East Carolina vs. Southern Miss Football Preview

Pirates to open CUSA play against division rival Golden Eagles

Date: Saturday, September 15th

Injury/Personnel Report:

East Carolina

Three Pirate players are listed as questionable for the USM game. J.J. Milbrook and Brandon Setzer have knee problems and J.R. Kraemer injured his thumb. Offensive guard Doug Polochak is not expected to play because of a shoulder injury, but defensive tackle Jay Ross is probable with a knee injury.

Southern Miss - N/A

ECU vs. Southern Miss General Overview

The Pirates and Golden Eagles share a very rich history on the gridiron in a series that dates back to 1951. Wins have been few and far between for East Carolina, as Southern Miss has won 75 percent of the meetings between the programs—including 14 of the 16 played in Greenville. The last home win versus USM came all the way back in 1994 when the Marcus Crandell led Bucs won 31-10 en route to a 7-4 regular season and Liberty Bowl match-up with Illinois.

Southern Miss head coach Jeff Bower, who is currently in his 17 th season at his alma mater, is the fourth longest tenured coach in the nation. Under Bower, the Golden Eagles have established themselves as the face of Conference USA football. They have posted 13 consecutive winning campaigns while also going bowling in nine of the last 10 seasons.

While they have struggled in the series overall, the Pirates did manage to snap their five-game skid to the Golden Eagles when they pulled out a thrilling 20-17 overtime victory in Hattiesburg last fall. East Carolina knotted the game at 17 on a James Pinkney quarterback sneak with only 13 seconds remaining. After freshman place kicker Ben Hartman converted a 24-yard field goal on the Pirates’ first possession of overtime, Travis Williams sealed the deal when he picked off Jeremy Young’s first down pass to the end zone. The contest saw the ECU defense have one of its best outings in recent memory, as they limited USM to only 180 yards of offense.

This type of game has been the norm rather than the exception in this wild and wacky series, which features programs that have traveled similar paths throughout their college football history. The Pirates and Golden Eagles were once super spoilers as major independents before eventually uniting again as conference brothers in CUSA. The programs also parallel each other with regards to the constant struggles for respect they’ve faced in their home states when it comes to competing for media recognition with their respective ACC and SEC in-state rivals.

East Carolina comes into this key match-up riding the emotional high of a thrilling, last second 34-31 win over in-state rival North Carolina.

Meanwhile, Southern Miss played No. 24 Tennessee tough in Knoxville, but was eventually doomed by missed opportunities in the red zone and some blown assignments on defense—losing 39-19 after trailing only 17-16 at the break.

Southern Miss Offense vs. East Carolina Defense

Advantage: ECU

Despite surrendering only ten points to Virginia Tech in their season opener, East Carolina’s secondary had some key breakdowns versus the Hokies. Those problems, which were largely a result of youth and inexperience, resurfaced against North Carolina. The coverages weren’t blown as severely as they were against Virginia Tech, but poor positioning by the defensive backs resulted in TJ Yates and the Tar Heels scorching the Pirate defense for 344 yards and three scores through the air. However, ECU was once again stout against the run and came up with some key stops over the final half of play.

Jonathan Williams (No. 2) had a 63-yard kickoff return in the Pirates' 34-31 victory over the Tar Heels last Saturday.

With UNC-CH focusing its efforts on Quentin Cotton, Pierre Bell led the Pirates with 11 stops. Mark Robinson recorded two sacks in the game and Jerek Hewett made a diving interception just before halftime that halted a Tar Heel scoring threat while allowing the Pirates to tie the game before the break.

Fifth-year senior quarterback Jeremy Young and the Golden Eagle offense moved the ball well against the Volunteers. However, their lack of a running game and poor red zone production minimized their success.

Young, who struggled last season while battling turf toe, passed for a career-high 254 yards while also hurting the Vols with his legs—rushing for 48 yards on only nine attempts. Throughout his career, Young has been an erratic passer and has only thrown for 140 yards or more on seven occasions.

The running game’s struggles were largely due to star back Damion Fletcher being sidelined with cramps throughout the majority of the game. The Biloxi, MS-native carried it 11 times for 37 yards in the game after rushing for 157 yards versus UT-Martin in the opener. The Golden Eagles’ other option Tory Harrison is also a sophomore and possesses more size and speed. However, he was unable to hang onto the football versus UT.

Young’s top targets in the passing game are tight end Shawn Nelson and wideout Chris Johnson. Nelson has hauled in over 70 passes for more than 1,000 yards in his two years. Johnson had an eye-opening game versus the Vols, as he had 8 catches for 127 yards—which included a 69-yard touchdown. Split end Torris Magee also performed well against the “Big Orange” and finished with 6 receptions for 78 yards.

The offensive line, which features three newcomers, has allowed three sacks. The unit is led by fifth-year senior and 2006 third-team all-CUSA OT Chris Clark. The other tackle Ryan McKee was also an honorable mention all-league selection a year ago.

