East Carolina vs. UAB Football Preview

Pirates look to get back on track with home date against struggling Blazers

Date: Saturday, October 27th

Injury/Personnel Report:

East Carolina

- LB Quentin Cotton, shoulder; probable

- LB Nick Johnson; questionable

- OT Willie Barton, ankle; out

- ST Anthony Johnson, foot; out

- WR Phillip Henry, shoulder; probable

- WR Michael Hickman, groin; probable

- WR Jamar Bryant, knee; probable

- OT Josh Coffman, shoulder; probable

- RB Norman Whitley, shoulder; out

- DE Marcus Hands, shoulder; out

 

UAB

- FB/TE David Sigler, knee; questionable

- OG Adam Hollifield, foot; questionable

ECU vs. UAB General Overview

After suffering a disappointing 34-20 loss to in-state rival NC State, East Carolina will look to rebound on homecoming by winning a critical match-up against CUSA East division foe UAB.

The Blazers, who collected a thrilling 17-12 victory in last year’s match-up in Birmingham, hold a 4-2 advantage in the all-time series. The Pirates had a chance to win with a little over a minute to play, but wide receiver Phillip Henry was stripped inside the 10-yard line and UAB recovered the fumble in the end zone for a touchback.

However, they are 1-2 in games played in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium and missed out on a bowl in 2005 when they dropped a 31-23 decision to East Carolina in the season finale’.

Prior to their contest with the Wolfpack, ECU had won three consecutive shootouts—two of which came down to the wire. However, the Pirates’ play was such that you knew they were going to have to make some improvement in certain areas—such as pass defense—or it was going to come back to bite them. Well, they were bitten against NC State. Sure, a short week after the trip to UTEP combined with NC State coming off an open week didn’t help, but make no mistake about it East Carolina was simply outplayed by the Wolfpack.

The Pirates dug themselves a 21-0 hole in the second quarter, but responded to trim the deficit to 21-17 at the break. ECU had its opportunities to take the lead in the third quarter, but the offense was only able to muster a field goal. The Wolfpack went on to win the game on the strength of 13 fourth quarter points.

First-year head coach Neil Callaway and the Blazers were expected by most to struggle this season and they are. UAB comes to Greenville with a record of 2-5 after being hammered 49-10 at Legion Field by high-powered Houston last week.

However, the Blazers have won a league game (defeated Tulane, 26-21) and have shown that they can compete against quality competition with close losses at Florida State (34-24) and Tulsa (38-30). Their other win came in the third game of the year when they posted a 22-0 shutout over FCS opponent Alcorn State.

UAB Offense vs. East Carolina Defense

Advantage: Even

Some may think the Pirate defense should receive the nod in this match-up, but it is tough to give the edge to a team that is allowing 310 yards per game through the air.

East Carolina only allowed NC State to rush for 49 yards on 28 carries, but the porous Pirate pass defense was exploited once again. While the secondary certainly struggled, the pass rush was only able to sack Daniel Evans once. The Wolfpack’s success was primarily in the short to intermediate passing game and the struggling Evans torched ECU for 335 yards and three touchdowns.

East Carolina is averaging 43,183 through four home games this season.

After giving up over 200 yards—the majority of which were in the air—before the break, the Pirates clamped down and stopped NC State on its first three possessions of the second half. However, they were unable to get a stop on a key third down play in the red zone that allowed the Wolfpack to take a 28-20 lead in the fourth quarter.

Safety Van Eskeridge, who leads the team with 68 tackles, continued his solid play with nine stops against NCSU. Linebacker Pierre Bell, who is second with 64 tackles, made a game-high 11 stops. He is also tied for the team lead (with Leon Best) in interceptions with two.

Quentin Cotton, who had reinjured his shoulder against UTEP, only made one tackle in the contest.

Defensive end Zack Slate delivered a supreme effort once again, making 2.5 tackles for losses. Slate, who has 44 tackles and 10.5 behind the line, is tied with fellow defensive end C.J. Wilson for the team lead in sacks with four.

