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Record-breaking receiver Justin Hardy catches his last
touchdown pass as a Pirate to give East Carolina an early
lead over Florida in the Birmingham Bowl last month in
Mobile, AL. |
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ECU
quarterback Shane Carden (left) and receiver Cam Worthy
(right), pictured in action against Florida in the
Birmingham Bowl on Jan. 3, were invited along with fellow
Pirate Justin Hardy to participate in this week's NFL
Combine. |
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(Bonesville photos by W.A. Myatt) |
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FOOTBALL |
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Pirates' mettle tested |
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  We're
never going to accept losing around
here ... It's not okay to lose ... I
don't care if they're ranked number
two or ranked number one or who they
are ... There are no moral victories
when you lose... — Cliff Godwin
Second-ranked
Virginia came to town and swept East
Carolina in Cliff Godwin's debut as
the head baseball coach of the
Pirates. ...
More from
Brian Bailey... |
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Pictured: Former ECU player Cliff
Godwin looks on from the third base
coach's box at Clark-LeClair Stadium
on Friday in his first game as head
coach for his alma mater in the
season-opening series with Virginia.
(Photo by W.A. Myatt) |
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Audio: The Brian Bailey
Show |
  The
Brian Bailey Show
airs on Pirate Radio
1250 on Mondays at 6:30
p.m. Brian's guest
this week was
East Carolina head
baseball coach Cliff
Godwin
(right):
Replay
show... |
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BASKETBALL |
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Owls streak past ECU |
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PHILADELPHIA — Temple ran
its winning streak to seven
games with a 66-53 American
Athletic Conference victory
over visiting East Carolina
on Saturday afternoon. After
trailing 34-18 at the half,
the Pirates made seven of 15
attempts from behind the arc
in the second half including
four in a row ...
More... |
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Next: ECU at Tulsa |
Wednesday, 7 pm
| TV: ESPNU |
The Season
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BASEBALL |
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Virginia completes sweep |
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GREENVILLE — Second-ranked
Virginia completed a sweep
of its three-game
season-opening series at
East Carolina by taking both
ends of a doubleheader on
Lewis Field at Clark-LeClair
Stadium on Saturday. The
teams played a pair of games
because of the forecast of
cold weather Sunday. ...
More... |
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Next: ECU at Old
Dominion
| Wednesday, 3 pm | |
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BASEBALL |
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Virginia takes
season opener |
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 Virginia's
Nathan
Kirby
allowed
no runs
and
three
hits
through
seven
innings
as the
Cavaliers
used
unearned
runs in
the
fourth
and
fifth
innings
for a
3-1 win
at East
Carolina
on
Friday
in the
season
opener
for both
teams.
Kirby, regarded as
one of the top
left-handed major
league prospects in
the college ranks,
struck out five and
walked two. The
Cavaliers are ranked
No. 2 at the outset
of 2015 after
finishing as
runner-up to
Vanderbilt in last
season's College
World Series. ...
Story & pictures... |
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Pictured: Former
East Carolina player
Cliff Godwin looks
on from the third
base coach's box in
the Pirates' season
opener with Virginia
on Friday at Clark-LeClair
Stadium. The game
was Godwin's first
as head coach for
his alma mater.
(Photo by W.A.
Myatt) |
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By
Brett Friedlander
©2015 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
Review ECU's
2014 football season...
VIEW MOBILE VERSION OF THIS PAGE
After four standout seasons and more catches than anyone
in FBS history, Justin Hardy has become an overnight sensation.
It happened last month at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, AL,
where those who never took the time to notice or appreciate the
now-former ECU wide receiver finally got the chance to see what they’ve
been missing.
To be fair, many of those around the NFL were already
well aware of the one-time walk-on who finished his Pirates career with
387 catches, 4,541 yards and 35 touchdowns. He would never have been
invited to the Senior Bowl in the first place if they weren’t.
