Classic Rewind Preview: ECU Hosts Houston In C-USA Championship ('09)
May 28, 2020 | Football
| Classic Rewind Preview: ECU vs. Houston (2009) | |
| Re-Air Date: | Saturday, May 30, 2020 |
| Re-Air Time: | 1 P.M. (EDT) |
| Game Location: | Greenville, N.C. |
| Game Coverage: | Internet: ECUPirates.com |
| In-Game Hashtag: | #ECURewind |
| Official Web Sites: | ECU | Houston |
| Game Notes: | ECU | Houston (Preview) |
| Roster/Depth Chart: | Flipcard |
THE GAME
Two-time East Division champion East Carolina will try to capture a second consecutive league title when it faces off against West Division winner Houston in the Fifth Annual Conference USA Championship Game at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium Saturday beginning at 12 noon (EST). The Pirates, who are bidding to become the first repeat winner since C-USA implemented divisional play in 2005, will also look to extend their home winning streak to eight straight against conference members. The Cougars were the last Conference USA squad to hand ECU a setback in Greenville, racking up 621 yards on the way to a 41-24 triumph on Sept. 27, 2008.
THE SERIES
East Carolina leads Houston 5-4 all-time in a series which dates back to 1997 ... Oddly, the Pirates have captured four of five meetings in Houston but have dropped three of four matchups played at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium ... All nine battles have been C-USA contests.
HOLTZ AGAINST THE COUGARS
A 37-35 Pirate win in 2007 and a 41-24 Cougar triumph last year serve as Skip Holtz' only meetings against Houston in any coaching capacity ... Prior to '07, he had never previously faced the Cougars during his assistant coaching career and five-year head coaching tenure at UConn.
SUMLIN AGAINST THE PIRATES
After a 41-24 UH win a year ago, Kevin Sumlin will see East Carolina on the opposite sideline for the second time Saturday ... The Pirates have never competed against Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Purdue, Minnesota, Wyoming and Washington State while Sumlin served on those respective staffs.
HOLTZ AGAINST SUMLIN ... IRISH AGAINST BOILERMAKERS While Saturday's meeting will be the second for ECU's Skip Holtz and Houston's Kevin Sumlin as coaches, the two did face off against each other once as players ... As a backup flanker and special teams member at Notre Dame, Holtz was part of a 41-9 Irish win over Purdue on Sept. 27, 1986 while Sumlin served as an all-conference linebacker for the Boilermakers.
AGAINST THE LONE STAR STATE
The Pirates have won 15 of 22 all-time matchups (15-7) against FBS programs from the state of Texas ... ECU is 5-4 against UH, 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.
PLAYING THE WILD WEST ... YEAR NO. 5
East Carolina owns a 10-5 mark (5-2/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, splitting with Houston, and dropping two of three regular season matchups against Tulsa ... The Pirates were 2-1 (victories against Rice and Tulsa, setback at SMU) in 2009 after also taking two of three regular season matchups a year ago (3-0/2007, 1-2/'06, 2-1/'05).
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 one of CUSA's attendance leaders on an annual basis ... In all, a total of 6,238,238 fans have seen the Pirates in action since 1963, and so far in the Skip Holtz era, ECU has averaged 39,524 (1,106,678/28 games) ... ECU has drawn seven of Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium's top 10 crowds since Holtz' arrival (and 12 of 15) ... The Pirates also set new school records during the 2009 campaign in total attendance (259,143) and average attendance (43,191).
FOUR IN A ROW - A FIRST SINCE THE 70s
A 37-21 win over UAB two weeks ago guaranteed ECU's fourth-straight winning season - a first for the Pirate program since the 1976 (9-2), 1977 (8-3), 1978 (9-3) and 1979 (7-3-1) campaigns ... The success was actually an eight-year run that began in 1972 under coach Sonny Randle and was extended by Pat Dye until his departure after the '79 season.