In UAB, ECU—for a second straight week—will face an offense that comes in struggling. Under new offensive coordinator and former Houston head coach Kim Helton, the Blazers are averaging only 313 yards—including a meager 101 on the ground—and 20.4 points.

Their attack does feature a veteran signal-caller in senior Sam Hunt (6-3, 215). Hunt, who completed 5 of his 7 attempts for 55 yards in an alternating role against the Pirates in ’06, has connected on only 47.5 percent of his passes. He has thrown for 1,357 yards and eight scores, but has also been picked off eight times.

The Blazers have rushed for only two touchdowns all season and both of those were not by running backs. A pair of 5-9 backs in sophomore Rashaud Slaughter and junior Brandon Thornton get the bulk of the carries. Slaughter leads the team with 237 yards on 70 attempts while Thornton has 140 on 34.

Sophomore Joseph Webb (6-4, 220) has done a little bit of everything for the Blazer offense. Webb has seen time at quarterback and wide receiver this season. Against Tulsa, Webb played the majority of the game under center and finished the game 9-of-20 for 90 yards and a touchdown. He is also the team’s second leading receiver with 24 receptions for 410 yards and three scores.

Therefore, the Pirates will need to keep an eye on where No. 5 is at all times this weekend as a double pass or other wrinkles could be up Helton and company’s sleeve.

Webb and Hunt are also both threats in the running game that ECU will have to contend with.

Their top target in the passing game is redshirt freshman wide out Frantrell Forrest, who has 25 catches for 372 yards and four touchdowns in his first season with the Blazers. Forrest is a sizeable target at 6-2 and possesses good speed.

Other threats to contend with are running back Rashaud Slaughter (17 rec. for 89 yards), wide receiver Mario Wright (13 rec. for 126 yards and 1 TD) and tight end David Sigler. Sigler, a senior, is second on the team in yards per reception (16.2) with 11 catches for 178 yards and a score.

UAB has only converted 32 percent of their third downs. They’ve also failed to get touchdowns on 15 of their 24 trips inside the red zone.

East Carolina Offense vs. UAB Defense

Advantage: East Carolina

The Pirates were forced to go to the air 53 times in their loss to NC State. This was partially due to playing from behind, but also because of losing the battle in the trenches and not being able to establish much of a running game. They rushed for only 72 yards on 34 attempts versus a team that was allowing 224 yards per contest.

The NCSU pass rush and the strong coverage by its secondary led offensive coordinator Todd Fitch and ECU to turn to screen passes and quick passing game in an effort to get to their playmakers in space.

While the Wolfpack were able to “pin their ears back” at times, the East Carolina offensive line simply cannot surrender six sacks. There was one time where Rob Kass was hit before he was able to complete his three-step drop.

Kass concluded his night 28-of-50 for 254 yards and a score. He did throw one interception, which ricocheted off a defender’s helmet after it was thrown behind the receiver.

Patrick Pinkney (45 carries-112 yards; 80-134, 59.7%, 822 yards, 6 TD/4INT), who played so well early on in the season in Kass’ absence, only saw a couple snaps against the Wolfpack. While both he and Kass bring their own hand to the table, it is inexplicable why Pinkney’s role has diminished so much the past couple weeks. The spread option package—that he executed so well against Virginia Tech—may have slowed down a quick NC State defense by allowing the Pirates to produce a better game on the ground.

NCSU did a fine job of limiting Chris Johnson’s damage with excellent open field tackling. He concluded the game with 19 carries for 63 yards and only four receptions for 22 yards—19 of which came on one play.

Wideout Phillip Henry, who has 24 receptions for 252 yards, had his most productive performance of the season with 7 catches for 64 yards.

The Pirates’ leading receiver Jamar Bryant continued to play well, as he hauled four balls for 54 yards—one of which was a spectacular one-handed 18-yard touchdown catch.

ECU will face a UAB defense that is giving up over 32 points and 480 yards per game. Blazer opponents are running for 240 yards, throwing for 240 and converting 45 percent of their third downs. The Blazers gave up 335 yards on the ground to Houston.

