Pirates Travel To UAB For Thursday Night Showcase
November 09, 2010 | Football
Nov. 9, 2010
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GREENVILLE, N.C. - East Carolina will open a two-game road swing and resume Conference USA play when it travels to UAB Thursday for an 8:00 p.m. (ET) nationally-televised matchup against the Blazers at Legion Field. The Pirates, who are just one victory away from becoming bowl-eligible for the fifth-straight season, will also try to snap a two-game losing skid after falling to UCF and Navy in successive weeks. ECU, which is 5-4 at the nine-game mark for the fourth time in the last five years, will close out its 2010 intra-divisional schedule against UAB before facing Rice and SMU the next two weeks.
Sharing A Pirate Bond
East Carolina's Ruffin McNeill and UAB's Neil Callaway share an association dating back to the late 1970s while both played key roles in the Pirates' success under the legendary Pat Dye ... As a starting strong safety and part-time offensive assistant coach, respectively, McNeill and Callaway helped the Pirates roll to a 9-3 mark and an Independence Bowl victory in 1978 before following with a 7-3-1 campaign in 1979.
The Series
East Carolina leads 5-4 ... The Pirates have won three straight and four of the last five meetings after UAB enjoyed a run of three consecutive victories beginning in 1999 ... The Pirates are just 1-3 in four visits to Birmingham, but have taken four of five in Greenville.
Legion Field & Alabama Memories
East Carolina's 17-13 victory against the Blazers in 2008 marked the Pirates' first win at Legion Field and in the state of Alabama since 1965 - snapping a 10-game losing skid ... In addition to UAB (1-3), ECU has squared off against Auburn (0-3) and Alabama (0-1), and participated in three Alabama-based bowls (0-2/Mobile, 0-1/Birmingham) in the modern era.
Non-Saturday Mayhem - Wins In Six Of The Last Eight
East Carolina is 12-15 on non-Saturday games in the last 15-plus years, when it became a regular "alternative" to the game's scheduling staple ... Oddly, the Pirates have fared better on the road - compiling a 9-6 record compared to a 3-9 slate in Greenville ... In terms of days (including bowls), East Carolina is 4-0 on Sundays, 0-1 on Mondays, 2-1 on Tuesdays, 0-2 on Wednesdays, 3-7 on Thursdays and 3-4 on Fridays ... Since 2005, the Pirates have defeated Boise State (bowl/Sunday/'07), UCF (Sunday/'08), UTEP (Friday/'08), Memphis (Tuesday/'09) and Tulsa (Sunday/in '09 & '10), while losing to Kentucky (bowl/Friday/'08) and Virginia Tech (Thursday/'09).
A Thursday Night Special
Although they have split their last six, the Pirates have posted an all-time record of 3-7 when playing on Thursday - last experiencing action in 2009 (vs. Virginia Tech) ... A closer look (bold/road):
| Date | Opponent | Result | Attendance |
| Nov. 27, 1986 | at Miami/Fla. | L, 36-10 | 30,202 |
| Oct. 29, 1992 | Southern Miss | L, 38-21 | 33,249 |
| Sept. 9, 1993 | Syracuse | L, 41-22 | 33,050 |
| Oct. 10, 1996 | Southern Miss | L, 28-7 | 34,480 |
| Nov. 13, 1997 | Cincinnati | W, 14-7 | 25,509 |
| Nov. 5, 1998 | at Cincinnati | W, 24-21 | 19,098 |
| Sept. 7, 2000 | Virginia Tech | L, 45-28 | 45,123 |
| Oct. 19, 2000 | at Louisville | W, 28-25 | 38,024 |
| Nov. 15, 2001 | Louisville | L, 39-34 | 39,775 |
| Nov. 5, 2009 | Virginia Tech | L, 16-3 | 45,569 |
No Rest For The Weary
For only the 11th time in program history (and first since 2003), East Carolina will play a game with five or less days of preparation time when it meets UAB Thursday ... The Pirates are 3-5-2 overall, but just 1-3 in short "turn-around" contests in the last 10 years - splitting a pair in 2000 and suffering setbacks in 2001 and 2003 (lost to West Virginia on Sept. 6 after falling at Cincinnati on Sept. 1).
A Growing Red Cross List
With DE Marke Powell's (arm) late addition to the "season-ending injury" list prior to the Navy game, East Carolina's defense has now lost three members of its front line depth chart this season (along with DE Justin Dixon/knee/North Carolina and DT Michael Brooks/knee/UCF) ... Brooks (6/29) and Powell (4/23) combined to make 10 starts and 52 tackles in 2010.
The unit, which welcomed back only two of 11starters this season to begin with, has also been without FS Dekota Marshall (leg) all year and CB Rahkeem Morgan (ankle) for the past two games ... The Pirates' lack of depth forced head coach Ruffin McNeill to activate true freshman DE Lee Pegues from redshirt status for the Navy game.
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 22.0 per game (198 points in nine games) ... In all, Davis has thrown 26 TD passes and rushed for seven more:
| No. | Name (class) | School | G | Pts | Pts/G |
| 1. | Dominique Davis (Jr.) | East Carolina | 9 | 198 | 22.0 |
| 2. | Cam Newton (Jr.) | Auburn | 10 | 210 | 21.0 |
| 3. | Colin Kaepernick (Sr.) | Nevada | 9 | 180 | 20.0 |
| 4. | Alex Carder (Soph.) | Western Michigan | 9 | 162 | 18.0 |
| 5. | Andrew Luck (Soph.) | Stanford | 9 | 158 | 17.6 |
| | Matt Barkley (Soph.) | Southern Cal | 9 | 158 | 17.6 |
Leading The Nation ... Part II
Davis also currently first nationally in completions per game, connecting on 30.9 of his attempts per contest ... A closer look:
| No. | Name (class) | School | G | Com | Com/G |
| 1. | Dominique Davis (Jr.) | East Carolina | 9 | 278 | 30.9 |
| 2. | Landry Jones (Soph.) | Oklahoma | 9 | 263 | 29.2 |
| 3. | Taylor Potts (Sr.) | Texas Tech | 9 | 255 | 28.3 |
| 4. | Ben Chappell (Sr.) | Indiana | 9 | 241 | 26.8 |
| 5. | Bryant Moniz (Jr.) | Hawai'i | 10 | 255 | 25.5 |
Conference USA Fireworks
Although their 35-point outing against UCF was a program league-game low this season, the Pirates have still scored 216 points in their five Conference USA contests - an average of 43.2 per game.
