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Audio: Brian Bailey
Show |
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 The
Brian Bailey Show
airs on Pirate Radio
1250 on Mondays at
6:30 p.m. Brian's
guest this week was
ECU recruiting
coordinator and
inside receivers
coach Donnie
Kirkpatrick (left):
Replay
show... |
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MULTIMEDIA |
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Audio: Coach Ruff Weekly
Presser |
 ECU
coach Ruffin McNeill spoke
with the media at his weekly
press conference on Monday
as the Pirates prepare to
hit the road to face
Cincinnati on Thursday
(courtesy of Pirate
Radio 1250;
file
photo):
Select
clip... |
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American Football
Schedule |
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THURSDAY |
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ECU
at Cincinnati, 7 pm (ESPN2) |
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FRIDAY |
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Tulsa
at UCF, 8 pm (ESPN2) |
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SATURDAY |
Temple at Penn State, 12
pm (ESPN2)
Memphis at Tulane, 3:30 pm (ESPNU)
USF at SMU, 8 pm (CBSSN) |
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FOOTBALL |
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Pirates regroup from Philly
fumbles |
The 24-hour rule that serves
as a buffer between games
expired Sunday after East
Carolina's 20-10 loss at
Temple on Saturday. The span
increased to 48 hours and
then 72 hours before the
Pirates finally got back on
the practice field
Wednesday. ...
More from Al Myatt... |
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FOOTBALL SPECIAL
FEATURE |
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15 Questions for
Terry Whisnant |
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 Akeem
Richmond may be gone but
Terry Whisnant is set to
continue East Carolina's
outside shooting prowess.
Whisnant transferred from
Florida State after
averaging 2.1 points and 7.7
minutes for a Seminoles team
that won the Atlantic Coast
Conference Tournament his
freshman year. His numbers
at FSU improved to 5.2
points and 17.2 minutes as a
sophomore when he made 35.6
percent of his 3-point
tries. ...
More from W.A.
Myatt... |
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Pictured: ECU junior
Terry Whisnant is
ready for action
after sitting out a
year under NCAA
transfer rules. The
Cherryville native
played his freshman
and sophomore
seasons at Florida
State. His skill at
shooting from long
range is expected to
be a key asset for
the Pirates as they
make their debut in
the American
Athletic Conference.
(ECU Media Relations
photo) |
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Owls become Temple of Doom |
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PHILADELPHIA — The statistics
told a convoluted tale after 60
minutes of college football at
Lincoln Financial Field, home of
the Philadelphia Eagles, on
Saturday. When East Carolina
outgains an opponent 432 to 135
in total yardage, the assumption
would be that the Pirates won
handily. ...
More from Al Myatt... |
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CHILLY
PHILLY: Fans
were sparse
on Saturday
at the East
Carolina-Temple
game in
dreary
Philadelphia.
Road games
before
meager
crowds have
typically
created a
difficult
environment
for the
Pirates to
perform
well, a
scenario
that was
punctuated
as the Owls
took
advantage of
penalties
and
weather-assisted
turnovers to
deal ECU
its first
American
Athletic
Conference
loss
in the cold,
rainy
conditions
at Lincoln
Financial
Field. The
announced
attendance
at the
69,176-seat
home of the
NFL's Eagles
was 22,130.
[Al Myatt
photo] |
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Audio: Ruff Post-game |
 ECU
coach Ruffin McNeill spoke
with the press after the
Pirates' upset loss to
Temple on Saturday (recorded
by Al Myatt; file photo):
Select audio clip... |
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By
Brian Bailey
©2014 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
View ECU's
2014 football schedule
VIEW MOBILE VERSION OF THIS PAGE
It’s time for the East Carolina Pirates to crank it up again.
It’s time for that high flying offense to take flight.
It’s time for that defense to create turnovers and give the offense a
short field.
It’s time to finish strong. With four games to go, despite the
loss to Temple, there is plenty to play for.
It all starts on Thursday night in Cincinnati. It certainly won’t be
easy, but it’s time.
I don’t think we’ve seen the best of this ECU football team as of yet.
Maybe the pressure to win out was too much. Maybe the outside noise was
too loud.
The loss at Temple hurt everyone, especially the head Pirate.
“It hurt me in three ways. It hurt me as a former student, a former
player and as a coach,” said coach Ruffin McNeill. “It hurt us all.
That’s life, and now we have to get back at it and turn it around.”
Fumbles and penalties doomed the Pirate cause in Philadelphia. They were
points of emphasis during the open week.
Ruff and Company invited referees out to work several practices as the
team looks to correct those mistakes.
The Pirates are the third most penalized team in the nation. That’s
certainly not indicative of what McNeill wants in his program.
“With the eighth official, what they watch for are holds,” he explained
at his weekly news conference on Monday [Replay
news conference audio...]. “If the defender’s body gets
outside of the body’s framework, that’s what they’re calling holding.
How do you prevent that? Move your feet a little better and lower your
pad level.”
The amount of laundry on the field against the Pirates has really irked
McNeill over the last month.
“Last week, I talked to Jim Mora at UCLA and Art (Briles) at Baylor, and
they’ve been having a lot of holding calls against their teams as well,”
said McNeill. “Penalties have almost quadrupled since 2013, so it’s not
just here in Greenville. I’m not sure if it’s the high-paced teams or
what. We’re making sure the kids are getting more repetitions because
the more the get, the better they’re getting and that’s the approach
we’ve taken.”
The penalties have also been frustrating for quarterback Shane Carden.
“We just have to really stress the fundamentals,” said Carden. “We have
worked very hard to try and get back to where we aren’t penalized.”
Four AAC teams enter play in this second week of November with just one
conference loss. It may not be a national semifinal, but this
ECU-Cincinnati game could be an elimination game for the league. Central
Florida and Memphis are also in the one-loss column.
“This is a big game,” said McNeill. “Before we get to the game, we have
to make sure we have a great week of practice. Cincinnati is tough,
athletic and well coached. Just like the other games we’ve played, this
is a very competitive league and we knew that before we came in. We’re
looking forward to that challenge.”
That challenge will be a little less stressful if the Pirates can hold
onto the football and stay away from the yellow hankies.
That, of course, will be easier said than done on the road. Add in the
colder weather and the challenge intensifies.
“The last time we had a really cold week of practice was the week
heading into the Military Bowl in Washington, D.C.,” said McNeill. “We
haven’t pulled out cold gear in a long time. We’re prepared for that.
The wind and rain surprised us a little bit, but the other team played
in the same weather. With the change of time, we’ve been able to get
night practices in, so we’re looking forward to that challenge.”
BB