The strength of the unit is its secondary. Senior free safety Will Dunbar leads the team with 66 tackles and has a couple of interceptions despite missing two games. Corner Kevin Sanders has picked off a team-high three passes.

The front seven is relatively small and young. It is led by junior linebacker Joe Henderson, who has 53 stops—including 5.5 behind the line and four sacks.

Freshman middle linebacker Mike Tashman has 49 tackles and seven for losses.

Redshirt freshman Bryant Turner and sophomore Joe Happe, both of whom are defensive ends, have registered 7.5 and six tackles for losses, respectively.

Special Teams

Advantage: UAB

Give the Blazers a slight advantage in the special teams’ match-up because of kicking phenom Swayze Waters.

Waters handles the kicking and punting duties. He is 17-of-20 on field goals, which includes 6-of-6 between 40 and 49 yards as well as a perfect 3-of-3 from 50-plus. On punts, he has averaged 42.3 yards per boot on 44 attempts and has forced 10 fair catches. Waters has also pinned the opposition inside their own 20 on 16 occasions. One-third (12-of-36) kickoffs have resulted in touchbacks.

UAB hopes that Waters can help control the Pirates’ potent return game of Chris Johnson and Dwayne Harris. Johnson is averaging 31 yards per kickoff return and took one 96 yards to the house against UCF. The Blazers are only giving up 22 yards per return. However, they’ve struggled to cover punts and are allowing 14.3 yards per attempt.

The Blazers also possess some quality returnmen. Rashaud Slaughter is now returning punts and has totaled 87.5 yards on only 4 returns. Frantrell Forrest is averaging 28.5 yards per kickoff return on 13 attempts and has taken one 92 yards to the house. This will be a concern for a Pirates’ kickoff team that has given up two kickoff returns for scores already.

ECU punter Matt Dodge is averaging 43 yards per boot, but is only netting 32.9 due to some low, returnable kicks.

After struggling early, Pirate placekicker Ben Hartman has made good on his last five attempts in ECU’s contests against UTEP and NCSU. Hartman hit from 47 against the Wolfpack after connecting from 52 against the Miners. He also handles the kickoff duties.

Intangibles

Advantage: East Carolina

Following an emotional loss in an intense rivalry game, ECU must recharge its batteries and focus its attention on UAB. There is no reason to think this won’t happen with this staff’s track record for performances following a defeat.

The Pirates and Southern Miss are currently 3-1 atop the east division of CUSA. Therefore, East Carolina needs to win to maintain its current position. If it were to lose, USM would then have to lose two games while UCF and Memphis would need to lose one.

If any extra motivation is needed, which shouldn’t be the case, it is homecoming in Greenville! Another large and rowdy crowd should be on hand. While it likely won’t be a sell out or within a couple hundred like the crowds to date, it should be at least in the 38-40,000 range. Anything less is simply inexcusable, especially with all the Pirates are playing for!

On the other hand, UAB needs a win to have any hope at winning the east since they already have two league losses. They will also be faced with the challenge of bouncing back from last week’s 49-10 debacle versus UH.

Final ECU vs. UAB Prediction

East Carolina opens as a two-touchdown favorite against UAB. However, we know how little that means. At any rate, the Pirates should be eager to get back on the field after Saturday’s loss to NC State.

The Pirates need to get off to a fast start and not rely on a second half rally for a change. They also need to run the ball effectively against the league’s worst rushing defense. Defensively, the ECU front seven needs to pressure Sam Hunt to help the struggling secondary.

Conversely, UAB should come out and challenge the ECU secondary from the get-go. It will also need to establish a running game, which should help them improve their red zone effectiveness while taking the teeth out of the Pirates’ pass rush.

UAB has thrown for 200 yards or more in essentially every game but one. Don’t be surprised if they eclipse the 250 mark in this one, but in the end their inability to run the football and slow down the Pirates will be their undoing.

East Carolina 38 - UAB 23