Inside
Game Day Saturday,
October 17, 2015
By Al Myatt |
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Ball 'Hawk' boosts Pirates
Al Myatt
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GREENVILLE
—
Everything seemed to feed off one game-changing play in East Carolina's
30-17 American Athletic Conference football win over Tulsa on Homecoming
Saturday.
The Golden Hurricane was moving
the ball as advertised after taking the opening kickoff and traversing from
their 19 to the ECU 12 over the manicured turf of Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
Tulsa came in averaging 568 yards of total offense and 36.6 points per game.
Coach Phillip Montgomery's
first-year team had not been playing weak sisters either. They piled up 603
yards of offense in a 52-38 loss at Oklahoma the third game of the season.
The Golden Hurricane wanted
their offense on the field as quickly as possible. They became only the
fourth ECU opponent in the last 44 games to receive the opening kickoff.
The first four minutes and 14
seconds made it look like the Pirates might have to match the visitors in an
offensive showdown.
Then senior corner Josh Hawkins
changed the flow. He intercepted Tulsa quarterback Dane Evans in the end
zone.
Hawkins wasn't content to take
a touchback and give the ECU offense the ball at its 20. Hawkins saw a lot
of the green grass that the Pirates had conceded as Tulsa converted twice on
third down and once on fourth down on the first series.
Being a former running back of
some note – Hawkins led Forsyth County in rushing as a senior at Glenn
before walking on at ECU – he began a sprint upfield. He semi-hurdled a
sliding Tulsa tackling attempt at the ECU 20 and the defense quickly formed
an escort at midfield.
"It was fun seeing the defense
block," said Fred Presley of the defensive front.
"He reverted," said Pirates
coach Ruffin McNeill of Hawkins' dormant skills. "He started pointing out
for his blockers."
Hawkins took his ninth career
pick 100 yards to the house to the delight of most of the 43,065 paid
attendance.
Before starting quarterback
Blake Kemp took the field, ECU had a 7-0 advantage when it looked like the
left-hander might have to lead the Pirates back from an early deficit.
"That was like Christmas," Kemp
said. "That takes a lot of pressure off the offense."
While ECU and Pirate Nation
were amped, there was a perceptible deflation on the north sideline.
"It affected us, no doubt,"
Montgomery said. "Anytime you have that type of momentum swing. ... We had a
great drive going in there. ... That almost put us into a deep coma until
the fourth (quarter) when we finally got a couple of things going."
By the time Tulsa avoided a
shutout, the Pirates had made ample use of their two-quarterback system.
Kemp completed eight of 12
passes for 78 yards, the bulk of it on a 90-yard drive that produced a
24-yard field goal by Davis Plowman for a 10-0 lead.
James Summers came in during
the second quarter and was 11 of 16 for 127 yards with one touchdown and one
interception. Summers ran 12 times for 44 yards with a 6-yard carry for a
score after Evans was sacked at his own 4-yard line on a desperation fourth
down conversion attempt with 2:08 to go.
Hawkins led off a day on which
the defense had the offense's back. ECU converted just four of 15 third
downs.
Plowman contributed 12 points,
including a career-long 41-yard field goal.
Senior Chris Hairston had 18
carries for 82 yards and caught a scoring pass from Summers.
Senior mike linebacker Zeek
Bigger was in on 13 tackles after shedding the padded cast he had been
wearing to protect a broken thumb.
"My last Homecoming," Bigger
noted.
It was a feel-good afternoon
for the most part. McNeill was not sure how seriously defensive lineman
Demetri McGill might have been hurt when he was helped off the field as the
Pirates coach met with media following ECU's 10th straight homecoming win.
McNeill said his eyeballs might
start sweating when he talked about all the former players who had come back
for the occasion. McNeill said he checked in with his former Pirate coach,
Pat Dye, and Pat Dye Jr., this week.
The tone will soon change for
ECU in preparation for a Thursday night matchup with Temple at home, but the
Pirates had fun in the sun on Saturday.
First-year ECU offensive
coordinator Dave Nichol called a play in the second quarter that looked like
it could have come out of former OC Lincoln Riley's bag of tricks.
Summers lateralled to Jones,
who spun and threw a spiral downfield that Davon Grayson latched onto for a
34-yard gain to the Tulsa 33.
"Maybe we need three
quarterbacks," Jones said with a smile.
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PAGE UPDATED
10/18/15 05:13 PM.
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