But even some of those were surprised at the skills Hardy
displayed during the week of practices leading up to the most
prestigious of the postseason college football all-star games.
And the media?
Well, let’s just say that if they took a revote among
those reporting on proceedings down in Mobile, Hardy probably wouldn’t
have been snubbed as one of the top 10 receivers in college football
last season — as he was by the electorate selecting the Biletnikoff
Award.
“He’s not physically imposing,” Alain Poupart of
Dolphins.com wrote of the 6-foot-1, 190-pound ECU star. “But he
obviously knows how to get open and catch the ball.”
Packers.com writer Tony Pauline went even farther with
his praise, comparing Hardy favorably to Green Bay standout Jordy Nelson
by saying “he doesn't wow you physically, but he’s just a terrific
football player, a guy I think will be underdrafted.”
One of the most frequently heard knocks against Hardy,
other than his size, is that he ran up his impressive college numbers at
a non-Power 5 school. Translated into plain English, that means he was
being dismissed or at least downgraded for having faced less-than-elite
competition.
Never mind that he caught 11 passes for 160 yards and a
touchdown against Florida All-America Vernon Hargreaves III in the
Birmingham Bowl. Or that a few weeks earlier, he torched another
All-America — Jacoby Glenn of UCF — for 12 receptions, 140 yards and
another score. After a week of work against some of the top defensive
back prospects in the upcoming draft, even the skeptics came away
impressed.
“Hardy doesn’t have elite speed or explosiveness, but is
extremely nuanced at the position and skilled as a route-runner," Erik
Galko of OptimumScouting.com wrote. “He’ll contribute (to an NFL team
from) Day 1 out of the slot.”
Hardy is one of three ECU players who received
invitations to this week's NFL’s Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.
Quarterbacks and receivers will register and participate in orientation
and team interviews today. That will be followed over the next three
days by a battery of activities and trials designed to help NFL teams
sort the gems from the clutter.
Unlike their college teammate, who has already bolstered
his draft status despite catching only two short passes in the Senior
Bowl, quarterback Shane Carden and wide receiver Cam Worthy will have a
lot of work to do at the annual meat market — in which NFL hopefuls are
weighed, measured and put through a battery of drills under the watchful
eye of coaches and general managers.
Carden, in particular, could use a strong showing after
his own Senior Bowl experience.
The holder of virtually every school record in the ECU
book, Carden went to Mobile with Hardy looking to take a quantum leap up
the draft board in what is generally considered a weak quarterback
class. But instead of answering questions about his mechanics and arm
strength, his balky performance led at least one scout to pigeonhole him
with the dreaded label of “great collegiate system quarterback.”
“Carden’s lack of arm strength and leg drive is a major
issue when he goes downfield,” OptimimScouting’s Galko wrote.
“Additionally, Carden drops his elbow as he loads the throw and lacks an
efficient delivery.”
There are some intangibles, however, that can’t be
measured by a stopwatch or by the placement of a player’s feet during a
passing drill. And Carden showed why during the game.
Although he was given only three possessions of playing
time while playing behind Baylor’s Bryce Petty and Oregon State’s Sean
Mannion, the AAC Player of the Year was on the field long enough for his
competitive nature to shine through.
Carden led the North team to a touchdown, a field goal
and a field goal attempt while completing four of nine passes for 70
yards and an efficiency rating of 141.1 — the highest of any quarterback
in the game. He also had a six-yard run for a first down to help his
team to a 34-13 victory at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.
If nothing else, Carden’s effort gave the scouts and
national media a brief glimpse of what Pirate fans have known about him
since he took over the starting job early in his sophomore season — that
he’s a winner who finds a way to get the job done.
Perhaps with a strong performance at the Combine this
week, he too, like Hardy before him, will get his chance to become an
overnight sensation.
Review ECU's
2014 football season...
Players
at every position on East
Carolina's defensive unit
completed their eligibility
at the end of the 2014
season, including six
starters. The result was a
wide-ranging list of needs
to cover those losses ...