ECU Completes Road Slate At Rice
November 17, 2010 | Football
Nov. 17, 2010
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GREENVILLE, N.C. - East Carolina will close out its 2010 regular season road schedule when it travels to Houston Saturday for a 1:00 p.m. (ET) Conference USA matchup against Rice. The Pirates, who reached bowl-eligible status for the fifth-straight year by defeating UAB last week, can also guarantee their fifth consecutive winning campaign with a victory against the Owls - a first since the 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978 and 1979 seasons.
In addition, ECU will be looking for its first-ever triumph at Rice Stadium and complete the 2010 league road schedule with a 3-1 mark for the fourth time in as many years before welcoming SMU to Greenville next Friday.
The Series
East Carolina leads 2-1 ... The Pirates have averaged 45 points per game in a pair of victories in Greenville, but managed only 17 in a loss during the two teams' only meeting in Houston ... Clark Fangmeier's 40-yard field goal with three seconds remaining lifted Rice to a triumph, which also knocked ECU out of the C-USA Championship Game in the final league contest of the season.
Bailiff Against East Carolina
In addition to last year's first meeting against the Pirates as a head coach, David Bailiff also faced off against East Carolina on two previous occasions as an assistant ... While he served on the Texas Christian staff from 2001 to 2003, the Horned Frogs and Pirates met twice - both resulting in ECU victories ... East Carolina defeated TCU 37-30 in Fort Worth on Oct. 30, 2001 before the Pirates stunned the No. 22 Frogs 31-28 a year later (Nov. 23) at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium while Bailiff was TCU's defensive coordinator and assistant head coach ... ECU battled Texas State (formerly known as Southwest Texas State) once in its history (1985), three years before Bailiff began working with the Bobcat program as a graduate assistant.
Against The Lone Star State
The Pirates have won 16 of 23 all-time matchups (16-7) against FBS programs from the state of Texas ... ECU is 6-4 against Houston, 2-0 vs. UTEP, 2-1 vs. Rice, 2-1 vs. TCU, 2-1 vs. SMU, 1-0 vs. Texas Tech and 1-0 against North Texas ... East Carolina has never faced Big 12 Conference members Baylor, Texas A&M or Texas on the gridiron.
Visiting The Bayou City ... Venue No. 3
The meeting at Rice Stadium will mark the third different venue ECU has played in while visiting the city of Houston ... In addition to an 18-17 loss during their last trip to Rice Stadium, the Pirates own a 4-1 record against the Houston Cougars at Robertson Stadium and were 1-0 when playing at the Astrodome - defeating Texas Tech 40-27 in the 2000 galleryfurniture.com Bowl.
Ruffin McNeill, Texas & Houston
Ruffin McNeill has recorded an all-time record of 65-31 (.677) when coaching in the state of Texas ... Of the 96 overall contests, 93 occurred during his tenure on the Texas Tech staff which spanned 10 years from 2000 to 2009 (65-28) ... Ironically, McNeill dropped his first three contests in the Lone Star State as a member of the UNLV and Fresno State staffs against current members of Conference USA (0-1 vs. Rice, 0-2 vs. SMU) ... In the city of Houston, McNeill has won two of five matchups - splitting a pair of bowl games (win vs. Navy, loss vs. East Carolina), winning and dropping a pair at Rice and falling to Houston last season at Robertson Stadium.
Playing The Wild West ... Year No. 6
East Carolina owns an 11-5 mark (6-2/home, 5-3/road) against the "other side" since the league began divisional play in 2005 - taking two of three against SMU and Rice, sweeping Tulane and UTEP in two meetings and splitting with Houston (two games) and Tulsa (four) ... The Pirates are 1-0 in 2010 after nipping the Golden Hurricane in the opener and were 2-1 in 2009 after also taking two of three regular season matchups in 2008 (3-0/2007, 1-2/'06, 2-1/'05).
In Bounce-Back Mode
For the fifth time in the last six opportunities (since 2006), East Carolina halted a two-game losing skid with a victory ... This year, the Pirates followed setbacks to Virginia Tech and North Carolina with a win at Southern Miss before erasing memories of losses to UCF and Navy with a triumph at UAB ... ECU has only suffered a losing streak of three games once during that span (2008).
First-Year Success Ranking Among The Best
Of the 23 first-year head coaches on the FBS level this season, Ruffin McNeill is just one of five who currently sports a winning overall record ... In term of conference marks, McNeill is one of four with a better than .500 ledger ... A closer look at the "winningest" first-year mentors in 2010:
| No. | Name | School | Overall Record (pct.) |
| 1. | Jimbo Fisher | Florida State | 7-3 (.700) |
| | Lane Kiffin | Southern California | 7-3 (.700) |
| 3. | Skip Holtz | South Florida | 6-3 (.667) |
| 4. | Ruffin McNeill | East Carolina | 6-4 (.600) |
| 5. | Joker Phillips | Kentucky | 6-5 (.545) |
| No. | Name | School | Conference Record (pct.) |
| 1. | Ruffin McNeill | East Carolina (C-USA) | 5-1 (.833) |
| 2. | Jimbo Fisher | Florida State (ACC) | 5-2 (.714) |
| 3. | Skip Holtz | South Florida (Big East) | 3-2 (.600) |
| 4. | Lane Kiffin | Southern California (Pac-10) | 4-3 (.571) |
Among The Nation's Best
With the latest set of NCAA rankings, though Nov. 13 games, QB Dominique Davis is 1st in completions per game and points per game responsible for, 4th in passing yards per game and in total passing yards, 5th in total offense per game and 36th in passing efficiency; WR Dwayne Harris is 6th in receptions per game, 7th in all-purpose yards per game, 16th in total reception yards, 17th in receiving yards per game and 18th in punt return yards per game; WR Lance Lewis is 20th in receptions per game, 45th in total reception yards and 49th in receiving yards per game; RB Jonathan Williams is 22nd in all-purpose yards per game; LB Dustin Lineback is 44th in tackles per game; K Michael Barbour is 43rd in scoring and 44th in field goals per game.
