East Carolina And Florida To Meet In Birmingham Bowl
January 02, 2015 | Football
| East Carolina Game 13: Florida | |
| Date | Saturday, Jan. 3 |
| Time | 12 Noon (EST) |
| Location | Birmingham, Ala. (Historic Legion Field) |
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GREENVILLE, N.C. - East Carolina will make its eighth bowl appearance in the last nine years when it faces off against Southeastern Conference member Florida in the Birmingham Bowl on Saturday, Jan. 3 at Historic Legion Field.
The Pirates, who will try to regain their momentum after closing the regular season with setbacks in three of the last five games, are in search of back-to back bowl victories (in successive seasons) for the first time since winning three straight in 1963, 1964 and 1965. ECU will also be looking to complete the campaign with at least nine wins for the second consecutive year (and fourth time since 2008).
EAST CAROLINA RECORDS AND STREAKS
- Qualified for 10 bowl appearances since 2000 (eight of the last nine years) ...
- Has won 23 of the last 27 games when scoring 30 or more points ...
- Has won 17 of the last 18 games when gaining 200 or more rushing yards ...
- Has held seven of last 12 opponents to less than 100 rushing yards ...
- Has won 10 of the last 16 games away from Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium ...
- Has won three-straight games at Historic Legion Field ...
- Has won six of the last eight games vs. non-conference opponents ...
- Has lost seven of the last nine games vs. SEC opponents ...
- Has lost four of the last five (and six of the last eight) bowl games ...
THE SERIES
Florida leads 1-0 ... The Gators, coached by Charley Pell and ranked No. 6 at the time, used a late fourth-quarter touchdown run by Neal Anderson to post a 24-17 victory on Oct. 22, 1983 in Gainesville for the only meeting to date ... Ed Emory's Pirates completed that season with an 8-3 record, dropping all three contests to Sunshine State opponents (47-46/Florida State, 24-17/Florida, 12-7/Miami) by a combined 13 points ... The two programs will meet again later "this year" when ECU visits Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on Sept. 12.
EAST CAROLINA AGAINST THE SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE
East Carolina has compiled an all-time record of 6-25 (.194) against current members of the Southeastern Conference ... In addition to the Pirates' 0-1 ledger vs. Florida, ECU is 5-13 against South Carolina, 1-1 vs. Missouri, 0-3 vs. Auburn, 0-2 vs. Kentucky, 0-1 vs. Alabama, 0-1 vs. Georgia, 0-1 vs. LSU, 0-1 vs. Tennessee and 0-1 vs. Arkansas ... The Pirates have dropped seven of their last nine games against SEC opponents - losing four of six vs. South Carolina (W/1996, L/1997, W/1999, L/2011, L/2012, L/2014), while dropping a 23-22 decision at Alabama in 1998 and suffering 25-19 and 20-17 (OT) setbacks to Kentucky and Arkansas, respectively, in consecutive Liberty Bowl appearances (2008 and 2009).
THE GAMECOCKS: A COMMON 2014 OPPONENT
Both ECU and Florida had South Carolina on its schedule this season and the net result was similar ... The Pirates passed for 321 yards in a 33-23 road loss, while the Gators rushed for 218 in a 23-20 home overtime defeat.
A PIRATE-GATOR CONNECTION (OF SORTS)
Sophomore UF cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III spent considerable time "playing" on the ECU practice field as a teenager, coming to workouts to watch father Vernon coach Pirate DEs and special teams from 2007 to 2009.
THE AMERICAN - YEAR ONE
ECU has posted a 74-39 (.655) all-time mark against current members of the American Conference ... The Pirates currently hold series ledgers against Memphis (15-6), Cincinnati (12-6), Tulane (11-3), UCF (9-4), Temple (8-4), Houston (7-5), Tulsa (7-5), SMU (3-2), Connecticut (1-0) and USF (1-4).
AGAINST NON-CONFERENCE OPPONENTS
Since accepting membership in a conference, the Pirates have produced a 28-45 (.384) regular season nonleague record ... East Carolina claimed its first winning non-conference mark since 1999 (a program-best 5-0 clip) with a 3-1 ledger a year ago before following with an identical mark in 2014.
A NON-TRADITIONAL SATURDAY GAME
East Carolina's bowl matchup against Florida on Jan. 3 will offer the Pirates something rare lately - a chance to play on a Saturday ... Of ECU's last six games (on the 2014 schedule), only two were Saturday battles - Nov. 1 (at Temple) and Nov. 22 (vs. Tulane) ... The Pirates faced Connecticut (Oct. 23), Cincinnati (Nov. 13) and UCF (Dec. 4) on a Thursday night, while playing at Tulsa on a Friday (Nov. 28).
AWAY FROM DOWDY-FICKLEN - WINS IN 10 OF THE LAST 16
Since becoming a conference member in 1997, East Carolina is 52-67 (.437) when playing away from Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium ... Before a 3-3 mark this year and a 5-2 record in 2013, the Pirates were 3-4 in 2012, 2-4 in 2011, 2-5 in 2010, 3-4 in 2009 and 5-4 in 2008 ... When the Pirates topped the Bobcats 37-20 at Tropicana Field last December, it marked "away" wins in five of seven contests during the 2013 campaign - ECU's top road ledger since a 5-1 slate in 1991 ... From a regular season standpoint, the Pirates have won nine of the last 14 road contests dating back to 2012 (6-4 in conference play, 3-1 in non-conference action).
LEAGUE, NON-LEAGUE STATISTICAL COMPARISONS
In its eight American Athletic Conference contests this year, East Carolina averaged 34.1 points, 153.4 rushing yards, 355.0 passing yards and 508.4 total yards per game ... By comparison, the Pirates booked 43.3 ppg, 189.5 rypg, 392.0 pypg and 581.5 ypg averages in their four non conference tilts ... Defensively, ECU surrendered 25.8 points, 100.5 rushing yards, 273.6 passing yards and 374.1 total yards in its league contests, while giving up 25.5, 120.2, 240.5 and 360.8 averages against non-American Conference foes ... Of the nine interceptions East Carolina has surrendered all year, only five were recorded by AAC opponents - one each by USF and Connecticut back in October, another by Tulsa on Nov. 28 and two by UCF on Dec. 4.
SHUTOUT-FREE ... 218 AND COUNTING
ECU will enter the Birmingham Bowl with an active streak of 218 games of not suffering a shutout - a school record (previous mark was 110 set from `71 to `81) ... The last time the Pirates were blanked was on Oct. 4, 1997 (56-0 at Syracuse) ... ECU's 218-game run currently ranks 14th among all active FBS streaks and is the 24th-longest in the all-time annals ... Florida currently sits atop the active leaderboard with 334 (began in 1988).
TAKING OFF THE (RED)SHIRT
Ruffin McNeill's "play immediately" count is currently at 21 during his ECU head coaching tenure ... A program-high nine (9) players have had their redshirts removed this year - TE Steve Baggett, OWR Trevon Brown, ILB Joe Carter, OWR Terrell Green, IWR Quay Johnson, DS Colton Oliver, DB Cody Purdie, RB Anthony Scott, ILB Ray Tillman - to join a list of 12 others beginning in 2010: 2010 (4), 2011 (2), 2012 (1) and 2013 (5).
WINNING THE FOURTH QUARTER
ECU enjoyed a distinct upper hand in fourth quarter action during its American Athletic Conference schedule this year, outscoring SMU, USF, UConn, Temple, Cincinnati, Tulane, Tulsa and UCF by a combined 109-32 clip (+77) ... Overall (12 games), the Pirates have enjoyed an 151-63 edge in the final 15 minutes ... The +88 margin currently ranks first nationally heading into bowl play (Nevada/+85 is second).
A TWO-YEAR DEFENSIVE TURNAROUND
The arrival of defensive coordinator Rick Smith a year ago has certainly made a visible impact on that side of the ball for the Pirates ... A closer look:
| Category/Game | 2010-12 | 2013-14 |
| Rushing Defense | 185.6 | 112.1 |
| Total Defense | 430.0 | 369,2 |
| Scoring Defense | 36.1 | 25.2 |
| Overall W-L Record | 19-19 | 18-7 |
To offer some perspective, ECU ranked 120th in total defense, 119th in scoring defense and 117th in rush defense during Ruffin McNeill's first year (2010).
HALTING THE RUN
After limiting six of 13 opponents to double-digit rushing totals in 2013, Rick Smith's defense followed with greater success in 2014 by keeping seven of the first 12 foes under 100 yards - NCCU (70), Virginia Tech (91), SMU (51), USF (93), UConn (84), Temple (65) and Tulane (24) ... ECU ranked 13th nationally against the run a year ago (116.7 ypg) and currently stands eighth at the FBS level by allowing only 107.1 ypg.
Notebooking Shane Carden
Although passed over for the starting position to open the 2012 season as a sophomore, Shane Carden took over the job prior to ECU's third game and has responded with a school-record 11,564 aerial yards and 84 TDs ... A closer look at Carden's career:
- Statistically, ranks among Top 5 FBS active career leaders in total offense plays per game (2nd/45.5), completions per game (4th/26.1), TDs responsible for (4th/108), pass yards (4th/11,564), pass yards per game (4th/296.5), pass completions (4th/1,018), pass attempts (5th/1,513), completion percentage (5th/67.3), TD passes (5th/84), total yards (5th/11,831) ...
