Pirates Host UAB For Conference USA Opener
September 21, 2011 | Football
Sept. 21, 2011
| East Carolina Game 3: UAB | |
| Date | Saturday, September 24 |
| Time | 3:30 p.m. ET |
| Location | Greenville, N.C. (Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium) |
| Tickets & Parking | Game Tickets | Parking Information and Map |
| Live Game Coverage |  Radio: WNCT 107.9FM |  Television: WITN and ECU All-Access Watch Live |
| Internet Options | Gametracker | Live Chat |
| Mobile Connect | Live Chat for Mobile Devices |
| Game Notes | East Carolina  | UAB |
| Statistics | East Carolina | UAB |
| Pirate Football Central |
Gameday Central | Roster | Fact Book |
GREENVILLE, N.C. - East Carolina will officially open its 2011 Conference USA schedule Saturday when the Pirates battle UAB at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. ECU will try to extend its C-USA East Division home winning streak to 10 straight and post its first victory of the campaign after suffering a 17-10 setback against Virginia Tech two weeks ago.
The contest against the Blazers will temporarily halt the Pirates' three-game slate against AQ Bowl Championship Series (BCS) members. ECU will meet North Carolina Oct. 1 after earlier clashes against the Hokies and South Carolina.
The Pirates Against The Blazers
East Carolina leads 6-4 ... The Pirates have won four straight and five of the last six meetings after UAB enjoyed a run of three consecutive victories beginning in 1999 ... The Pirates are just 2-3 in five visits to Birmingham, but have taken four of five in Greenville.
The Last Meeting
East Carolina 54, UAB 42
Nov. 11, 2010 @Legion Field, Birmingham, Ala.
Running back Jonathan Williams accounted for 291 all-purpose yards and a pair of touchdowns, including the game-winner late in the fourth quarter, to help East Carolina rally past UAB for a 54-42 Conference USA victory ... While his 11-yard scoring reception gave the Pirates a 48-42 lead with 5:48 remaining, a 20-yard run on a first-down play a possession earlier immediately answered a Blazer score and sustained a 27-point effort in the final period ... Trailing 42-40, Dwayne Harris sparked the late heroics with a 56-yard punt return to set up Williams' second TD of the contest ... The Pirates then forced a fumble on the ensuing kickoff and put the game away when Dominique Davis found Harris on a 10-yard toss with 4:12 left ... Davis completed 26-of-41 passes for 331 yards and five touchdowns, while Williams turned in his top receiving day with five catches for a career-high 115 yards - 77 coming on a third-and-eight snap to key a drive that helped ECU take its first lead of the game, 24-21, just 40 second prior to intermission.
The Last Meeting In Greenville
East Carolina 37, UAB 21
Nov. 21, 2009 @Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, Greenville, N.C.
Junior receiver and return specialist Dwayne Harris accounted for three touchdowns and 254 all-purpose yards to lead East Carolina past UAB 37-21 in a Conference USA matchup ... Harris' efforts, along with Patrick Pinkney's 20-of-25, 250-yard passing performance, was enough to withstand a Blazer offense that piled up 520 total yards and controlled the ball for over 35 minutes ... Harris also highlighted the Pirates' big-play production, hauling in a 59-yard touchdown pass from Pinkney before tacking on a school-record third scoring kickoff return of the season - a 99-yarder early in the fourth quarter ... ECU quickly built a 23-6 advantage in the first half, using a pair of Harris TD receptions and three Ben Hartman field goals ... After the Blazers opened the scoring in the second half with a field goal, Pinkney found Darryl Freeney for a similar 59-yard strike to push the Pirates' lead to 30-6 to close the third quarter ... UAB quarterback Joe Webb, who rushed for a game-high 132 yards and added 247 more through the air, closed the gap to 30-14 with a TD throw to Rashaud Slaughter early in the fourth period ... Harris quickly answered with his return on the ensuing kickoff to put the game out of reach ... The Blazers' 520 total yards and 273 rushing yards were the most surrendered by East Carolina's defense during the entire 2009 regular season.
Ruffin McNeill Against UAB
Last season's meeting in Birmingham represented Ruffin McNeill's first-ever contest versus UAB as either a player or coach ... While McNeill's Pirate playing career (1976-79) pre-dates the Blazers' existence as football program (1991), he never had the opportunity to coach against UAB while on the Appalachian State, East Carolina, UNLV, Fresno State and Texas Tech staffs.
An East Carolina Bonding Experience
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.
East Carolina Against Conference USA Opponents
Since playing its first season in Conference USA (1997), East Carolina has produced an all-time 61-43 (.587) league record ... Overall, the Pirates have won 10 of the last 13, 17 of the last 22 and 19 of the last 25 C-USA games, while in home league contests, ECU has won 10 of the last 11.
Battling Within The East Division
The Pirates are 22-8 (.733) against Conference USA East Division opponents since the league implemented division play in 2005 ... ECU is 12-3 at home and 10-5 on the road in games against Marshall, Memphis, Southern Miss, UAB and UCF ... Before finishing 2010 with a 4-1 record (wins over MEM, USM, MAR and UAB, loss at UCF) and taking all five "east" matchups in 2009, the Pirates posted a 4-1 record in `08, a 3-2 slate in `07, a 4-1 mark in `06 and a 2-3 ledger in `05.
