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Audio: Brian Bailey
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 The
Brian Bailey Show
airs on Pirate Radio
1250 on Mondays at
6:30 p.m. Brian's
guest was ECU
associate head coach
and ILB coach John
Wiley:
Replay
show... |
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Audio: Coach Ruff
Presser |
  ECU
coach Ruffin McNeill
spoke with the media
at his weekly press
conference on Monday
(courtesy of Pirate
Radio 1250;
file
photo):
Select
clip... |
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FOOTBALL |
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Kevin's Keys to the Game |
East Carolina
will have a second straight
home game this week when it
faces Southern Methodist.
The Mustangs have had a
rough start to the 2014
season, going 0-4 with
losses to North Texas and
three nationally-ranked
teams in Texas Christian,
Texas A&M and Baylor.
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More from Kevin Monroe... |
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FOOTBALL |
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American opts for eight
officials |
The NCAA Football Rules
Committee is allowing every
Football Bowl Subdivision
conference the option to use
eight-person officiating
crews in 2014. The American
Athletic Conference is one
of four FBS conferences to
follow the Big 12's lead by
trying eight officials
instead of seven. ...
More from Greg Vacek... |
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FOOTBALL |
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Teams going in opposite
directions |
The last time Southern
Methodist came to
Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, the
Mustangs were in the midst
of a football revival under
coach June Jones. The date
was Nov. 26, 2010 and East
Carolina was in its first
season with alumnus Ruffin
McNeill as head coach. ...
More from Al Myatt... |
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FOOTBALL |
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Drowning out the positive noise |
Successful
college football teams often
have a bunker mentality
during the season. It�s us
against the world, with
every man putting the team
first. It�s a great outlet
in bad times and it�s often
very effective during losing
seasons to try and drown out
the negative comments from
the outside. ...
More from Brian Bailey... |
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MULTIMEDIA |
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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 was college
football referee
Darrell Harrison
(right):
Replay
show... |
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By
Brian Bailey
�2014 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
View ECU's
2014 football schedule
Just like George Jefferson, the Pirates are moving on up!
That�s a reference to the theme song
from the 70s television show called �The Jeffersons,� which was a
spin-off of �All in the Family.�
It fits the Pirates this week for sure.
East Carolina is up to 19th in both major polls after
beating Southern Methodist 45-24 for homecoming on
Saturday at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
No, the Pirates didn�t win by 40 like the oddsmakers had it figured. But
ECU did get a convincing win. After all that went on in college football
this weekend, any kind of win should have been welcome.
That�s the theme from the Pirate coach, Ruffin McNeill.
�We want to win by one point and get out of there,� said McNeill. �Wins
are hard to come by. Trust me, I cherish every single one. I hope
everyone feels the same way. There�s no such thing as an ugly win. Ugly
is in the dictionary and win is in there, but ugly win is not in there
for me. Our kids understand that, too.�
McNeill also understands that his program has evolved from being the
hunter to being the hunted. Still, the coach preaches that his team
should only try to control things that the team can control.
�That�s uncontrollable,� said McNeill as an American Athletic Conference
game with South Florida looms. �I know Willie (Taggart, USF coach) is a
good coach and will get his team ready, but I can�t control that and I
can�t coach that team. We have to make sure we do a good job of having a
plan for them. I learned a long time ago that if I can control what we
do, we�d be all right.�
It must also be comforting to know that your quarterback is in his fifth
year and getting at least a little Heisman Trophy chatter.
Shane Carden won�t win the Heisman this year, but he is most certainly
raising eyebrows around the country.
All Shane did on Saturday was account for 457 yards of total offense. He
completed 31 of 41 passes for 410 yards and four first-half touchdowns
while adding 47 yards on the ground on seven carries.
He turned in his third consecutive game with at least 400 passing yards
(sixth career). Carden now stands atop the Pirates all-time lists in
passing yards (9,134), completions (802) and passing TDs (71).
Carden was his normally humble self when asked about the record after
Saturday�s game.
�It was pretty crazy,� said Carden. �I think they announced it way too
early. I told our guys to stay focused and �let�s go score right here.�
This is an honor for me and it really hasn't sunk in yet.
�Shane is just a great young man,� said receiver Isaiah Jones, whose
30-yard reception gave Carden the record. �He's a great leader, everyone
sees that. As it was going on, Shane was like, let's just focus on this
one play. I think the team feels a sort of peace and confidence in
Shane. You can just trust him and his ability.�
The Pirates head to Tampa as a 14-point favorite. East Carolina has
never beaten the Bulls and stands 0-4 in the series.
The last time ECU and USF hooked up, we were in Birmingham, Alabama at
the Papajohns.com Bowl. The Bulls
won that one, 24-7.
McNeill says his squad doesn�t talk about the 0-4 mark against USF.
�No, they don�t talk about that,� McNeill explained. �We don�t talk
about the past because it�s irrelevant. We can�t control what happened
in the past. We talk about ourselves and what we have to do to get
better. We know we�re facing a team that�s very good, but bringing up
what happened in the past really doesn�t help us now.�
One former East Carolina coach used to say if the games get bigger each
week, then you are having a great season.
These games are getting bigger each week. The season has been a good one
and can only get better � IF the Pirates can do their part.
BB
