PURPLE! Home Game Edition 4

ISSUE NO. 4

home game edition east carolina

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TIPPED OFF UNC cornerback Tim Scott comes up with the ball off a pass tipped

by ECU’s Joe Womack in the first quarter. Turnovers continue to plague the Pirate offense who relinquished the ball four times to the Tarheels. photo by jay clark

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Flying Blind ECU’s Lance Lewis comes down with the ball despite heavy-handed pass coverage by UNC safety Tre Boston. photo by jay clark

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up for grabs Defensive back #32 Justin Venable goes up with UNC wide receiver Dwight Jones who caught this pass for a touchdown, despite the tight coverage.

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carolina blues turnovers again prove costly as UNC defeatS the pirates 35–20.

photo by jay clark

STORY BY STEPHEN McNULTY

It’s hard to match the intensity that was felt around Greenville prior to the Pirates matchup against the University of North Carolina. But unfortunately, the Tar Heels found a way to take it away pretty quickly.

The Pirates continued their turnover woes Saturday night, opening the game with three straight turnovers before falling behind 28–3 in the first half. The Tar Heels would go on to win 35–20.

UNC won the toss and elected to defer to the second half. Eager to get things going, the Pirates quickly marched down the field. Reggie Bullock took the ball 19 yards down to the Tar Heels’ 29-yard line on third and one. Then Dominique Davis hit Danny Webster inside the red zone.

But once again, an ECU receiver struggled to maintain possession after catching a Davis pass. Tre Boston ripped the ball out of Webster’s hands and into UNC possession.

With a packed Dowdy-Ficklen behind them, the ECU defense came out and forced the Tar Heels to punt. The Pirate defense wouldn’t be off the field long though. After an incompletion and a false start, Tim Scott intercepted Davis’ high throw that deflected off the hands of Joe Womack, giving the Tar Heels the ball deep inside ECU territory.

It took just two plays for Brynn Renner to find Jheranie Boyd in the end zone and put UNC up 7–0.

With the ball back in the offenses’ hands, ECU moved east carolina university

down the field. Davis found Lance Lewis on a drag route across the middle that Lewis took for 33 yards down to the North Carolina 19-yard line. But on the next play Tydreke Powell stuffed Bullock in the backfield and Kevin Reddick came up with the loose ball for UNC. Excluding the kneeldown to end the UAB game, it was the fifth consecutive possession by the Pirates that ended with a turnover.

“We’ll keep working on our weakness, which is taking care of the football,” head coach Ruffin McNeil says. “But we also have to take it away on defense.”

The ECU defense forced the Tar Heels to a third and six after two Giovani Bernard rushes. But Derek Blacknall and the Pirate defense bit hard on the play-action fake and Erik Highsmith easily got behind the defense for a 75yard touchdown catch, putting UNC up 14–0.

The Pirates were unable to get anything going on the ensuing drive and were forced to punt. Ben Ryan continued to do a good job for ECU as he pinned UNC inside the 10.

Eager to completely wipe the crowd out of the game the Tar Heels began marching down the field. Consecutive rushes of 13, 12, and 30 yards by Bernard helped to get UNC inside the red zone and eventually into the end zone to put the Tar Heels up 21–0.

After the first play of the drive was an incomplete pass, UNC took a page out of Virginia Tech’s playbook. The PURPLE! 7

THE PIRATES SO FAR...

Offense After the Pirates lit up the scoreboard in 2010, many Pirate fans expected the same in 2011, but ECU is averaging less than 24 points-per-game this year. Dominique Davis’ 68.6 completion percentage is impressive and he also seems to be getting right back where he started, throwing for 361 yards against UAB, and 417 against UNC. But seven interceptions to his nine touchdowns has been Davis’ downfall. After the Pirates lost fan-favorite Dwayne Harris last year, Lance Lewis has again stepped up, catching five touchdowns in the first four games. Freshman Justin Hardy, who has 31 catches thus far, has also been an asset for the Pirates.