Giving The BCS Schedule A Bye Week
East Carolina's Conference USA opener against UAB Saturday will temporarily halt the Pirates' three-game slate against automatic-qualifying Bowl Championship Series (BCS) opponents ... After dropping contests to No. 12/12 South Carolina and No. 11/11 Virginia Tech on Sept. 3 and Sept. 10, respectively, ECU will resume its BCS schedule against instate rival North Carolina next week (Oct. 1) ... In addition to the Pirates, only Georgia (No. 5/7 Boise State and No. 12/12 South Carolina) opened its season with back-to-back contests against opponents ranked among the top 12 in both polls ... In all, ECU has faced off against 26 (7-19) foes from AQ BCS conferences in the last six-plus years, 22 in regular season play alone.
Turning The Tide Defensively
Albeit early, East Carolina's move to a 3-4 defensive scheme appears to have made an impact - one perhaps even more magnified considering the Pirates' first two opponents (No. 12 Gamecocks, No. 11 Hokies) ... After ranking last (120) among all FBS members a year ago in total defense and 119th in scoring defense, ECU scrapped its 4-3 package before spring drills and installed a 3-4 look which has provided the Pirates more athleticism and versatility, especially out of the linebacking position ... A closer look:
| Category | 2010 (final) | 2011 | Improvement |
| Scoring Defense | 44.0 | *36.5 | 7.5 |
| Rushing Defense | 226.7 | 230.5 | (-3.8) |
| Passing Defense | 252.1 | 111.0 | 141.1 |
| Total Defense | 478.8 | 341.5 | 137.3 |
| Turnovers Gained | 1.7 | 3.0 | 1.3 |
*defensive (FR), special teams (PR) touchdowns included in scoring average
Drake, Grove Among Top Tacklers
A pair of East Carolina starting inside linebackers, junior transfer Daniel Drake and redshirt freshman Jeremy Grove, rank among the nation's top tacklers after netting 27 and 24, respectively, in the first two games ... A closer look:
| No. | Name (class) | School | Games | Tackles | Tackles/Game |
| 1. | Luke Kuechly (Jr.) | Boston College | 3 | 58 | 19.3 |
| 2. | Daniel Drake (Jr.) | East Carolina | 2 | 27 | 13.5 |
| 3. | Marcus McGraw (Sr.) | Houston | 3 | 39 | 13.0 |
| 4. | Danny Trevathan (Sr.) | Kentucky | 3 | 38 | 12.7 |
| 5. | Cornelius Arnick (Sr.) | Tulsa | 3 | 37 | 12.3 |
| 6. | Jeremy Grove (Fr.) | East Carolina | 2 | 24 | 12.0 |
| Neiko Thorpe (Sr.) | Auburn | 2 | 24 | 12.0 |
Stopping The Bleeding
By holding Virginia Tech to just 17 points Sept. 10, East Carolina snapped its string of consecutive games surrendering 40 or more at seven ... In fact, after limiting Marshall to a Ruffin McNeill-era low of 10 last Oct. 23, the Pirates surrendered 381 points in the next seven contests - an average of 54.4 ppg.
Redzone Success
OFFENSE: The Pirates are a perfect six-of-six (6-6) in the redzone (five TDs, one FG) in 2011 after contests against South Carolina and Virginia Tech and are among many currently topping the FBS level in that category ... Last year, ECU went 57-of-63 (90.5%) in the RZ - good for a No. 5 national rank.
DEFENSE: East Carolina kept the Hokies off the scoreboard on two trips inside the redzone, pushing their 2011 total to three stops already - using an interception, fumble recovery and forcing a missed field goal to thwart potential scoring opportunities ... A year ago, the Pirates prevented RZ scores only nine times the entire season (out of 68 attempts), with three of those occurring during the Pirates' victory over N.C. State (Oct. 16).
Takeaways ... A Pirate's Life
When Pirate free safety Damon Magazu intercepted a Logan Thomas pass in the back of the endzone early during the second quarter against Virginia Tech, it marked the 10th-straight contest which East Carolina has forced a turnover (and the third pick in as many games, dating back to the Military Bowl last December) ... In its opener, ECU recovered four South Carolina fumbles - the most since TCU coughed it up five times on Nov. 23, 2002 ... In all, the Pirates have forced two or more turnovers in three consecutive games and in six of their last 10 contests (dating back to the N.C. State game last Oct. 16).
Getting Off To Fast Starts
East Carolina hasn't had any problems getting off to good starts lately, posting halftime leads in both of its first two contests this season (24-14 vs. South Carolina, 7-3 vs. Virginia Tech) ... In fact, the Pirates led the Gamecocks 17-0 midway through the second quarter Sept. 3 ... Perhaps more impressively, ECU has outscored opponents 101-27 during first quarter action in its last seven contests at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium (dating back to the `10 opener).
Conference USA Fireworks
The Pirates scored 346 points (an average of 43.3 ppg) in their eight league games last year, the most ECU had ever scored in C-USA action and easily topping the previous mark of 259 tallied by the 2007 squad.