SKIP HOLTZ AT-A-GLANCE ... AN ASSOCIATION OF SUCCESS
In addition to his success laying the foundation at Connecticut during his first head coaching position (1994 1998), fifth-year ECU Head Football Coach Skip Holtz has been associated with the best of college football during his assistant coaching tenures ... Prior to salvaging the South Carolina program while working under his father, the legendary Lou Holtz, the younger Holtz also picked up plenty of hardware in earlier stops at Notre Dame, Colorado State and Florida State – three programs which he helped to a combined record of 67-15-2 ... A closer look:
At Notre Dame (1990-1993): Helped lead the Fighting Irish to a 21-2-1 record as a coordinator ... Unit was third nationally in total offense (470 ypg) in 1992 and ninth nationally in scoring offense (36.6 ppg) in 1993; At Colorado State (1989): Earned first full-time position as a WR coach on Earle Bruce's staff; At Florida State (1987-1988): Part of a Seminole program which racked up a 22-2 record, won Sugar and Fiesta Bowl titles and earned a No. 2 and No. 3 national rank.
CHASING CONFERENCE TITLES
As previously mentioned, East Carolina will pursue its second-straight Conference USA title when it meets Houston Saturday ... In all, the Pirates own six league championships - 2008 (C-USA); 1976, 1973, 1972, 1966 (Southern); and 1953 (North State Conference).
SCHEDULING 101
ECU's 2009 schedule was ranked as the eighth-most difficult in FBS football by ESPN.com ... The Pirates' slate stands behind Virginia Tech, Georgia, Oregon, Oklahoma, Fresno State, the entire Sun Belt Conference and Florida State ... ECU's non-conference opponents are a combined 35-12/.745 in '09.
NON-SHUTOUT STREAK UP TO 153
ECU will enter the Houston contest with an active streak of 153 games of not suffering a shutout - a new school record (17 points at Rice in '06 surpassed the previous mark of 110 set from 1971 to 1981) ... The last time the Pirates were blanked was on Oct. 4, 1997 when they fell to the Syracuse Orangemen 56-0 at the Carrier Dome.
WHEN THE BELL TOLLS ... THIRD DOWN DEFENSE
The Pirates have clamped down on third-and-long conversion attempts this year ... In fact, in third-down tries of more than two yards, East Carolina has held all 12 of its opponents to a paltry combined success rate of 29.0 percent (40-of-138) ... More impressively, ECU has held SMU, Rice, Memphis, Virginia Tech, Tulsa, UAB and Southern Miss to a combined 8-of-53 (15.1 percent) ledger when facing longer than third and-six situations in the last seven games.
REDZONE REWARDS ON BOTH SIDES
Offensively, East Carolina has been a perfect 8-of-8 in the red zone over the past three games and has converted 12-of-13 trips overall in its last five contests ... On the other hand, opponents have scored on just 8-of-13 trips inside the 20-yard line in the past three games (13-of-20 in the last five) ... The Pirates have turned in seven 100.0 percent red-zone performances in 2009 while opponents have posted just four – the last turned in by SMU on Oct. 10 ... Nationally, East Carolina ranks fourth among all FBS programs in red zone defense, keeping opponents off the scoreboard 30 percent of the time when they cross the 20-yard line.
GETTING AT LEAST ONE IN 28 STRAIGHT
East Carolina has forced at least one turnover in 28 consecutive contests, dating back to a flawless Marshall performance on Nov. 10, 2007 ... The Pirate defense and special teams squad have only come up empty on seven occasions since Skip Holtz took over the ECU program - four alone in 2005 ... ECU, which has forced four or more TOs in four of 12 games this season, has netted 15 takeaways in its last six games (2.5 topg) ... The Pirates have also made opponents pay for the 15 miscues, converting those into 11 scores with eight touchdowns.
PILLAGE AND PLUNDER
Racking up take-aways has developed into a well-known trademark for Skip Holtz' program ... The Pirates enhanced their lore late during the '08 campaign by netting 11 turnovers in their last three games (including a season-high seven against Tulsa in the league title game) and have enjoyed a similar mindset lately with a combined seven against the Golden Hurricane, Blazers and Golden Eagles during the last three weeks.