With such a prolific passing attack, the Pirate running backs often get little attention. After running the ball just 23 times in ECU’s first two games, Reggie Bullock burst onto the scene against UAB. The junior college transfer carried the ball 24 times for 169 yards and a score against the Blazers. Bullock rushed 16 times for 72 yards last week against UNC. If the Pirates can maintain a steady and productive rushing attack it could add a dimension to the offense they were in dire need of in their first two games of 2011.

Defense Following a less-than-stellar 2010 season, the Pirates made a well-noted switch to the 3–4 defense. Despite giving up more than 225 rushing yards per game in the team’s three losses, the defense has been impressive. It must be taken into perspective that ECU has faced three talented offenses including South Carolina, which is led by arguably the nation’s best running back, Marcus Lattimore. It also should be remembered how often the Pirate defense was quickly forced back onto the field following ECU turnovers.

Freshmen Jeremy Grove leads a notable line backing corps for the Pirates and seniors Emanuel Davis and Derek Blacknall alongside sophomore Damon Magazu anchor the Pirates’ secondary. Magazu has two interceptions on the season, both coming in the end zone, and Grove has tallied 52 tackles on the season.

Special Teams Michael Barbour has done his job well for the Pirates. The senior kicker did miss an extra point against USC, but is four of five on field goals with his only miss coming from more than 50 yards away. Barbour’s longest field goal came against Virginia Tech when he split the uprights from 48 yards away to tie the game in the third quarter. ­—SM

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QB #4 DOMINIQUE DAVIS purple! OFfensive player of the game

photo by jay clark (2)

ECU quarterback Dominique Davis threw for a school record 417 yards in the Pirates loss to UNC. Davis also threw for two scores while hitting nearly 70 percent of his passes. The senior captain completed more than 30 passes (41) for the fifth time in the last six games; however, Davis has thrown at least one interception in the last seven contests.

Tar Heels ran the ball eight consecutive times to complete the nine play 92-yard drive.

Down three touchdowns in the second quarter and in desperate need of a score, the Pirates moved the ball on the UNC defense again. The Pirates worked their way inside the Tar Heel 20-yard line, but a false start on third and one halted the ECU offense and forced a Michael Barbour field goal from 35-yards out.

Frantically looking for a stop, the ECU defense returned to the field. Again the Pirates forced the Tar Heels to a third and long situation. But a long bomb bounced off Justin Venable’s hands in the end zone and Dwight Jones came up with the touchdown catch for UNC. When it rains, it pours.

After punts by both teams the Pirates got the ball at their own two-yard line with just 50 seconds to go in the half. Eager to generate any type of points, Davis quickly completed three passes and began moving the ball again. But UNC defensive lineman Sylvester Williams intercepted Davis inside Pirate territory. Luckily for the Pirates, Thomas Moore missed the 39-yard field goal as time expired in the half. east carolina university

“A great team like UNC you can’t turn the ball over four times and expect to come out with the win,” says Davis.

Trailing 28–3 at halftime may have depleted the crowd at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, but it didn’t take the fight out of the Pirates. ECU started the half by forcing UNC to punt after just six plays. Davis moved the Pirates down the field again into UNC territory, but this time he found Lewis from 23 yards out for the Pirates’ first touchdown of the game, making the score 28–10.

The defense came up big, forcing the Tar Heels to go three and out. Down more than two scores in the second half, the Pirates continued to push the ball. Davis hit Lewis twice on the drive, once for 17 yards and again for 24. ECU found themselves in the UNC red zone one more time. But an incomplete pass and rush for no gain from Davis forced the Pirates to settle for another Barbour field goal.

“Our kids battled,” McNeil says. “Against a team that is as talented as South Carolina and as talented as Virginia Tech.”

After cutting the lead down to two scores, the Pirates again looked to their defense for a huge stop. The Tar Heels responded with a heavy dose of Ryan Houston and PURPLE! 9

ILB #53 jeremy Grove purple! DEfensive player of the game For the second week in a row, freshman linebacker Jeremy Grove takes home the PURPLE! Defensive Player of the Game honors. Grove, who finished with 13 tackles against UNC, entered the game ranked third in the nation in tacklers per game. Grove also became the first Pirate since 2001 to record 10 or more tackles in the first four games of the season.

