By
Denny O'Brien
©2013 Bonesville.net
All Rights Reserved.
GREENVILLE – The football programs at
East Carolina and Southern Miss will forever be linked to one another.
Given their similarities and the
frequency that they played, the Pirates and Golden Eagles are
permanently woven into each other’s fabric. Though geographically
separated by considerable distance, the series between the schools is as
close to an annual rivalry either has had.
Surely ECU’s 55-14 win Saturday won’t
go down as the most memorable in the 39 games the teams have played, but
you can earmark this one as the most significant. With the Pirates set
to join the American Athletic Conference next season, this realistically
could be the last time these two meet.
Despite how easily the Pirates
disposed of the wounded Golden Eagles, it’s unfortunate the series came
to a screeching halt Saturday.
“Southern Miss, Hattiesburg, they
love their program like Pirates love our program,” Pirates Coach Ruffin
McNeill said. “We are so similar in nature. There was a real competitive
nature about us when we played, but there also was a mutual respect. I
respect the Southern Miss program.”
There have certainly been some
classics over the years, with East Carolina’s 36-34 win in 1995 in
Hattiesburg immediately coming to mind.
The fake field goal that drew pass
interference and pushed the Pirates within closer range cemented
then-coach Steve Logan’s riverboat gambler legacy and essentially
propelled ECU into the Liberty Bowl.
ECU’s 25-20 win in Greenville to
close out the 2009 season and secure the Conference USA East crown had
the biggest stakes. It also had the drama of a heavyweight bout.
The Pirates’ blowout victory Saturday
delivered nothing of the sort.
East Carolina methodically picked the
Golden Eagles apart the way a scavenger devours roadkill. It was almost
as if ECU was delivering a parting shot to a program that, until
recently, had dominated the series.
For the two-plus quarters that
Pirates quarterback Shane Carden played, he was as proficient as ever.
He connected on 30 of his 37 attempts for 308 yards, three touchdowns
and another one rushing.
Star receiver Justin Hardy snagged
ten passes for 126 yards, scored a touchdown, and added 105 more yards
on punt returns. Like Carden, he did that while spending most of the
second half on the sideline.
The ECU defense repeatedly forced
three and outs, delivered numerous neck-jarring hits and made the
Southern Miss offense look mostly helpless.
“It was very gratifying,” Carden said
of the Pirates’ performance. “It was a big emphasis for us this week,
finishing drives and getting touchdowns instead of field goals. It
always feels better when you get touchdowns instead of just leaving the
kicker out there to get field goals.
"It feels great to just get back on
track.”
As much as the Pirates needed to get
back in gear and erase the sting from last week’s loss to Tulane, there
is a somewhat sad element to the thoroughness with which they beat
Southern Miss. The Golden Eagles, now losers of 18 straight, have a
history of being a proud program that shared the same “anytime,
anywhere” scheduling mantra as ECU.
It’s one of the many ties that have
bound the Pirates and Golden Eagles.
East Carolina and Southern Miss have
cycled through coaching staffs and recruiting classes. The offensive
philosophies have undergone dramatic shifts, and both have expanded
their facilities well beyond their humble beginnings.
The one constant for both within the
ever-changing climate of college football has been the presence of the
other on the schedule.
That changes next year. Thanks to the
constant shifting within college athletics, ECU and Southern Miss
essentially said their farewells Saturday.