Pirates End Regular Season With SMU
November 24, 2010 | Football
Nov. 24, 2010
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ECU Game Notes 
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GREENVILLE, N.C. - East Carolina will officially complete its 2010 regular season schedule when it welcomes SMU to Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium Friday beginning at 2:00 p.m. (ET). The bowl-eligible Pirates, who have won 10 of their last 12 Conference USA games, will be looking to bounce back after suffering a 62-38 loss at Rice in their road finale last week. ECU will also try to extend its C-USA home winning streak to 11 straight with a triumph Friday - last falling to the Houston Cougars in 2008.
In addition, the contest against SMU serves as Senior Day with 18 seniors playing their last collegiate game at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium - WR Javon Brumsey, OL Cory Dowless, WR Dwayne Harris, DL A.J. Johnson, LB Dustin Lineback, DB Dekota marshall, DB Justin Nunery, LB Melvin Patterson, LB Wes Pittman, OL Doug Polochak, RB Giavanni Ruffin, OL D.J. Scott, DB Travis Simmons, DL Josh Smith, OL Willie Smith, WR T.J. Terrell, RB Norman Whitley and RB Jonathan Williams.
The Series
East Carolina leads 2-1 ... The Pirates completed a two-game sweep during the first inter-divisional meetings between the programs in 2005 and 2006, but SMU used defensive and special teams scores to hand ECU its only Conference USA loss of the season in 2009 ... James Pinkney completed 31-of-40 passes for 391 and a pair of scores to lead the Pirates to a 38-21 victory in the Mustangs’ only previous visit to Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
McNeill Against Jones
East Carolina’s Ruffin McNeill and SMU’s June Jones have stood on opposite sidelines on two prior occasions - both, ironically, occurring while Jones was in his first year of head coaching positions at Hawai’i (1999) and SMU (2008). Jones claimed a 31-24 double-overtime victory Nov. 13, 1999, while McNeill was a defensive line coach at Fresno State. McNeill returned the favor Sept. 13, 2008, serving as the defensive coordinator of the Texas Tech squad that topped the Mustangs 43-7.
At Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium 4-1 In 2010
East Carolina’s all-time record at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium is 159-80-1 (.665) ... The Pirates opened the facility on Sept. 21, 1963 with a 20-10 win over Brian Piccolo and the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in front of 17,000 fans ... Before its current 4-1 mark in 2010, ECU also won a combined 10 of 12 home matchups in 2009 (6-1) and 2008 (4-1) ... ECU has turned in 36 winning seasons at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, including 13 “perfect” ledgers (the last in 1995/5-0).
Playing In Front Of The Pirate Nation
East Carolina has always been able to claim plenty of hometown support, even more so when playing at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium on Saturdays during the fall - establishing itself as C-USA’s attendance leader on an annual basis ... In all, a total of 6,520,165 fans have seen the Pirates in action since 1963, and in the last five-plus years, ECU has averaged 40,841 (1,388,605/34 games) ... The Pirates set new school records during the 2009 campaign in total attendance (292,191) and regular season average attendance (43,191), and are on pace to shatter those marks during Ruffin McNeill’s first year with 298,656 and 49,776 projections (based on first five games), respectively.
Among The Toughest Schedules
East Carolina’s 2010 schedule rates as the 43rd-toughest (NCAA rankings) ... In fact, among all non-BCS programs, the Pirates’ slate stands fourth (San Jose State/15th, UNLV/30th and Louisiana Tech/36th) ... Other C-USA programs include Marshall/62nd, SMU/73rd, Tulane/78th, Rice/79th, Tulsa/81st, Houston/82nd, Memphis/83rd, Southern Miss/89th, UAB/91st, UCF/108th and UTEP/116th.
Conference USA Fireworks
The Pirates have scored 308 points (an average of 44.0 ppg) in their seven league games this year, the most ECU has ever scored in C-USA action and easily topping the previous mark of 259 tallied by the 2007 squad.
Truth Vs. Reality
The perception of ECU’s spread offense is one of quick strikes, yet the Pirates have 12 TD drives of 10+ plays in ‘10 - five more than the entire ‘09 season.
America’s Top Point Producer
Dominique Davis will begin play this week as the nation’s leader in points responsible for with an average of 23.1 per game (254 points in 11 games) ... In all, Davis has thrown 34 TD passes and rushed for eight more:
| No. | Name (class) | School | G | Pts | Pts/G |
| 1. | Dominique Davis (Jr.) | East Carolina | 11 | 254 | 23.1 |
| 2. | Cam Newton (Jr.) | Auburn | 11 | 234 | 21.3 |
| 3. | Colin Kaepernick (Sr.) | Nevada | 11 | 210 | 19.1 |
Leading The Nation … Part II
Davis’ current tally of 34 touchdown passes (an average of over three per game), tops all FBS quarterbacks nationally ... A closer look:
| No. | Name (class) | School | G | TDs |
| 1. | Dominique Davis (Jr.) | East Carolina | 11 | 34 |
| 2. | Brandon Weeden (Jr.) | Oklahoma State | 11 | 30 |
| | Landry Jones (Soph.) | Oklahoma | 11 | 30 |
The Total Package
Davis has accumulated 3,538 yards of total offense this season, which currently stands fourth nationally among all FBS players ... A closer look:
| No. | Name (class) | School | G | Yds | TOY/G |
| 1. | Bryant Moniz (Jr.) | Hawai’i | 11 | 3,990 | 362.7 |
| 2. | Denard Robinson (Soph.) | Michigan | 11 | 3,767 | 342.5 |
| 3. | Brandon Weeden (Jr.) | Oklahoma State | 11 | 3,708 | 337.1 |
| 4. | Dominique Davis (Jr.) | East Carolina | 11 | 3,538 | 321.6 |