Bernard, exposing the Pirates flawed rush defense. On third and goal from the four Renner found Jones in the end zone for his second touchdown catch of the night. The 14-play 69-yard drive ate up over eight minutes off the clock. Down three scores with less than seven minutes left in the contest, the game was virtually over for the Pirates.

“I think we gave it away,” Jeremy Grove says. “Two or three big plays by [UNC] and we turned the ball over a lot. We have to learn from it and continue on.”

Davis found Danny Webster for a four-yard score with just more than two minutes remaining to bring the score to its 35–20 final. After regaining possession with a minute to play the Pirates padded the stats a little before the clock ran out.

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Davis finished with a team record 417 passing yards, surpassing the 414 yards that David Garrard threw for in 1998. Davis’ final stat line read 41 of 58 for 417 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Lewis finished with a career-high 166 yards receiving on 10 catches. Justin Hardy also added 10 catches in the game for 73 yards. Bullock carried the ball 16 times for a total of 72 yards.

For UNC Renner finished with four passing touchdowns and Bernard added a score to go with his 146 yards on the ground. Freshman Jeremy Grove became the first ECU player to get 10 or more tackles in the first four games of the season since 2001. game 4 - ECU vs. Unc - 2011

Houston QB Case Keenum leads the nation’s No. 1 passing offense.

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Dowdy-Ficklen also saw a new record as 50,610 fans packed in, beating the previous record of 56,410 set against NC State last season.

The Pirates fell to 1–3 on the season with the loss. ECU hits the road for their next three games, with the first stop in Houston.

PURPLE! Home Game Editions will return following the Tulane game. Until then,

GO PIRATES! east carolina university

The Pirates travel to Texas to take on the University of Houston for ECU’s second conference game of the season next week.

Despite playing two nationally ranked opponents in 2011, this could easily be the most important game thus far. A loss could send the Pirates to 1–4 on the season, something ECU hasn’t done since they started off 0–4 in 2004. The Pirates finished 2–9 that season.

Since Houston was absent from the Pirates schedule in 2010, the two teams will be meeting for the first time since ECU beat the Cougars for the conference championship at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium in 2009.

The Cougars opened the season with a close win over UCLA before defeating North Texas, Louisiana Tech, Georgia State, and UTEP to go to 5–0 on the season entering the matchup with the Pirates.

Houston boasts the nation’s No. 1 passing offense, and is top-10 in scoring, averaging more than 45 points per game. Decorated quarterback Case Keenum leads the Cougars. After tearing his ACL in the Cougars’ third game last season, the NCAA granted Keenum his sixth year of eligibility. The Texas native was named C-USA Preseason Offensive Player of the Year for a third year in a row in 2011. He is just the second Division I FBS quarterback to throw for more than 5,000 yards in back-to-back seasons. In fact, Keenum should become the NCAA’s all-time passing leader in 2011.

In five games this season, Keenum has already racked up more than 2,000 yards and 14 touchdowns while only throwing two interceptions. Keenum’s favorite target is fellow C-USA Preseason All-American Patrick Edwards. Edwards leads the Cougars with more than 500 yards and three touchdowns in 2011.

The Pirates will also have to corral Houston’s two-headed rushing attack. Michael Hayes leads all Cougars with more than 300 yards rushing on the season, and Bryce Beall is close behind with nearly 250 yards of his own. But both backs have reached the end zone five times on the ground.

If the Pirates hope to grab a victory over one of the conference’s best teams next week the defense must continue to play well; however, the most important issue for ECU will be holding onto the football. Against an offense as explosive as Houston’s, the Pirates cannot give the Cougars short field situations and continue to send the defense back out onto the field.

The game marks the first of three-straight road games for the Pirates, who will travel to Memphis and Annapolis to play Navy following their contest against Houston. Kickoff is slated for 7:00 p.m. on Saturday.

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50,610 fans packed Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium for the matchup against the UNC Tarheels.

Saturday night’s game was a “black-out” for Pirate fans who traded in their purple and gold for darker duds.

The attendance figures for this game represent a new facility record for Dowdy-Ficklen. photo by jay clark 12 PURPLE!

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