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News Nuggets, 09.18.04
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Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

Diamond Pirates post 'Help Wanted' notice

East Carolina's powerhouse baseball program has not grown too big to look beyond blue-chippers in the never-ending hunt for talent, and one of the places the 2004 NCAA Kinston regional champs will search for players will be right under their noses.

The Pirates, who finished No. 8 in last season's final Baseball America poll, will hold open walk-on tryouts on Sept 27-29, according to a Friday posting on the school's official athletics website, www.ecupirates.com.

In order to be eligible for the tryouts, participants must attend a mandatory meeting on Wed. Sept. 22 at 4 p.m. in the Pat Draughon Room located on the second floor in the Ward Sports Medicine Building in addition to completing a medical release form.

Interested ECU students should contact the baseball office at 328-1983 for more information, noted the announcement.

Information from ECU Media Relations contributed to this report.

Stanford band's satire finally goes too far

STANFORD, CA — Stanford athletic director Ted Leland apologized this week to Brigham Young University and its fans for a halftime show by the Cardinal band that poked fun at polygamy with five dancers wearing wedding veils.

Stanford beat BYU 37-10 last Saturday at Stanford Stadium.

Leland said he would meet with the band to discuss possible sanctions.

"The actions of the Stanford band in Saturday's game were inappropriate, and I wish to apologize to BYU, their team, fans and alumni," Leland said. "We are committed to being good hosts to our opponents who visit Stanford and anything that doesn't reflect this is regrettable."

East Carolina fans have had first-hand experience with the irreverent Cardinal band's biting routines. The band took some hard jabs at North Carolina's tobacco industry culture in its halftime show at the 1995 Liberty Bowl in Memphis. On that day, the Pirates had the last laugh, defeating the Cardinal 19-13.

Cincinnati vs. Syracuse: Preview of the future

The University of Cincinnati will tune up for its final Conference USA football race against a future Big East opponent when the Bearcats visit Syracuse on Saturday. The 12 noon contest at the Carrier Dome will be televised regionally by ESPN Plus.

Both teams enter the game with 1-1 records, each having rebounded from season-opening losses with victories last weekend. Cincinnati, after dropping a 27-6 decision at No. 9 Ohio State, routed rival Miami (OH), 45-26. Syracuse bounced back from a 51-0 loss at No. 24 Purdue with a 37-17 win at Buffalo.

Though this will be only the fifth meeting between the Bearcats and the Orange, it will serve as a preview of regular competition between the two schools in coming years. Cincinnati will join the Big East Conference in 2005 after completing its 10th season of membership in C-USA.

Saturday’s game will be Syracuse’s home opener, and the Orange will be seeking their 100th victory in the Carrier Dome. Syracuse has a 99-43-2 record at home since the building opened in 1980. Cincinnati has lost in both previous visits to the Dome.

Richard Hall, who rushed for 238 yards in Cincinnati’s victory over Miami, enters the game ranked No. 7 in the nation in rushing, averaging 139 yards per game. The senior is averaging 9.9 yards per carry, which was boosted by runs of 70 and 79 yards vs. the RedHawks. Hall is the C-USA Offensive Player of the Week.

Bearcat senior Hannibal Thomas is No. 13 nationally in receiving yards per game (115.0) following his performance in Saturday’s win over Miami. Thomas caught five passes for a career-high 175 yards, including a 69-yard touchdown from Gino Guidugli.

In the special teams department, UC is ranked No. 6 nationally in net punting average (43.8), and opponents have not attempted a punt return this season. Sophomore Kevin Lovell, a newcomer from the junior college ranks, has made all three of his field goal attempts and is among the national leaders in field goals per game (1.5, 18th). In last week’s win over Miami, Mike Wright blocked a PAT and Daven Holly returned it for a defensive two-pointer which thwarted a RedHawk comeback attempt.

The game will be the fifth meeting between Cincinnati and Syracuse. The Orange own a 3-1 lead in the series but the Bearcats won the last contest, 12-10, in 2000.

The following Saturday, the Bearcats open C-USA play at East Carolina.

