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Home sweet homecoming for Pirates

By Al Myatt
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Homecoming at East Carolina is a party that will attract around 50,000 guests. Pirates coach Ruffin McNeill is in charge of the entertainment.

McNeill and the late Ed Emory are former East Carolina players who have gone on to become head coaches at their alma mater in the modern era.

McNeill knows as well as anyone on the planet what the occasion means for the Pirates, who are coming off a 45-38 loss to Brigham Young on the other side of the country.

That setback followed a lengthy haul to Southern Methodist that produced a 49-23 American Athletic Conference victory the preceding week.

Just like the extended period of rain that made inhabitants of the region appreciate a sunny day, the ECU program is glad that Saturday's noon matchup with Tulsa will require only a short bus ride from the team's overnight headquarters at a local hotel as opposed to the demanding air mileage of the Pirates' recent schedule.

"Glad to be playing at home," McNeill said. " ... It's good to come back to the confines of Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium and see our fans, who are second to none."

Homecoming just adds to the occasion.

"It's like a family reunion all week long," said the ECU coach. "Everybody is involved in the celebration. It's an early game so [there will] be a lot of activities going on. A lot of alums coming back. A lot of ex-football players coming back. It's a very festive atmosphere in Greenville on homecoming. We're looking forward to making sure we prepare well all week so we can do our part."

The Pirates will be playing for their 10th straight homecoming win. They can apply some lessons learned during the first half of the 2015 regular season.

"You learn every game," McNeill said. "I thought our team galvanized. Really the whole six games galvanized us. BYU is a Power Five-caliber program. They have athletes and they are a nationally-known team and our kids stood toe-to-toe. Adversity didn't make them panic. Some bad things happened but they also learned. Play the next play, play the next quarter, play the next series and play the next game. It's been a good first half.

"This last trip was an experience facing a quality program with tradition."

Tulsa has made two trips to Eastern North Carolina in the six years since McNeill became coach of the Pirates. ECU won 58-24 at home against Tulsa in 2013.

The Golden Hurricane provided an exciting moment as fall guys in McNeill's debut in 2010 when Dominique Davis completed a Hail Mary to Justin Jones for a 51-49 ECU win. The Pirates won 49-32 at Tulsa last season in Bill Blankenship's final campaign as coach.

Former Baylor offensive coordinator Phillip Montgomery has the Golden Hurricane off to a 3-2 start after a 34-24 win over Louisiana-Monroe last week. Tulsa dropped its only AAC contest to Houston, 38-24.

"Tulsa is a very good football team," McNeill said. "Phillip Montgomery, I've known him from my Texas Tech days as a high school coach at Stephenville High School, a Texas powerhouse. He coached with Art Briles, who was at Houston and is now at Baylor. He's got a fast-paced offense. They run and throw equally well. I think they're like top seven in the country (No. 7 in Football Bowl Subdivision) in yardage at 500-plus (568)."

Tulsa junior quarterback Dane Evans has thrown for 1,839 yards.

ECU's has gotten good results at quarterback at various times from left-hander Blake Kemp and James Summers. In a sense, the situation isn't really different from other positions where the Pirates have sufficient depth to have a rotation.

"Those guys represent what we stand for, dedication to the team concept, first, last and always," McNeill said. "There's no jealousy or envy between the two. They both pull for one another. They both watch each other while they're playing. They're two talented quarterbacks. They've done well in really difficult circumstances."

ECU is 3-3 overall and 1-1 in the league. The three losses, all on the road, were to teams – No. 8 Florida, Navy and BYU – whose combined record is 14-3.

Neither Kemp nor Summers, both junior college transfers, had started an FBS game before the current season. To oversimplify the skill sets of the dynamic duo, Kemp is a passer and Summers is a runner.

"They make our team better and I think they make each other better," McNeill said. "They play well together. A team has to prepare for two totally different quarterbacks. I like the way they handle the whole situation."

ECU took a 14-0 lead at BYU with a blocked punt by Trevian Hicks that was recovered by Yiannis Bowden in the end zone. The Cougars pulled even at 14 after blocking a punt by the Pirates.

"Operation time and a little bit of luck," McNeill said in regard to the special team feats for each team at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

Joe Allely, who normally plays on the punt protect unit for ECU, missed the BYU game with a concussion but is expected back this week.

"I think we've got it fixed," McNeill said. "I think Bronco (Mendenhall, BYU coach) and I would both say it was operation time and a breakdown in protection."

Mike linebacker Zeek Bigger's tackle numbers have diminished in the last three games. He's playing with a hand in a padded cast which affects his ability to grip opposing ball carriers to bring them down.

"It's a big factor," McNeill said. "Zeek's playing through pain. ... He's tough. He's a leader. He hasn't missed a game. He hasn't missed a step in practice. It's hard to tackle when you've got it wrapped up by doctor's orders like that but he's still playing the game. He's giving us all he's got and he's giving East Carolina all he's got. Every snap. Full speed."

The Tulsa game marks the seventh straight week the Pirates have played on a Saturday. Preparation time shortens next week as ECU will host Temple, which is currently 5-0, on Thursday night. The following week the Pirates play at Connecticut on Friday, Oct. 30.

Normally, ECU doesn't practice on Monday but there will be exceptions the next two weeks.

"You have to stack things in in a short amount of time," McNeill said. "We won't put anything in on Temple this week. We've got to put every second on Tulsa."

E-mail Al Myatt

PAGE UPDATED 10/15/15 03:39 AM.

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