Classic Rewind Preview: ECU Travels To Tulsa For C-USA Championship ('08)
June 11, 2020 | Football
| Classic Rewind Preview: ECU vs. Tulsa (2008) | |
| Re-Air Date: | Saturday, June 13, 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 | Tulsa |
| Rosters: | ECU | Tulsa |
THE GAME
East Division champion East Carolina will try to capture its first league title since 1976 when it faces off against West Division winner Tulsa in the Fourth Annual Conference USA Championship Game at H.A. Chapman Stadium Saturday beginning at 12 noon (EST). The Pirates, whose last league crown was a Southern Conference title 32 years ago, will also be shooting for their sixth win in their last seven games. In addition to its six C-USA victories, East Carolina also owns triumphs over No. 17 Virginia Tech (27-22) and No. 8 West Virginia (24-3) in '08. ECU will also try to post its first victory over Tulsa as a C-USA member.
THE SERIES
Tulsa leads East Carolina 5-2 all-time in a series which dates back to 1984 ... Four of the last six matchups have taken place in Greenville after the series opener was played at what was then Skelly Stadium ... In all, the Pirates have dropped two of three games in Tulsa ... Furthermore, the Golden Hurricane is the only C-USA program that ECU has never defeated in league play.
HOLTZ VS. TULSA
Tulsa's 45-13 and 31-10 victories in 2005 and 2006, respectively, serve as Skip Holtz' only meetings against the Golden Hurricane as a collegiate coach ... Tulsa has played Florida State (five times), Colorado State (seven) and South Carolina (one) in its history but never when Holtz was a member of those respective staffs as an assistant coach.
GRAHAM VS. EAST CAROLINA
Todd Graham, ironically an ECU graduate (East Central University in Oklahoma), has never lost a game to East Carolina - winning once as a head coach (Rice's 18-17 decision on Nov. 18, 2006) and twice as an assistant coach ... While serving as Tulsa's defensive coordinator and West Virginia's co-defensive coordinator, the Golden Hurricane and Mountaineers pinned 45-13 and 37-17 losses on the Pirates Nov. 12, 2005 and Sept. 28, 2002, respectively.
HOLTZ AGAINST GRAHAM
The aforementioned 18-17 Rice victory in 2006 and the 45-13 Tulsa win in 2005 mark the only previous occasions that East Carolina's Skip Holtz and Rice's Todd Graham have stood on opposite sidelines during a contest.
ON THE ROAD - WINS IN EIGHT OF THE LAST 12
Since joining Conference USA in 1997, East Carolina has recorded a 33-44 (.429) mark when playing away from Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium ... So far in 2008, ECU has captured three true road wins (at Tulane, at UCF, at UAB), won a neutral site matchup ( knocking off No. 17 Virginia Tech in Charlotte) and suffered 30-24, 35-20 and 21-3 losses at N.C. State, Virginia and Southern Miss ... In both '06 and '07, the Pirates split six regular season road games, but closed each campaign with victories in three of the last four ... Last year, ECU's 4-3 record included losses at No. 9 Va. Tech (17-7) and No. 5 WVU (48-7) before bouncing back with wild 37-35, 45-42, 56-40 and 41-38 triumphs at Houston, UTEP, Memphis and vs. Boise State (bowl), while falling 26-7 at Marshall.
PLAYING THE WILD WEST ... YEAR NO. 4
East Carolina owns an 8-4 mark (4-2/home, 4-2/road) against the "other side" since the league began divisional play in 2005 - defeating SMU, Tulane and UTEP twice, splitting with Rice and Houston, and dropping both matchups against Tulsa ... The Pirates took two of three contests in 2008 (28-24 road win over Tulane Sept. 13, 41-24 home loss to Houston Sept. 27 and a 53-21 home win against UTEP Nov. 28) after claiming a sweep a year ago with triumphs over the Cougars, Miners and Green Wave ... ECU was 2-1 in 2005 and 1-2 in 2005.
THAT'S THREE IN A ROW - A FIRST SINCE 1998, 1999 AND 2000
ECU's 8-4 mark this season, its 8-5 record last year and its 7-6 ledger in 2006 represents three consecutive winning seasons - a first for the Pirate program since the 1998, 1999 and 2000 campaigns.
