GREENVILLE Aussie Patrick McNaughton ran
into some problems after earning the start as East Carolina's punter in
practice this week.Momentum
boomeranged badly on the Pirates after Reese Wiggins had taken a
Dominique Davis pass 72 yards to the house for a 7-0 lead on the second
play from scrimmage.
The Pirates appeared to be poised for
an early two-touchdown lead with a 2nd-and-2 at the Southern Miss 8-yard
line after a three and out by the ECU defense.
A pass to Joe Womack bounced in the air
off the receiver's shoulder pads and Jamie Collins of the Golden Eagles
returned it 97 yards for a tying touchdown.
"That was a momentum deal for them,"
said Pirates coach Ruffin McNeill. "In a game like this, you have to
take advantage of that (situation)."
McNaughton came in to punt with the
ball at the ECU 25 on the Pirates' next possession. The plan was to land
the ball in front of dangerous USM returner Tracy Lampley.
"We didn't kick it or cover it well,"
McNeill said.
McNaughton said Lampley was closer than
he anticipated.
"I was supposed to kick it rugby style
and land it short of him," the native of New South Wales said. "I got
too much air under it and it went directly to him."
Lampley caught the line drive and went
60 yards for six points, giving the Golden Eagles the lead for keeps.
McNaughton didn't get his next attempt
off. USM's Reggie Hunt blocked it and Emmanuel Johnson returned it 15
yards for a 21-7 Southern Miss lead with 5:08 left in the first quarter.
McNaughton said regular long snapper
William Smith had something in his eye and didn't come out on the play
that led to the blocked punt. Matt Milner is his back-up.
"The snap was a little high and I just
didn't get it off," McNaughton said.
A 79-yard interception return by Deron
Wilson extended Southern Miss' lead to 38-14 at the half and set the
stage for the Golden Eagles to coast in the second half to
the 48-28 win.
"Four touchdowns without our defense on
the field," McNeill said. " ... We're beating ourselves."
No comeback like last year
A year ago the Pirates overcame a 20-0
deficit in the first quarter
to win 44-43 at Southern Miss.
Lance Lewis had a pair of 46-yard touchdown catches in that comeback but
Lewis was sidelined Saturday with a stress fracture in his right foot.
McNeill is hopeful he will return by season's end.
"We reminded everybody that we were in
the same situation last year," said ECU receiver Andrew Bodenheimer. "I
told them there's nothing that we can't do. At the time, it was only the
first quarter. Our thoughts were that we were fine and we were going to
get it back.
"That was the mindset that we had to
have for the rest of the game."
Bodenheimer had five catches for 60
yards. Justin Hardy returned from an injury to lead Pirate receivers
with seven catches for 64 yards and one touchdown.
True freshman Danny Webster had three
catches for 33 yards.
"Losing hurts but losing at home hurts
even worse," Webster said.
Tough competition
ECU lost to its fourth
nationally-ranked team in a season that has seemingly been filled with
opponents of widely-varying competitive ability.
The teams that have beaten the Pirates
South Carolina,
Virginia Tech,
North Carolina,
Houston and
Southern Miss had a record of
37-7 with some yet to complete games Saturday. The teams that ECU (4-5,
3-2 C-USA) has beaten
UAB,
Memphis,
Navy and
Tulane had a combined mark of
8-27.
Texas-El Paso, which will host the
Pirates at 8 p.m. next Saturday, was 4-5 overall and 1-4 in the league
after a 41-37 loss to Rice.
Positive outlook
ECU quarterback Dominique Davis is
keeping a positive attitude with the Pirates needing to win two of their
last three games to become bowl eligible. The Pirates return home to
take on Central Florida on Nov. 19 and travel to Marshall on Nov. 26.
"I have to show excitement and stay
positive, win or lose," Davis said. "If (my teammates) see panic on my
face, they're more than likely going to react the same way.