East Carolina Offense vs. Southern Miss Defense

Advantage: ECU

A couple weeks ago, redshirt junior Patrick Pinkney was the Pirates’ third option at quarterback. Now, after two games and his first career start, the son of former ECU defensive back Reggie Pinkney has gone a long way toward solidifying himself as the signal-caller for the future. Pinkney has executed Todd Fitch’s offense with much success while demonstrating great poise and decision-making. He has used his excellent elusiveness to keep plays alive on numerous occasions, which has really helped an offensive line that is a work in progress.

East Carolina will likely be playing in front of another packed house this Saturday night when they host Southern Miss at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. There were 43,387 on hand for the victory over the Tar Heels.

In the Pirates’ 34-31 victory over North Carolina, Pinkney produced the second-best performance ever for a Pirate quarterback through the air when he completed 31-of-41 passes for 406 yards—at least three or four of those incompletions were throwaways. When you consider the Fayetteville, NC native’s lack of game experience and then some of the fine quarterbacks who have matriculated through the East Carolina program over the years, it really is quite an accomplishment. Through two games, Pinkney has now completed 68.2 percent of his passes for 521 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions.

Against the Tar Heels, Pinkney did a superb job of distributing the football. Six Pirates registered at least four receptions in the game and East Carolina was able to have some success vertically. This was due to the emergence of Jamar Bryant, who caught six balls for 93 yards. Phillip Henry also had six receptions. After struggling to catch the ball last season, Chris Johnson had a breakout game versus UNC. “CJ” took a screen pass 78 yards to the house on the Pirates’ first possession and ended the game with 136 yards on five catches. ECU was also able to get tight end Davon Drew into the mix. Drew had four catches for 51 yards on the night, which included a 15-yard touchdown just before the half.

The Pirates’ success in the air was despite not being able to muster any semblance of a ground attack. After rushing for 142 yards against Virginia Tech, ECU only managed 64 yards on 33 carries against the Tar Heels.

East Carolina will be lining up against a Southern Miss defense that surrendered 469 yards—including 193 on the ground—to Tennessee. Having said that, the Golden Eagles are very capable and were the victims of some of their own blunders in Knoxville.

USM is known for “throwing the kitchen sink” at you and doing it with great athletes.

Redshirt sophomore middle linebacker Gerald McRath, who was the team’s leading tackler last season, had 15 stops against Tennessee.

The defensive backfield features a quality free safety in Eddie Hicks and a very good boundary corner in senior Brandon Sumrall. Redshirt senior LeVance Richmond, who led the team with four picks in ’06, is also back.

Special Teams

Advantage: Southern Miss

The Pirates generated some excitement in the return game versus North Carolina, but unfortunately it was partially due to their poor coverage against the Tar Heels’ explosive Brandon Tate. Tate took a punt back for a touchdown on a low kick by Matt Dodge and he also had a few good kickoff returns. East Carolina’s Chris Johnson and John Williams also flirted with taking one to the house, as they had long returns of 44 and 63 yards, respectively. Dwayne Harris provided ECU a spark in the punt return game. USM is firmly aware of the dangerous abilities of “CJ” since he took one 96 yards for a score last season.

Southern Miss possesses return threats in kickoff return man Tony Harrison, who is averaging 28.6 on eight returns, and punt returner Chris Johnson. Therefore, ECU must clamp down on its coverage more this week.

The Golden Eagles have a strong kicking game between Britt Barefoot and Justin Estes. Barefoot handles the punting, kickoff and long field goal duties while Estes is the short to mid-range kicker. Barefoot is averaging 47.2 yards on six attempts and hit a 51-yard field goal at UT—the program’s longest since ’94. Estes went three of four on field goals—hitting from 30, 41 and 24 while missing from 42.

Intangibles

Advantage: Even

This match-up features the two teams that were projected by the coaches to finish 1-2 in the league's East division. The Golden Eagles are attempting to repeat as champion while avenging their home loss that they suffered to the Pirates last year.

On the other hand, the Pirates are trying to quickly move on after their last second win over rival North Carolina. Don’t expect them to have trouble doing so with the opponent being old nemesis and projected champion Southern Miss.

Both teams realize that this game is only one of eight in the league, but they also know how far it could go toward setting the tone for the race. As the Golden Eagles’ Jeff Bower said, “They’re all of equal importance.”

Both teams also have big games on the horizon, as the Pirates play at current No. 3 West Virginia next weekend and the Golden Eagles travel to Boise to tangle with the Broncos on Thursday night after an open date. However, neither team’s focus should suffer with what is at stake.

The atmosphere at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium should be rowdy and the crowd will likely be at capacity once again—which should make for a fun night of college football.

Final ECU/Southern Miss Prediction

This game will likely be decided in the fourth quarter or possibly even in overtime like last year’s classic. The Pirates will pull this one out in front of their raucous home crowd.

East Carolina 27 - Southern Miss 20