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BAILEY'S
TAKE ON PIRATE SPORTS
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From the
Anchor Desk
Tuesday,
October 4, 2011
By Brian
Bailey |
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Different verse, same as the first
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East
Division |
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SCHOOL |
C-USA |
ALL |
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Marshall
ECU
USM
UCF
Memphis
UAB |
1-0
1-0
1-1
0-0
0-1
0-2 |
2-3
1-3
4-1
2-2
1-4
0-4 |
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West
Division |
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SCHOOL |
C-USA |
ALL |
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SMU
Houston
Tulsa
Tulane
Rice
UTEP |
2-0
1-0
1-0
1-1
0-0
0-2 |
4-1
5-0
2-3
2-3
1-3
2-3 |
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By
Brian Bailey
©2011 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
The turnover tune is
hitting like a broken record.
These days that would be
more like a skip in an mp3, but it’s the same idea.
It’s the same song but a
different verse for East Carolina's frustrations with turnovers.
Yes, the turnover bug has
blossomed into a full-fledged turnover epidemic at ECU. Now the Pirates
have the dubious honor of being the nation’s leader in the turnover
department.
After tying a school
record with 7 turnovers in
a win over UAB, the Pirates set
the table for
a North Carolina victory with 3
more in the first quarter of Saturday night’s game at Dowdy-Ficklen
Stadium.
Those early miscues
effectively eliminated the home field advantage with a record crowd in
attendance. It all started with a fumble by freshman Danny Webster. It
snowballed from there.
If guys start thinking
about not turning the ball over, the situation usually worsens before it
gets better.
“A lot has been made of
the turnovers,” Pirate coach Ruffin McNeill said at his weekly news
conference yesterday. [Replay
news conference audio...] “Anytime they (the players) get
asked about it by the media during interviews, it’s only natural it’ll
be on their minds. We’ll see those guys keep developing this season.”
Of the 17 turnovers in the
four games, 10 have been interceptions by Dominique Davis. Several of
those have been tipped balls.
Still, the quarterback has
to take the responsibility and Davis certainly feels the pain.
“It was really
frustrating,” said Davis after the loss to the Tar Heels. “I had to
really get inside the team and tell them to wake up. We need to cut out
the turnovers and man up and do the things we need to do to win the
game.”
Davis has been a “man up”
guy since taking over the Pirate offense last season. The players and
coaches rave about his leadership qualities. Those qualities have
certainly been tested through four games.
“It’s just adversity,”
said Davis. “Sometimes what makes you great is that adversity.”
At North Carolina, the
Heels are now 4-1 under interim coach Everett Withers.
I said it last week that I
liked Coach Withers' attitude about playing East Carolina. Simply put,
he said he wanted his team to be the best in the state and to beat
everyone in the state. Maybe someone at North Carolina State should talk
to Coach Withers.
Withers also came away
impressed with the Pirate Nation.
“That was a great college
environment now,” said Withers at his Monday press conference. “It was
unbelievable. To get yelled at, cussed at and all of that, that’s fun.”
The Pirates now hit the
road to take on unbeaten but
unranked Houston.
“I am surprised,” said
McNeill when asked about the Cougars not being ranked. “They beat UCLA
and won on the road at UTEP. That’s a tough place to play. All you can
do is what they’ve done, which is win. (Coach) Kevin (Sumlin) has done a
great job. We know we’ll have our hands full going down there.”
Big East update
ECU officials are still in
a holding pattern as far as the Big East is concerned.
Depending on just what
twitter feed or blog you follow, the Pirates appear to be anywhere
between the leading candidate to a school that isn’t being considered at
all for the Big East.
I really don’t think
anyone knows what is going on at this time. The Big East has come out
and said it would talk to schools that have shown interest in the
league, and that, of course, includes East Carolina.
It is certainly a
frustrating time, because the Big East has to first stabilize before any
additions can be made. Just when you think the Big East is stable,
another “report” comes out to the contrary.
The situation is a fluid
one, and sometimes seems to change by the hour.
BB
E-mail Brian Bailey.
Brian Bailey Archives
10/04/2011 01:33 AM |
Replay
Monday night's BRIAN BAILEY SHOW,
featuring ECU outside
receivers
coach DENNIS SIMMONS. Eastern North Carolina's longest running
sports radio call-in show airs each Monday
night at 7 p.m. on Pirate Radio 1250 and
930.