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News Nuggets, 02.10.06
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Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

East Carolina steps up football schedule

East Carolina will begin an extremely challenging 2006 football schedule on Sept. 2 at Navy, one of eight 2005 bowl teams the Pirates will face next season.

The Midshipmen's option attack led the nation in rushing last year.

ECU closes the regular season against regional rival N.C. State at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh on Nov. 25.

The non-conference slate also includes home games against West Virginia (Sept. 23) and Virginia (Oct. 7).

East Carolina's schedule also will feature a six-week stretch of five consecutive games at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, a first in school history. On the back end, the Pirates will play four of their last five games on the road.

Of the eight bowl opponents on ECU's schedule, seven recorded victories in December and January. In addition to the Midshipmen (Poinsettia), Cavaliers (Music City), Wolfpack (Meineke Car Care) and Mountaineers (Nokia Sugar), the Pirates will also face off against Conference USA post-season winners Memphis, Southern Miss and Tulsa.

West Virginia, which is likely to be highly ranked heading into next season, posted a 38-35 Sugar Bowl win over Georgia in what was essentially a home game for the Bulldogs. The game, long a New Orleans fixture, was moved to the Georgia Dome in Atlanta because of the effects of Hurricane Katrina.

"Needless to say, I'm excited about our non-conference schedule and the opportunity to spend nearly a month and a half of the season without leaving Greenville," ECU coach Skip Holtz said. "Unfortunately, it comes with a price of having to play four of our last five games on the road during a critical stretch of the year. We obviously need to be ready to play early and get off to a fast start with Navy, West Virginia, Virginia and two tough Conference USA games right out of the chute."

After opening the season against Navy's triple-option scheme, East Carolina will begin C-USA play a week later when it visits UAB. After meeting the Blazers, the Pirates will open an unprecedented five-game homestand beginning Sept. 16 when they host Memphis and ending Oct. 21 when they welcome Southern Methodist to Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.

East Carolina's Sept. 23 home matchup against WVU, which finished the 2005 season ranked No. 5 in the Associated Press poll and No. 6 in the USA Today poll, is scheduled to be televised nationally by ESPN or ESPN2, according to a release on ecupirates.com.

The Mountaineers hung on for a 20-15 win over the Pirates last September in Morgantown.

After an off week, the Pirates will face their first of two ACC opponents when Virginia makes its first-ever visit to Greenville Oct. 7.

The Pirates will close out the long home stretch by hosting defending C-USA champion Tulsa Oct. 14 before meeting SMU a week later. ECU will then play four of its last five games away from Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. The road matchups will be against long-time rival Southern Miss (Oct. 28), Central Florida (Nov. 4), Rice (Nov. 18) and N.C. State (Nov. 25), with a home battle against Marshall (Nov. 11) featured in the middle.

The trip to Carter-Finley Stadium will be East Carolina's first since 1997 and will renew a series with N.C. State that dates back to 1970. Although the Wolfpack leads the series 14-9 and handed the Pirates a 52-14 loss during their last meeting in 2004, ECU has captured four of the last six meetings since 1987.

Play ball! Pirates, Terps open baseball season

East Carolina begins its quest for an eighth straight NCAA Tournament berth when it opens the 2006 baseball season today at 3 p.m. at Clark-LeClair Stadium. The Pirates will host Atlantic Coast Conference foe Maryland, which is in Greenville for a three-game Friday-Saturday-Sunday series.

Today's contest also is the season opener for the Terrapins and will mark the debut of Billy Godwin as East Carolina's head coach.

C-USA Basketball Standings, Scores & Schedule

News Nuggets are compiled periodically based on material supplied by staff members; data published by ECU, Conference USA and its member schools; and reports from Associated Press and other sources. Copyright 2005 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Page Updated: 02/23/2007 12:45 PM