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BAILEY'S
TAKE ON PIRATE SPORTS
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From the
Anchor Desk
Tuesday,
November 15, 2011
By Brian
Bailey |
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Mistake-prone Pirates on "short leash"
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BRAIN BAILEY SHOW |
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 Replay
Monday night's BRIAN BAILEY SHOW,
with high school football coaches BRIAN
MEADOR, HEATHER MACY and PAUL
CORNWELL. 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. |
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REPLAY SHOW |
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Pirate Radio Home
Page |
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C-USA Standings |
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(Through games of 11.12.11) |
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East
Division |
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SCHOOL |
C-USA |
ALL |
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USM
ECU
Marshall
UCF
UAB
Memphis |
5-1
3-3
3-3
2-4
2-5
1-5 |
9-1
4-6
4-6
4-6
2-8
2-8 |
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West
Division |
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SCHOOL |
C-USA |
ALL |
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Houston
Tulsa
SMU
UTEP
Rice
Tulane |
6-0
6-0
4-2
2-4
2-4
1-6 |
10-0
7-3
6-4
5-5
3-7
2-9 |
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By
Brian Bailey
©2011 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
This up and down Pirate
football season has to finish on the upside, or this East Carolina team
will sit home for the holidays for the first time in six years.
That five-year streak of
bowl appearances is now in serious jeopardy after Texas-El Paso
held off the Pirates 22-17 down
in El Paso on Saturday night.
The much-maligned ECU
defense of a year ago has shown vast improvement this season. UTEP’s Joe
Banyard made the one big play against the Pirate defense on Saturday
night. His 77-yard touchdown run was the game-winning score.
The Pirates were
victimized by yet another ‘pick-six” early in the game when Miners
defensive back Darren Woodard picked off Dominique Davis and returned
the gift for points.
It’s one of those plays
that you watch, knowing that it couldn’t happen again. But somehow it
did.
Davis admitted after the
game that he was making too many mistakes for the Pirates to win. The
frustrations are growing for ECU coach Ruffin McNeill.
“Everybody is on a short
leash,” explained McNeill. “We need for Dominique Davis to play smart
and make good decisions. It’s tough to watch those mistakes. We talk
about it and emphasize maintaining possession of the football. Making
decisions is a big part of the quarterback position.
"We have to understand
game situations as an entire unit. We have to understand where we are on
the field and take care of the football."
The frustrating part on
Dominique’s performance this year is that the senior quarterback is
regarded as a great leader by other players and the coaching staff.
After this offense racked up record yardage last year, this was supposed
to be his showcase season.
Interceptions have crushed
that momentum. Davis had a pair on Saturday night. The first turned a
7-0 lead into a 7-6 momentum swing. The second was on the final drive,
when Davis still had a chance to pull one out of the fire.
There would be no “Miracle
in the Mineshaft II,” a reference to East Carolina’s win
in El Paso in 2007 when Rob Kass sent the game to overtime with a
34-yard touchdown pass to Juwon Crowell as time ran out to tie the
contest at 39-39. Kass then scored on a quarterback sneak in the
overtime to win the game.
Now the Pirates face a
must win double-dip, starting with a Central Florida team perhaps
smarting a little bit after a failed two-point conversion attempt cost
them their own miracle win over Southern Miss on Saturday.
“We know what’s in front
of us,” said McNeill. “We have to play well and win these next two
games. The biggest thing is just making sure we understand mistakes and
the situations of the game. We have to take advantage of opportunities
when they arise. In a given situation, we have to know exactly what we
need to do.
"Whether that situation is
on special teams, offense or defense, we have to know what we need. We
have to eliminate bad football and play good football.”
That’s pretty much been
the theme all season. When the Pirates play good football, this is a
team that can compete with any team on its schedule.
Lately, the bad football
has won out in this battle between good and evil.
That’s the challenge at
hand. Two wins and the Pirates could earn a bowl berth. Win the bowl
game, and you finish at 7-6.
East Carolina faces long
odds and goes into this home game with UCF as a touchdown underdog at
home.
The Pirates still have
time to play some good football, but the clock is certainly ticking.
BB
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Brian Bailey Archives
11/15/2011 05:34 AM |