Cincinnati Media Relations

Bulls poised for taste of BCS football

TAMPA — South Florida will enter the realm of BCS football when it moves into the Big East Conference in 2005, but the Bulls will get a close-up look Saturday night in their 7 p.m. game at South Carolina, a Southeastern Conference member.

It’s not necessarily a new experience for USF, which has played BCS schools Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Pittsburgh over the course of the past three seasons. The Bulls are 1-4 in those games with a win at Pittsburgh in 2001.

USF (1-0) will look to improve on an offense that lacked spunk in its season opener a week ago against Tennessee Tech, while hopefully building on what was a strong opening game for the defense in the 21-7 victory.

“It’s interesting how our program has evolved,” says head coach Jim Leavitt. “When you take a I-AA team that beat a nationally ranked I-AA team, they come in for your opener and if you don’t absolutely blow them out, you’re not doing very well.

"It hasn’t always been that way in the long (eight-year) history of South Florida football. It’s changed and that’s probably good. We’ve caused something to happen that the expectations have gotten stronger and that’s just the way it is as you grow and you build.”

South Florida Media Relations

Wolfpack, Buckeyes try to live up to 2003 classic

RALEIGH — North Carolina State hardly has a rivalry with Ohio State. After all, they played for the first time last season. But what a game it was.

The Buckeyes raced to a big lead, only to have the Wolfpack score 17 points in the fourth quarter to force overtime. Three extra periods later, after Ohio State scored a touchdown on its possession, N.C. State tailback T.A. McLendon was stopped inches short of the end zone on fourth down.

Finally, nearly 4½ hours after the opening kickoff, the Buckeyes had their 44-38 victory. One of their best?

"It ranks pretty high," Ohio State linebacker A.J. Hawk said. "I'm sure it was a great game to watch because everyone was going all out, because you didn't want to make a mistake that would cost you that game."

The Wolfpack gets a chance to even the series Saturday, when No. 9 Ohio State (2-0) makes a rare non-conference appearance away from the friendly confines of Ohio Stadium. This is the Buckeyes' first trip to North Carolina for a football game, and it's their first on the road against a team not in the Big Ten since 2002.

With the way future schedules are laid out for both teams, it might be the last regular-season matchup for a while.

"It's a big game, it is a huge, huge game," Wolfpack coach Chuck Amato said. "There will be a fanny in every seat, I guarantee you that."

Since Amato took over in 2000, N.C. State is 3-7 against ranked opponents, although all but one of the losses have been by 10 points or less. That includes heartbreakers last season to Ohio State and Atlantic Coast conference rival Florida State, which slipped by the Wolfpack 50-44 in double overtime.

Amato's players are convinced they can prevail in big games now, despite the near misses in 2003. The mentality came from keeping so many of them close.

"Everybody is believing we can win these kind of games. Now we have to go out and win them," Amato said. "One thing is believing, another thing is doing. That believing is a big, big step in the right direction."

N.C. State (1-0) had a bye last week after beating Division I-AA Richmond 42-0, and the time off was crucial to allow a couple of injuries to heal. McLendon and rover Andre Maddox, the leading tackler a year ago, missed the opener with strained hamstrings, and both are listed as probable for Saturday's game.

In victories over Cincinnati and Marshall, Ohio State has piled up an average of 433 yards. New quarterback Justin Zwick, who replaced Craig Krenzel, has completed 57 percent of his passes for 537 yards and four touchdowns.

His solid play down the stretch was a big factor in last week's 24-21 victory over Marshall, when he led the Buckeyes on a final drive to set up a 55-yard field goal by Mike Nugent on the final play.

"I think if you really sit back and reflect on last week's game, things went OK for a while, and then they went sour for a while, and it's usually how you end that's important," Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said of Zwick. "I thought he did an excellent job of handling that."

N.C. State has its own concerns at quarterback. Jay Davis took over for Philip Rivers and had a stellar debut against Richmond, but the competition this week is a lot tougher. How he handles the pressure might go a long way in determining the outcome.

"He stepped up big time," wide receiver Tramain Hall said of Davis. "He calms everybody down in the huddle. He's ready."

News Nuggets are compiled periodically from staff, ECU, Conference USA and its member schools, and from Associated Press and other reports. Copyright 2004 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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