By
Al Myatt
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East Carolina fans are familiar with the phrase, 'No Quarter.' As the
term relates to Pirate football, it represents a totally-focused
mindset.
In war, it means that a military force will not provide quarters for
captured enemy soldiers, killing them as opposed to taking them
prisoner.
The tactic was outlawed, according to the rules of war, in 1907.
A 'No Quarter' flag is raised near the ECU football team's entrance to
Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium before the fourth quarter at home games. Some
Pirate fans have 'No Quarter' T-shirts.
The Pirates showed some mercy in the final 15 minutes last Saturday,
giving playing time to those on the lower levels of the depth chart, but
their execution on "all three sides of the ball," as coach Ruffin
McNeill says, was nearly flawless for an extended duration after the
halftime break.
With a commanding 31-0 lead at the half, the Pirates got ahead of
schedule with their 'No Quarter' approach. The third quarter was the one
in which the Pirates unloaded a decisive barrage.
For a span after the locker room respite of
a 55-14 Conference USA football win over
Southern Miss at home on Saturday, East Carolina
made play after play in expanding its advantage over the Golden Eagles
to 55-0.
"One thing that we did that I was very pleased with is that we seemed to
feed off of each other," McNeill said. "Whether it was special teams
leading our defense or setting up our offense, our offense was able to
capitalize."
Justin Hardy had a 66-yard punt return to the Southern Miss 5-yard line
after the ECU defense had gotten its first stop of the second half.
Shane Carden passed to Bryce Williams off of play action on the next
snap for a score and a 38-0 lead.
The Pirate defense went three and out, Hardy returned a punt 32 yards to
the USM 30 and Breon Allen scored five plays later on a 1-yard run.
Reserves figured prominently as the 'No Quarter' approach continued.
Allen had a 17-yard punt return and backup quarterback Cody Keith
directed a 38-yard scoring drive that Chris Hairston finished with a
four-yard run with 5:15 left in the third. Keith hit Cam Worthy for 26
yards before the Pirates shut down the passing game.
After Maurice Falls recovered a fumble, the Pirates opted for an 18-yard
Warren Harvey field goal rather than go for a fourth and goal at the USM
1-yard line.
ECU put up 24 points while allowing the visitors just one first down.
The Pirates did indeed show some quarter.
"A shutout means absolutely nothing to me," McNeill said of the two TDs
the Golden Eagles scored against reserves in the fourth quarter.
The Pirates coach was thinking ahead. He said it was more important to
get out of the game with the regular playing rotation healthy while
giving some future prime time performers valuable experience. ECU's last
shutout, incidentally, came by a 38-0 margin at Duke in the 2000 season
opener.
"I thought the kids did a great job of focusing and attacking from the
first play on," said the Pirates coach. "That was one of the things we
talked about at halftime that we wanted to do was to get as many
consecutive positive plays as we could. We had great coverage by our
kickoff teams, stops by our defense, great punt returns and the offense
finished."
ECU leads Conference USA in scoring at 37.1 points per game but it seems
like it takes a loss in the previous outing to bring out the best in the
Pirate offense.
ECU's resiliency is shown by the fact that the Pirates haven't had back
to back losses going back to the 2011 season.
ECU has scored 50-plus following its last three defeats.
A 43-34 setback in the New Orleans Bowl
last year was followed by
a 52-38 win over Old Dominion
in the season opener. The Pirates obliterated the frustration of a 15-10
home loss to Virginia Tech
by blasting North Carolina 55-31.
The triumph over Southern Miss was preceded by a disappointing and
mystifying 36-33 triple overtime loss at Tulane.
The Pirates are averaging 25.7 points after wins this season and 53.5
points after losses. Is ECU hungrier after tasting defeat?
"It's important that we remain consistent and get some guys healthy this
part of the year," McNeill said.
An open date before a Nov. 2 game at Florida International should help
in that regard.
The injuries and suspensions that have beset the receiving corps give
testimony to the depth the ECU program has developed.
"I think the focus is good on this football team and I know it is as a
staff," McNeill said. "They have a chance to make sure we get better
each day. That's the biggest focus that we talk about is just be as good
as you can today. We'll put that day behind us and keep that same
mentality throughout these next five games for sure and, hopefully, two
more after that (Conference USA championship game and bowl game)."
Great programs never arrive, McNeill said. They keep building.
Ruff drafts
After serving as Texas Tech's head coach for the Alamo Bowl after the
2009 season, McNeill had serious discussions with current San Francisco
49ers coach Jim Harbaugh about joining the Stanford staff. That was
before the offer to coach at his alma mater became a reality. ...
McNeill said 10 NFL scouts were in the ECU office last Wednesday
(Oct.16), going over tape and doing some live evaluation at practice.
... McNeill walks for about an hour each morning, listening to a variety
of music on his headset as part of his weight control program.
ECU
coach
Ruffin McNeill met with the press after the
Pirates'
win
over
Southern
Miss:
