Inside
Game Day
Saturday, November 9, 2013
By Al Myatt |
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Past and future present in ECU
win
Al Myatt
©2013 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
GREENVILLE — Steve Logan was back in
Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium on Saturday for the first time since a 42-26 East
Carolina loss to Cincinnati on Friday night, Dec. 6, 2002.
He was dismissed as Pirates head coach by
former athletic director Mike Hamrick the following morning after a 4-8
season had brought his career record to 69-58.
The coach with the most football wins in
ECU history was flanked by the son of
Carter Suggs, the late world class sprinter for the
Pirates, and David Garrard, who contributed significantly as
quarterback from 1998 to 2001 to many of those 69 victories during Logan's
ECU career.
Logan stood on the turf of Bagwell Field
once again. He waved to Pirate Nation and acknowledged the love. Then he
returned to his place in line and gave his former quarterback a pat on the
back.
Garrard's Pirate resume included a 27-23
win over Miami of Florida in Raleigh and a 23-6 triumph over N.C. State in
Greenville in 1999.
The competitor in Garrard came out
recently as he came out of retirement to join the New York Jets despite some
knee problems. A Jets open date allowed him to get back to his ECU roots.
Also recognized was Harold Randolph, a
linebacker from 1975 to 1977, who helped the Pirates transition to the major
college level from the Southern Conference.
The crowd greeted all heartily and that
was good to see, especially the cheers for Logan, who was forced out on
bitter terms because of an unwieldy relationship with the AD.
The Friday night game itself, Logan's
last at ECU, was a point of contention because of its conflict with the
traditional night for high school football.
Hamrick said he had no choice because of
Conference USA's television contract. For some reason, Hamrick did not elect
to notify Logan in advance of the decision to schedule the Friday night game
opposite the prep playoffs.
In the wake of the controversy over the
Friday night dustup and the subsequent firing of Logan, Hamrick himself was
gone from ECU before the following season arrived.
A lot of water has gone down the river
since then.
The healing that Saturday's halftime
ceremony represented was good for the program.
Logan more than deserved that moment and
he handled it like a gracious pro.
Current ECU coach Ruffin McNeill said he
didn't get to talk with the new hall of famers. The schedule demands of a
game weekend don't allow for much socializing, but at least the Pirates put
forth an effort that Logan would appreciate in subduing Tulsa, 58-24.
"I respect his critique and his thought
process," McNeill said of his coaching colleague. "He's done it at the
highest level. He's a really good football coach and a better person. I
thought the hall of fame induction was well-deserved. I hope he would be
pleased with us."
Shane Carden completed 34 of 50 passes
for 384 yards and five touchdowns. He also ran for two scores. Justin Hardy
and Isaiah Jones combined for 18 catches and 203 yards with three TDs.
The Pirates (7-2, 5-1 Conference USA)
didn't score on their first possession for the first time this season but
more than regrouped to outgain the Golden Hurricane, 505-363.
The homecoming win represented another
step toward ECU's bid for the league championship in its final season in
Conference USA.
Randolph helped ECU win the Southern
Conference in 1976 in the Pirates' last year in that league.
It appears that the East Division berth
in the C-USA title game will come down to ECU's Nov. 29 game at Marshall.
Ironically perhaps, that's another Friday
game, although it likely will be played early enough to prevent conflict
with the high school playoffs.
The Pirates are seeing the league title
in the big picture. That's why Carden talked about playing better despite
breaking his own school record for touchdown accountability with seven.
"We talk about playing with a
championship nature and we weren't quite there at times tonight," Carden
said. "The score was what it was. The stats are all that and that's great
but I think there's a lot of throws, me personally, that I can look back on
that I should have made that I didn't."
At the same time Carden thought he made
some throws that might have been among his best.
The Pirates are pursuing a goal, and the
win over the Golden Hurricane was a means to achieving an end.
Relatively speaking, ECU appears to have
come a long way since its last meeting with Tulsa. In McNeill's first game
as head coach at ECU in 2010, it took a Hail Mary pass from Dominique Davis
to Justin Jones as time expired for a 51-49 Pirates win.
When ECU scored on a 100-yard
interception return by DaShaun Amos as the clock ran out Saturday, the issue
had long been decided.
Next up is Alabama-Birmingham and another
set of emotions for Senior Day.
Getting another win is the bottom line in
terms of the program goal, and the players understand that is what their
preparation this week is about.
A game such as the Nov. 23 date at N.C.
State might have been cause to look ahead and circle the calendar in the
Logan era. The program and the fan base have become more focused on the
league race now, even as the Pirates will transition to the American
Athletic Conference after the present school year.
"It's about the next practice now,"
McNeill said last week. "It's about one game at a time, but it's also about
the next half, the next quarter, the next play."
E-mail Al Myatt.
PAGE UPDATED
11/11/13 12:11 AM.
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