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Long Labor Day for J.T. and Pirates
By The Associated Press
CINCINNATI Gino Guidugli
tied the school record for career touchdown passes, but spent most of
his time handing off Monday as Cincinnati ground out a 40-3 victory over
East Carolina.
Guidugli, a junior who holds most of Cincinnati's passing records, had
as many runs as completions in the first half, when the Bearcats (1-0)
pulled ahead 21-0.
Richard Hall ran for 117 yards and the Bearcats' first touchdown. Hall
initially enrolled at Ohio State, but never played and transferred to
Cincinnati.
East Carolina (0-1) had a dreadful debut under John Thompson, who signed
on as the Pirates' 18th head coach on Dec. 20. Junior quarterback
Desmond Robinson was erratic in his first career start, and an offensive
line that was supposed to be the Pirates' strength five senior
starters got manhandled.
Thompson, a defensive coordinator at seven schools including LSU,
Arkansas and Florida, couldn't get his defense in sync against the
Bearcats' no-huddle approach.
The Pirates also were penalized twice for roughing the passer on
third-down incompletions by Guidugli, sustaining drives.
East Carolina, which went 4-8 last season, lost its opener for the 10th
time in the last 13 years. The Pirates' next two games are against West
Virginia and Miami.
Cincinnati returns 10 starters from a team that went 7-7 last season,
including a 42-26 victory over the Pirates that clinched a share of the
Conference USA title and a trip to the New Orleans Bowl.
The Bearcats went 59 yards all on the ground to set the tone on
their second possession, with Hall scoring standing up on
fourth-and-goal from the 1. An interception then set up Tedric Harwell's
1-yard touchdown run.
Cincinnati went 90 yards in 12 plays late in the half, with Guidugli
throwing a 29-yard touchdown pass to tight end Dennis Hart. Guidugli
faked a handoff to Hall, and Hart got free behind the coverage for an
easy score with 23 seconds left.
Guidugli, who set most of Cincinnati's single-season passing records
last year, tied the school record with his 39th career touchdown pass.
He finished 13-of-25 for 121 yards in his first game with an all-new
receiving corps. He also ran eight times for 45 yards, often surprising
the Pirates on draw plays.
The Pirates managed only two first downs in the first half, one of them
on a flea-flicker. Robinson was 7-of-11 for 70 yards and an interception
before being replaced by Paul Troth late in the third quarter.
East Carolina lost top runner Art Brown to a knee injury last month, and
didn't have an effective replacement. Marvin Townes carried 15 times for
36 yards, but had few holes to exploit.
The Pirates didn't get any closer than the Cincinnati 43-yard line in
the first half. Hall's fumble set up Cameron Broadwell's 36-yard field
goal early in the third quarter, but Derick Eddington's 23-yard
touchdown run ended any chance of an East Carolina comeback. Harwell ran
10 yards for another score in the closing minutes.
02/23/2007 10:52 AM
Copyright 2002
Associated Press. Bonesville.net contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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