Inside Game Day Saturday, October 4, 2014 By Al Myatt

Pirates open AAC 1-0

Al Myatt
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GREENVILLE — As a ranked team since a 70-41 win over North Carolina two weeks earlier, East Carolina's 45-24 American Athletic Conference win over Southern Methodist on Saturday was not ideal.

Ranked programs punish winless teams by scores that raise eyebrows and impress voters across the country.

ECU (4-1) didn't do that despite a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter. The Pirates had to reboot after the Mustangs (0-5) had closed within 35-24 and true freshman Quay Johnson lost a fumble on the ensuing kickoff.

SMU had the ball at ECU's 26-yard line to start the fourth quarter and there were some disturbing scenarios emerging.

The game bent back toward the Pirates with a defensive stand that allowed three yards in three plays. When Cody Rademacher of the Mustangs pushed a 40-yard field goal wide right, ECU gave no quarter.

A drive that produced a 24-yard field goal by Warren Harvey and an 8-yard touchdown run by Chris Hairston prevented further contemplation of disastrous possibilities.

ECU drove further for the Harvey field goal (70 yards) than it did for Hairston's score (68 yards).

It was another day of prolific offense as the Pirates had 581 total yards.

Shane Carden completed 31 of 41 passes for 410 yards with four touchdowns. Three of the scoring passes went to Justin Hardy, who had eight catches for 120 yards.

Isaiah Jones, who, like Carden, played high school football in Texas, said he was motivated personally by not being recruited by the Mustangs. Jones had an 11-yard touchdown catch to start the scoring and also had a 30-yard reception in the third quarter that allowed Carden to move ahead of David Garrard as ECU's career passing yards leader. Jones had nine catches for 130 yards.

Coming off a 56-0 pounding from Texas Christian, the Mustangs played like they had nothing more to lose.

They tweaked their offensive package and they gambled.

"We had seen them run a lot of draws and a lot of screens," said Pirates mike linebacker Zeek Bigger. "We didn't see any of that today."

SMU quarterback Garrett Krstich completed 42 of 67 passes for 339 yards with two touchdowns and one interception (by Travon Simmons).

He was almost flawless on fourth down as the Mustangs converted five of six.

"We had to make some adjustments," said Pirates corner Josh Hawkins. "Coach (Rick) Smith (defensive coordinator, secondary coach) said, 'DBs, we're going to have to step it up. We're going to play press man.' My eyes lit up. We love press man."

SMU's last two possessions ended with a punt and a fourth down stop by ECU.

Krstich was making it tough on the Pirates with his ability to hit on quick underneath routes. Other than a couple of sacks by buck linebacker Brandon Williams, he was able to stand in the pocket and deliver.

Deion Sanders Jr. had three catches for 41 yards and a 34-yard kickoff return for SMU. Darius Joseph had 13 catches for 100 yards and two scores.

McNeill wasn't worried about covering a six-touchdown spread.

"It was a great win," said the Pirates coach. "The inaugural win in the league. SMU had faced three nationally-ranked teams (Baylor, Texas A&M and TCU) before us so they weren't going to be intimidated. ... When you watch the film and you run through everything, you understand that that's going to happen.

"It wasn't a surprise to the coaches. ... We had to weather through it and I thought we did a good job of it."

McNeill was asked about performing for the polls.

He said the Pirates didn't start building the program that way five years ago when the emphasis was on no egos, no entitlement, etc. The present focus is on commitment to the vision from within, not positioning in terms of outside perceptions.

McNeill's way produced results on Saturday against a team that may surprise some people before the end of the season.

The Pirates won although the atmosphere at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium was levels below the intensity generated when the Tar Heels came to town.

"We didn't hear that positive energy we heard two weeks ago," Ruff said. "We need that."

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PAGE UPDATED 10/08/14 01:00 AM.