East Carolina football coach Ruffin McNeill concluded his recruiting efforts at the latter portion of the bye week in the Fayetteville area so he could spend some time with his dad in Lumberton last Friday night and Saturday. Ruff watched a little bit of Clemson's win over Auburn although he doesn't often get a chance to see college football on television.

Ruff always gets some coaching advice from Ruff, Sr.

"Stay the course," said the Pirates coach. "That's the biggest thing. Stay the course. That's what he told me to do. Keep doing what we're doing. Stay the course."

Coach McNeill got a little more instruction from his dad, a former coach.

"He told (me) to remember three things," said Ruff, Jr. "Work, work and keep working."

It's not difficult to see where Ruff got his work ethic. He inherited it.

There used to be a show on television called "Father Knows Best." It was a 30-minute program.

The problem with the Pirates in the first two games is that the second 30 minutes has not been on the same competitive level as the opening half hour. ECU led South Carolina 24-14 in Charlotte at the half before a rash of Pirate turnovers helped the Gamecocks to a 56-37 win. ECU led Virginia Tech 7-3 at the half in week two but the offense stagnated as the game progressed, providing the opportunity for Tech to come back for a 17-10 victory.

The defense that was among the worst statistically in the nation in 2010 played with a high degree of respectability against the Hokies. It was the offense that lagged behind in the upset bid.

"Execution and tempo," McNeill said of the factors that need to improve offensively with Alabama-Birmingham (0-2) coming into Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium for a 3:30 p.m. kickoff Saturday in ECU's Conference USA opener.

The Blazers have a lot of personnel back from the team the Pirates managed to subdue 54-42 in a midweek game on Nov. 11 last season at Legion Field in Birmingham. That win made ECU bowl eligible.

"Playing two halves," McNeill said of priorities this week. "Making sure we have the proper focus that we need in this game and every game. We need to use the strengths that we found out about our team in the first two games. We need to keep working on improving our weaknesses. UAB is just like we are. They're hungry for a win."

Familiar faces

UAB coach Neil Callaway was a part-time assistant at ECU in Coach McNeill's playing days. There are more familiar faces on the Blazers staff. Offensive coordinator Kim Helton coached Houston from 1993 to 1999, going 1-2 in C-USA games against the Pirates during that span. Callaway brought in former Memphis and Clemson head coach Tommy West to run the defense in the offseason. West was coaching linebackers at Clemson when coach McNeill was a graduate assistant for the Tigers.

"Coach Callaway, Coach Helton and Coach West are old ball coaches and they've been around it a long time," Ruff said. "They'll have their guys ready to play. We have to make sure we have our guys ready as well."

Two good running backs, one QB

Reggie Bullock started at running back for the Pirates in the season opener against South Carolina. Michael Dobson started at running back against Virginia Tech.

Ball security may have been the issue regarding Bullock after the USC game but Dobson dropped an apparent touchdown pass against VPI.

McNeill wouldn't say who would start against UAB.

"We feel good about both of those guys," McNeill said. "Reggie is a good running back and we think Michael is doing a great job, too."

The Pirates coach said quarterback was not projected as an interchangeable position at this point even though senior Dominique Davis had a tough day against Virginia Tech, failing to throw a scoring pass for the first time in the 15 games comprising his ECU career.

"I don't believe in swapping quarterbacks," McNeill said. "He's the guy who got us here, even though he had a bad game. I'm sure David Garrard and all those guys had bad games, too. He's one of the best offensive players in the country. I hope everybody just stands behind him. If we need to give him a break, we will but that's not our style. Coach (Steve) Spurrier (South Carolina) and those guys can do that with their team.

"There's a couple of positions I don't believe in swapping around. That's the defensive back position, the offensive line and the quarterback position. I don't want to get into the swap game with that."

Brad Wornick had to come in for Davis during last season's game in Birmingham. Wornick completed three of five passes for 34 yards while Davis made a quick recovery from a shoulder ding.

Sophomore Rio Johnson has actually moved ahead of Wornick as Davis' backup this season but Johnson has yet to take a college snap.

UAB scouting report

The Blazers lost their season opener 39-0 at Florida on Sept. 10 and were beaten 49-10 at home last week by Tulane.

"Offensively, they spread you," McNeill said. "They get into a variety of formations. They can get anywhere from two backs and a tight end to five wides. They can spread you all over the field. They have a senior quarterback (Bryan Ellis) and four returning offensive linemen. They have an all-conference guy at left tackle (Matt McCants) and a Rimington Award candidate at center (Darion Smith). They haven't given up any sacks.

"Defensively, they return 10 starters. ... When you have 10 guys back, that's always a threat when you have 10 guys who have been through the battles. They have some older guys. They had 18 junior college men last year and 13, I think, this year. They have some guys who have been through the wars.

"We have to make sure we do a good job of doing our job. We've talked about making sure we play fast with great tempo on all three sides of the football and making sure we continue to improve and get better each week."

Morale good

McNeill said the Pirates have reacted positively following the disappointment of losses to two nationally-ranked programs.

"I think they bounced back right after the game," he said. "I like our mentality. Young people are very resilient. I can't speak for all young people. I know our Pirates have been very resilient. They're looking forward to playing the game. I felt that right after the (Virginia Tech) game."

Fan support

The North Carolina game on Oct. 1 has sold out and there were less than 1,000 tickets remaining for the UAB game earlier this week.

"That's the Pirate Nation," McNeill said. "We sell out at 50,000 because that's all our stadium holds is 50,000. If it was 60,000, we'd sell out at 60 (thousand). If it was 70 (thousand), we'd sell out at 70 (thousand). That's my belief in our support and in Pirate Nation and what they bring each week. Whatever we do here, it never surprises me. That's the difference. It's a big-time atmosphere here in Dowdy-Ficklen and our fans are big time. I expect nothing less. It doesn't surprise me that we do sell out each game."

Conference situation

McNeill hasn't spent an inordinate amount of time contemplating East Carolina's situation in regard to potential conference realignment, a hot topic in recent weeks.

Reports have stated that the Pirates have applied for Big East Conference membership as Pitt and Syracuse will eventually depart for the Atlantic Coast Conference.

"I worry about things I can control," he said. "Just coach up the games we have on our schedule. I'm going into each game expecting to win that football game."

McNeill doesn't deny that the Pirates should be an attractive package.

"We have a quality product and the brand here at East Carolina," he said. "We have all the makings of a blessing to any conference. We have a TV market. Our tentacles reach from Virginia to Georgia and down into Florida. We have the facilities. We have great staffs on all of our athletic teams. We have a strong administration and we have the fan support. I think we have the package."

State Line Power Rankings™

1. Clemson ... The Tigers leapfrogged rival South Carolina with a strong performance in defeating defending national champion Auburn.

2. South Carolina ... The Gamecocks withstood Navy's option to survive an upset bid in Columbia last week.

3. North Carolina ... The Tar Heels' interim coach appeared to have a firm grip on matters last week against Virginia.

4. East Carolina ... The Pirates have shown defensive improvement and offensive potential in two games but not enough to beat the big boys.

5. Wake Forest ... It will take more than wins over transitioning N.C. State and little brother Gardner-Webb for the Deacs to prove themselves.

6. N.C. State ... Wolfpack will have a national audience at Cincinnati tonight, which may serve to magnify some suspect areas.

7. Duke ... A win is a win — even if BC's kicker missed a chip shot last week — but that bit of good fortune isn't enough to get out of the cellar.