MIAMI, FL — In the late 1960s, the Jackie Gleason Show came on Saturday nights from Miami Beach, "the sun and fun capital of the world."

Gleason would make a few introductions at the outset of the program. Then he would coil his ample body and look side stage with the declaration, "And away we go."

East Carolina dispatched host Florida International 34-13 on Saturday night a few palm trees from Gleason's old haunts. Maybe that will be the start of a big show for the Pirates this month.

The Panthers were an opening act for sure.

It was the only foreseeable matchup between the programs as ECU will head for the American Athletic Conference next season.

Conference USA has obviously reduced its standards with the admission of FIU.

That's not so much in terms of talent as in terms of fan support.

Although the crowd was announced at 16,961, it looked to be more like one-tenth of that number.

Maybe it's better to cook the books a little bit than risk probation for substandard attendance in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

FIU's lone win was by one point, 24-23, over hapless Southern Miss, which tumbled for the 20th straight time since Larry Fedora exited for Chapel Hill.

Marshall blasted the Golden Eagles 61-13 on Saturday.

ECU's Nov. 29 game with the Thundering Herd looks like it may well decide the division title.

The West Division got a monkey wrench this week with Rice and Tulane taking losses. Rice was defeated 28-16 at North Texas on Thursday night. The Green Wave lost 34-17 on Saturday about an hour up the road from FIU Stadium as Florida Atlantic sprung an upset to conclude a wacky week that saw FAU coach Carl Pelini resign for alleged drug use.

There are no longer any unbeaten teams in C-USA play.

The Panthers slipped to 1-7 overall and 1-3 in Conference USA. They didn't pose a serious threat to ECU becoming bowl eligible or staying a half-game up on Marshall in the C-USA East Division, although the Pirates did take an extended break after building a 21-3 lead early in the second quarter.

A few breakdowns can be expected due to a little rustiness from an open date.

FIU crept within 21-13 in the third quarter and stayed within striking distance until ECU got creative with a 35-yard touchdown on a reverse pass from Justin Hardy to Isaiah Jones with 8:07 to play.

"We practiced that play all week," said Hardy, whose 44-yard scoring reception on the Pirates' first possession was first of three Shane Carden touchdown passes for the night. "Coach said we might need it."

Isaiah Jones was behind the Panthers secondary and hauled in the heave from Hardy, who played quarterback at West Craven as a senior. Jones finished with nine catches for 92 yards.

"I told him I was glad he could make that play, because my arm was getting a little tired," said Shane Carden, who completed 23 of 35 for 264 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions.

Carden has added a little humor to his array of talent.

The temperature was in the 80s at kickoff and the condition of the Pirates to play under such heat is another testament to the effectiveness of strength and conditioning coach Jeff Connors.

"He's one of the best in the country," said Pirates coach Ruffin McNeill.

The Pirates will be back home to face Tulsa next Saturday. Then they have a home game with Alabama-Birmingham on Nov. 16. The Marshall game is the Friday following a Nov. 23 game at N.C. State.

There won't be any more games this season in which entire sections of bleachers are empty as was the case at FIU.

The last time Tulsa came to Greenville was McNeill's debut as head coach, the 2010 season opener, with Dominique Davis throwing to Justin Jones for the winning score as time expired.

The Pirates control their own fate for the division title, which means they control their fate for the C-USA championship.

The offense did not commit a turnover at FIU.

The defense was increasingly effective at getting pressure on quarterback E.J. Hilliard of the Panthers. Montese Overton had three sacks. Kyle Tudor had nine unassisted tackles. Chip Thompson had a pick for the game's only turnover and he registered six solo tackles.

There appear to be some problems in the kicking game as Warren Harvey missed two field goals and an extra point. He needed some success to restore his confidence.

Trent Tignor gave special teams a boost as he averaged 48.0 yards on four punts with a longest of 56 yards.

The Pirates are in the thick of the race for the league title with some big games coming up.

And away we go.

View box score and statistics on ecupirates.com

Read game recap on ecupirates.com

Read game recap on fiusports.com