GREENVILLE — East Carolina could do a lot to improve its
rivalry with Southern Miss — if that's what you want to call the annual
showdown between the two schools.
Based solely on the most widely accepted definition, the
series does not qualify for the label.
By and large the games have lacked drama, produced
one-sided results, and are missing a genuine hatred that typically exists
among the coaches, players and fans involved in a real rivalry. What's more,
all the two schools share geographically is a location that makes each a
target for hurricanes, albeit on different coasts.
Mix it together and the recipe doesn't produce an entree
that remotely resembles a rivalry. Saturday's 33-7 Southern Miss victory was
no exception.
True to tradition, the crowd struggled to break 35,000 on
a night that was one week removed from one of ECU's most spirited
performances in three seasons. And had it not been for the many promotions
that fans were offered, the game may not have reached 30 K.
Even more familiar was the sloppy play to which the
Pirates have been accustomed when Southern Miss pays a visit. The opening
three possessions produced three turnovers, and that proved too much to
overcome.
"You're not going to beat anybody," Pirates coach Skip
Holtz said. "I don't care who you are. I don't care if you are the Packers
playing a high school team.
"If you have five turnovers, you're not going to win.
That's how it is."
It's exactly how it has been since the Pirates and Golden
Eagles decided that each should be a fixture on the other's schedule. Tee it
up, turn it over, and try to avoid a Heisman performance by the Southern
Miss QB.
ECU has been historically good at the first two — and
traditionally bad at the latter.
Southern Miss quarterback Dustin Almond certainly did his
part to uphold the series trend. As did the Pirates, who have rewritten that
cliché about the disposal of records. Oh, you can throw them out, because
Southern Miss will win handily, save for a handful of exceptions.
So, is this what you call a rivalry?
"I think from our standpoint that it's a rival, because
they're one of the better teams in the league," Holtz said. "That's always a
game you get up for — one of the better teams in the league.
"Probably the real answer to that question would be from
them. Are we a rival? You know, when you beat somebody nine out of ten
times, I don't know how much you consider that a rivalry game. We do,
because that's where we want to be."
True, there is at least some common ground that the two
programs share.
At some point in each school's history, someone declared
that football would be the beacon that would lead the charge athletically.
Combine that with the uphill climb both face and the third-rate treatment
each has received over the years from in-state neighbors, and you have a
pair of distant cousins who meet annually at a family reunion.
Of course the same could be said about Marshall, which
truthfully could evolve as the Pirates' biggest conference rival (providing
both are C-USA members into the foreseeable future). Though East Carolina
has faced the Herd far less, the games have been more memorable and have had
a greater impact on the gridiron histories of each school.
ECU would like to forget most of its series with Southern
Miss, including the most recent installment. Given that, it's tough to
justify the Golden Eagles as a legitimate rival.
Once again the proof was on the scoreboard and in the
stands.