THREE TOUCHDOWNS OR LESS
East Carolina has surrendered only 91 points in the last six contests (15.2 ppg) - the fewest in a six-game stretch during a season since 1996 when it allowed 79 during a six-contest period against East Tennessee State (21), West Virginia (10), South Carolina (7), Central Florida (7), Southern Miss (28) and Miami, Fla. (6) ... Offensively, the Pirates broke out of a scoring slump when they rang up a season-high 53 points against UTEP last week ... In the four games prior to facing the Miners, ECU scored a combined 52 points – an average of 13.0 ppg - yet, still managed to win three of the four battles.
DOUBLE-DIGIT DEFENSIVE DOINGS
East Carolina has already booked double-digit defensive totals to five opponents in '08 - allowing a paltry 72 pass yards to WVU's Pat White, 76 rush yards to Tulane, 82 air yards to Memphis, 82 ground yards to UCF and a season-opponent-low 57 rush yards to UTEP.
SACKS, STUFFS & PICKS
The Pirates have tallied at least one sack in 25 of the last 26 games (24-game streak snapped at UAB Nov. 22) - a stretch dating back to the 2006 regular season finale at N.C. State ... In all, East Carolina has produced quarterback drops in 44 of 49 contests during the Skip Holtz Era ... The Pirates stand 28th nationally in tackles for lost yardage with 79 hits behind the line of scrimmage (-317 yards) – already surpassing Holtz' '05 (71) and '06 (61) units with two games still remaining to be played ... ECU has also picked off at least one pass in nine of the last 10 games (run of seven straight snapped at Southern Miss Nov. 15), which includes a season-high three interceptions vs. UTEP.
REDZONE RESILIENCY
East Carolina's defense currently ranks second nationally in redzone efficiency defense as it has halted 13 of 38 drives (34.2 percent) that have reached inside the Pirate 20-yard line ... Included in the 13 "stops" are four missed field goals, three fourth-down halts and three interceptions.
A PIRATE BLOCK PARTY
East Carolina has won nine of 10 games in which it has recorded a blocked kick or punt during the Skip Holtz Era ... In 2008, the Pirates have used a blocked punt by T.J. Lee (Virginia Tech) and blocked field goal attempts by C.J. Wilson (Tulane) and Jay Ross (UTEP) to fuel victories ... ECU knocked down four kicks in '07, one in '06 and two in '05 ... In all, the Pirates have stopped four field goal attempts, three punts and three point-after tries.
MOST REGULAR SEASON WINS SINCE '99
For the first time in the four-year ECU head coaching tenure of Skip Holtz, the Pirates are 8-4 at the 12 game mark in a season ... In fact, the Pirates haven't tallied eight or more wins in regular season play since 1999 (9-2).
FIRST QUARTER WAKE-UP CALL
With a pair of touchdowns against UTEP in the opening 15 minutes last week, East Carolina matched its entire first quarter offensive scoring production of the season vs. the Miners (other TDs came against West Virginia and UAB).
MOTIVATIONAL HALFTIME SPEECHES
East Carolina's most productive quarter of play this season has been the third period - a stanza in which the Pirates have outscored their opponents 80-45 ... If it wasn't for a returned extra-point attempt (two points) against Virginia Tech in the opener, ECU would have six third-quarter shutouts this season (West Virginia, Virginia, Memphis, UCF and Southern Miss) ... In terms of the entire second half, ECU has blanked the Mountaineers, Tigers and Knights in the final 30 minutes ... In their last seven games, the Pirates have only allowed 54 points after intermission (7.7 pph) - 14 coming against USM and UTEP.
SETTING THE TONE ON FIRST POSSESSIONS
The Pirates have scored on over half (13 of 24) of their opening-half drives this year - 2nd half vs. Virginia Tech/TD; both halves vs. West Virginia/ both TDs; 2nd half vs. Tulane/TD; 2nd half vs. N.C. State/TD; both halves vs. Virginia/FG and TD; 2nd half vs. Memphis/TD; 2nd half vs. UCF/FG, 2nd half vs. Marshall/FG, 2nd half vs. UAB/FG and both halves vs. UTEP/both TDs.