- Has accounted for 108 of 167 off ensive TDs (65%) as ECU's starter in three years ...
- Has thrown for over 400 yards on eight occasions and authored 14 contests over 350, 20 over 300 and 30 over 250 yards ...
- Has thrown a touchdown pass in 32 of his last 34 games ...
- First QB in school history to both pass for over 4,000 yards in a season (twice) and eclipse 3,000 in three-straight years ...
- One of eight (8) returning FBS QBs who own their school's single-season passing record, but is one of only four (nationally) to have set his program's career mark as an active player (Taylor Heinicke/ODU, Sean Mannion/OSU, Garrett Grayson/CSU) ...
- Established an ECU single-game passing record on three occasions - 439 vs. Marshall in 2012, 447 vs. Old Dominion and 480 vs. Tulane in 2013 ...
- Directly responsible for all four TDs vs. No. 17 Virginia Tech (three pass, game-winning rush with 0:16 remaining) and accounted for 12 scores vs. ACC member North Carolina in consecutive years (six; three/three in 2013, six; four/two in 2014) ...
- Earned 10 career league player-of-the-week awards, including four C-USA versions in 2013 and three American Conference honors so far this year; also has picked up two ESPN Helmet Stickers (vs. UNC/'13, vs. VT/'14) ...
- Currently second in rush TDs with six (led unit with eight in `12/second with 10 in `13) ...
- Has equaled a single-game East Carolina record with five TD passes on four occasions - vs. Memphis (`12) and vs. Old Dominion, Tulsa and UAB (`13) ...
- Selected as both the C-USA MVP (2013) and AAC Offensive Player-of-the-Year (2014) ...
CLAIMING ANOTHER (TOTAL) OFFENSIVE RECORD
In addition to three major passing categories, Shane Carden (11,831) also became ECU's career record-holder in total offense in `14 - passing David Garrard's mark of 10,238.
HARDY'S NCAA-RECORD CHASE ... COMPLETE
With nine receptions vs. Tulane on Nov. 22, senior inside receiver Justin Hardy broke the NCAA's (FBS) all-time receptions record - surpassing the mark of 349 set by Oklahoma's Ryan Broyles (2008-11) ... Hardy, who followed up his record-breaking performance with a combined 21 catches for 228 yards vs. Tulsa and UCF to stand at 376, currently leads all active receivers in career receptions and receiving yards.
TWO FOR 2 ... IN 48-STRAIGHT
Justin Hardy has caught at least two passes in every career game he's played, a run that sits at 48-straight contests heading into the Florida tilt ... The streak, which began with an 11-catch, 91 yard effort vs. South Carolina on Sept. 3, 2011, currently ranks first among all active receivers in 2014.
ECU'S TOUCHDOWN TANDEM
Seniors Shane Carden and Justin Hardy have connected for 27 touchdowns during their Pirate careers, which leads all active QB-WR tandems at the FBS level:
| No. | Quarterback | Receiver | School | TDs |
| 1. | Shane Carden | Justin Hardy | East Carolina | 27 |
| 2. | Rakeem Cato | Tommy Shuler | Marshall | 24 |
| 3. | Bryce Petty | Antwan Goodley | Baylor | 18 |
SPREADING THE WEALTH
ECU has had a 100-yard receiver (15 times by four different players - Isaiah Jones, Justin Hardy, Cam Worthy and Trevon Brown) in 10 of 12 games this season ... The Pirates have featured a "double-triple" in two of the last four games (Cincinnati/Tulane) with Hardy and Worthy each reaching 100-plus receiving yards in both tilts.
SPEAKING OF OFFENSE ...
The Pirates' 789-yard eff ort vs. North Carolina earlier this year stands as the second-highest single-game total at the FBS level this season (most by "G5" vs. "P5"):
| No. | Team | Yards | Opponent | Date | Result |
| 1. | Washington State | 812 | California | Oct. 4 | L, 60-59 |
| 2. | East Carolina | 789 | North Carolina | Oct. 20 | W, 70-41 |
| 3. | Arizona | 787 | UNLV | Aug. 29 | W, 58-13 |
IN THE POLLS
The 20-10 setback at Temple on Nov. 1 knocked the Pirates out of the Associated Press Top 25 polls for the first time since entering the rankings on Sept. 21 after their 70-41 win vs. North Carolina ... ECU broke in at No. 23 before shuffling around at No. 22 (Sept. 28), No. 19 (Oct. 5), No. 18 (Oct. 12, Oct. 19) and No. 21 (Oct. 26), compiling a 3-1 mark as a ranked program in 2014 ... The Pirates also stood 23rd in the initial College Football Playoff Top 25 released on Tuesday, Oct. 28 - the first "G5" program included in 2014.
