Pirates focused on Pirates

By Brian Bailey
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Just like George Jefferson, the Pirates are moving on up!

That’s a reference to the theme song from the 70s television show called ‘The Jeffersons,” which was a spin-off of “All in the Family.”

It fits the Pirates this week for sure.

East Carolina is up to 19th in both major polls after beating Southern Methodist 45-24 for homecoming on Saturday at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.

No, the Pirates didn’t win by 40 like the oddsmakers had it figured. But ECU did get a convincing win. After all that went on in college football this weekend, any kind of win should have been welcome.

That’s the theme from the Pirate coach, Ruffin McNeill.

“We want to win by one point and get out of there,” said McNeill. “Wins are hard to come by. Trust me, I cherish every single one. I hope everyone feels the same way. There’s no such thing as an ugly win. Ugly is in the dictionary and win is in there, but ugly win is not in there for me. Our kids understand that, too.”

McNeill also understands that his program has evolved from being the hunter to being the hunted. Still, the coach preaches that his team should only try to control things that the team can control.

“That’s uncontrollable,” said McNeill as an American Athletic Conference game with South Florida looms. “I know Willie (Taggart, USF coach) is a good coach and will get his team ready, but I can’t control that and I can’t coach that team. We have to make sure we do a good job of having a plan for them. I learned a long time ago that if I can control what we do, we’d be all right.”

It must also be comforting to know that your quarterback is in his fifth year and getting at least a little Heisman Trophy chatter.

Shane Carden won’t win the Heisman this year, but he is most certainly raising eyebrows around the country.

All Shane did on Saturday was account for 457 yards of total offense. He completed 31 of 41 passes for 410 yards and four first-half touchdowns while adding 47 yards on the ground on seven carries.

He turned in his third consecutive game with at least 400 passing yards (sixth career). Carden now stands atop the Pirates all-time lists in passing yards (9,134), completions (802) and passing TDs (71).

Carden was his normally humble self when asked about the record after Saturday’s game.

“It was pretty crazy,” said Carden. “I think they announced it way too early. I told our guys to stay focused and ‘let’s go score right here.’ This is an honor for me and it really hasn't sunk in yet.

“Shane is just a great young man,” said receiver Isaiah Jones, whose 30-yard reception gave Carden the record. “He's a great leader, everyone sees that. As it was going on, Shane was like, let's just focus on this one play. I think the team feels a sort of peace and confidence in Shane. You can just trust him and his ability.”

The Pirates head to Tampa as a 14-point favorite. East Carolina has never beaten the Bulls and stands 0-4 in the series.

The last time ECU and USF hooked up, we were in Birmingham, Alabama at the Papajohns.com Bowl. The Bulls won that one, 24-7.

McNeill says his squad doesn’t talk about the 0-4 mark against USF.

“No, they don’t talk about that,” McNeill explained. “We don’t talk about the past because it’s irrelevant. We can’t control what happened in the past. We talk about ourselves and what we have to do to get better. We know we’re facing a team that’s very good, but bringing up what happened in the past really doesn’t help us now.”

One former East Carolina coach used to say if the games get bigger each week, then you are having a great season.

These games are getting bigger each week. The season has been a good one and can only get better — IF the Pirates can do their part.

BB

E-mail Brian Bailey.