AERIAL PIRACY
Although it had a seven-game streak snapped at Southern Miss last November and a six-game string stopped against North Carolina Sept. 19, East Carolina has still picked off at least one pass in 19 of the last 24 games, which includes a season-high four interceptions vs. UCF on Sept. 26 ... The Pirates, who have also netted 12 picks in their last nine games, currently stand 25th nationally (14) after a No. 5 ranking in 2008 (22).
PRESSURIZED MAYHEM = SACKS
East Carolina has recorded at least one sack in its past nine matchups, including 18 in the last seven contests (2.6 spg) ... C-USA Preseason Defensive Player-of-the-Year C.J. Wilson, who had tallied just 2.5 sacks in the first nine games, dropped Tulsa quarterback G.J. Kinne a career-high three times Nov. 15 to become the first Pirate to record three sacks in a contest since Ja'Waren Blair did it against TCU in 2001 ... ECU's six sacks vs. the Golden Hurricane (highest output since picking up seven against Southern Miss in 2000) was followed with a four-sack outing vs. UAB and a one-drop effort vs. USM.
DOING DEFENSIVE DOUBLE DIGITS
Since Skip Holtz has taken over the ECU program, the Pirate defense has booked double-digit defensive totals to 23 opponents (17 rushing, six passing) ... East Carolina posted its first non-triple-digit statistical total of the 2009 season when it held UCF to just 70 rushing yards Sept. 26 before holding SMU to a Holtz era-best 28 ground yards Oct. 10 and following with a 78-yard effort against Rice Oct. 17, an 84-yard performance at Memphis Oct. 27 and a 30-yard stuffing at Tulsa Nov. 16 ... ECU has allowed just three rushes over 26 yards in the last nine games and none over 46 all season.
CASHING IN POINTS ON DEFENSE
The Pirate defense got into the scoring column for the first time in '09 with three TDs against Tulsa, using a pair of interception returns from Emanuel Davis and Levin Neal, and a fumble return by Jay Ross ... In all, Skip Holtz' defenses have tallied a total of 11 scores (3/'09, 4/'08, 1/'07, 3/'06, 0/'05).
THREE OUT OF FOUR RECOMMEND IT
With DT Linval Joseph and DE C.J Wilson scoring for the Pirates against Southern Miss last Saturday, three of East Carolina's four starting defensive linemen have gotten into the endzone this season ... Joseph scored on a one-yard touchdown plunge in the second quarter and Wilson returned a blocked PAT for two points to join Jay Ross on the DL scoring "leader" list after the latter booked a 47-yard fumble return for a score against Tulsa Nov. 15 ... Joseph became the first defensive player to score an offensive touchdown in the Skip Holtz era, while Ross became the first defensive lineman to score a non-offensive touchdown since Holtz' arrival in 2005.
SECOND-AND-THREE
ECU has averaged nearly seven (6.8) yards and scored eight touchdowns on first down plays during its last six games against Rice, Memphis, Virginia Tech, Tulsa, UAB and Southern Miss ... Most recently against the Golden Eagles, the Pirates used a 34-yard first-down TD rush by Dwayne Harris to take a 10-7 lead and only recorded one play that went for negative yardage.
FINDING FREENEY
Sophomore wide receiver Darryl Freeney has made his presence felt in the ECU offense in the last five games ... After recording just six receptions for 56 yards in his first seven games, Freeney has broken out with 32 catches for 519 yards and three TDs in his last five outings, an average of 16.2 yards per grab ... He netted a career-high 152 yards on eight receptions vs. Tulsa Nov. 15 ... Freeney made 22 catches for 352 yards and two TDs as a rookie in '08.
PINKNEY'S SECOND-HALF RESURGENCE
In the first six games of 2009, Patrick Pinkney averaged 178 passing yards per game and was completing 56.0 percent of his throws ... In the last six contests, he has averaged 234.7 yards and posted a 62.8 completion percentage ... Pinkney tossed four TDs in the first half of the season, but has thrown nine in the last six matchups ... He has also played interception-free football in the past three contests ... In a related note, Pinkney's efforts have increased ECU's scoring average from 21.2 (first six) to 32.7 ppg (last six).
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