momentum wise. It was addressed after that week and it really showed tonight. Unfortunately we got some field goals instead of the touchdowns we want but we just stuck with it. ... We said 'Let's just keep playing. Let's keep making routine plays and this thing's going to click.' It did in the second half."

ECU made the routine plays and walk-on receiver Justin Hardy made an extraordinary one.

Hardy came down with the ball after a carom off one of two defenders covering him in the right side of the end zone. He got his right foot down inbounds as he landed on his back and maintained possession. The 20-yard touchdown put ECU ahead to stay at 33-28. Vintavious Cooper ran for the two-point conversion and a 35-28 ECU advantage with 9:21 to go.

"Hardy's catch is probably the best catch I've ever been a part of," Carden said. "I threw it to the corner. I knew the safety was there, but I threw it anyway. He make a heckuva catch. I just went to the sidelines and said, 'Hey, man, that's big time.' It was cool to see him do that."

Hardy said he wanted to atone for two drops on the series that covered 75 yards and took 11 plays.

Carden and Hardy clicked again on a 44-yard pass that set up ECU's last touchdown on a 2-yard run by Cooper with seven minutes to go. That put the Pirates ahead 42-28. After UAB pulled within 42-35 with 3:47 left, ECU was able to chew up the remaining time.

The Pirates piled up 600 yards in total offense, a figure enhanced by zero turnovers. Carden completed 23 of 35 passes for 386 yards and two touchdowns. Cooper used creases provided by an effective effort from the offensive line and gouged UAB for 172 yards on 26 rushes.

Those are the kinds of numbers that danced in the heads of Pirate Nation when McNeill and offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley came in from pass happy Texas Tech.

The personnel may be catching up with the concepts of the spread attack.

"We're going to see the game slow down to Shane," McNeill said. "You see it happen more each week. The kids are getting used to playing with Shane. We've been expecting that."

The Pirates were especially active on the sideline, a factor designed to deal with a sparse crowd of 12,403 in the stadium that seats 72,000. ECU jumped around and even danced a little bit to some of the tunes on the Legion Field sound system.

"Coach McNeill said we had to bring our own enthusiasm because there weren't many people here," said Lee Pegues, who had a tackle for loss in a third and short for ECU that got the defense off the field at a key juncture in the second half. "We were just staying loose."

The Pirates have a two-game winning streak for the first time this season and that means some momentum for a nonconference visit from Navy next Saturday at 3:30 p.m.

McNeill said ECU has already done some advance preparation for Navy's triple-option offense.

"You have to," said the Pirates coach.

ECU gained some confidence with a determined effort at UAB, a performance that showed the maturing process from a disappointing outcome at UCF.

"When you lose momentum, you've got to get it back," Cooper said. "And when you get it, you need to keep it."

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PAGE UPDATED 10/21/12 04:19 AM.