University of North Carolina Athletics
East Carolina Game Guide
October 1, 2010 | Football
Sept. 30, 2010
By Lauren Brownlow
The Basics
Carolina (1-2, 0-1) will seek its second straight win against East Carolina (2-1, 2-0). The Pirates had a bye last week and lost at Virginia Tech, 49-27, on September 11th. Carolina is coming off of a 17-13 win at Rutgers, its first win of the season. In the series between the two teams, Carolina holds a 9-2-1 edge. This is the first time since 1980 and 1981 that back-to-back meetings have taken place at Kenan Stadium. Carolina has won five of the last six meetings; the exception was a 2007 loss, 34-31, in Greenville. The Pirates are 19-36-1 against in-state FBS foes.
Game Time: East Carolina at North Carolina, 3:30 PM, ESPN3.com Carolina's game notes can be found here and East Carolina's official football site is here.
Last Time: Carolina beat ECU 31-17 on September 19th, 2009 in Kenan Stadium. East Carolina cut a 24-14 Carolina lead to 24-17 with 6:21 to go, but an 8-play, 81-yard drive by the Tar Heels gave Carolina the 31-17 lead. Carolina held the Pirates to just 247 total yards (55 rushing) while Carolina had 433 yards. T.J. Yates completed 19-of-24 passes for 227 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Erik Highsmith had six catches for 113 yards and a touchdown while Jheranie Boyd caught a 59-yard touchdown. Shaun Draughn ran for 84 yards on 19 carries. Patrick Pinkney completed 19-of-30 passes for 157 yards and a score; Alex Taylor led the Pirates with five catches for 46 yards and Brandon Jackson had 35 rushing yards.
Gameday Weather: Check the local weather forecast before heading for the game.
Radio Coverage: Tar Heel Sports Network coverage begins at 2:30. The radio broadcast is also available on XM Channel 213 at 3:30. Since it's a home game, the Tar Heel Sports Network broadcast can be heard on XM.
TV Coverage: The game will be available online at ESPN3.com where available. It will also be shown to Time Warner Cable's digital cable customers throughout the Carolinas on channel 520.
Game week TV/radio coverage: "Butch Davis Live", Coach Davis' weekly radio show, will be broadcast live from the Top of the Hill restaurant on Franklin Street every Wednesday at 7:00. Inside the Huddle with Butch Davis airs Saturday morning at 9 a.m. on FOX Sports South. Inside the Huddle with Butch Davis will air on Sunday at 11 a.m. on WTVD ABC 11 in the Triangle and will review Saturday's game. The Tar Heel Football Review show featuring highlights of the previous week's games will air Tuesday's at 7 p.m. and Thursday's at 8 p.m. in the Triangle and Fayetteville on the local Time Warner Cable station.
Storylines
The Carolina running game: While the Tar Heels have shown they can pass the ball consistently, they haven't run it well, or when they need to. Carolina attempted 37 rushes on third down last year and converted 22; Ryan Houston's absence has been felt as Carolina has attempted nine third-down rushes and converted just two. T.J. Yates, meanwhile, has completed 18-of-27 passes on third down for 12 first downs. In the last two games, he is 14-of-17 for 154 yards and ten first downs while Carolina has rushed four times on third down for -3 yards and one conversion. With the exception of the LSU game, the Carolina rushing attack has not been terrible. But it still is averaging just 86 yards per game, 109th in the country. Even taking out LSU, Carolina has averaged 117 yards, which would rank them 92nd, and just 3.77 yards per rush. After Carolina had its best rushing game of the season against Georgia Tech with 143 yards, it managed 91 on 30 carries against Rutgers. On the year, Carolina has rushed for one or fewer yards on 38 of 95 rushing attempts and two or fewer 48 times. Twenty-four have gone for negative yardage (11 were bad snaps or sacks). If there is a mitigating factor, it's that Carolina has faced two of the nation's top 14 rushing defenses in LSU and Rutgers. But Carolina's numbers were slightly below the average Rutgers allows, and the Scarlet Knights had played Norfolk State and FIU. East Carolina has the 91st-ranked rushing attack, allowing 176.7 yards per game and 4.5 per rush. The Pirate have faced two of the top 41 rushing attacks in Tulsa and Virginia Tech, but No. 98 Memphis still managed 101 yards on 37 carries. It held Tulsa, No. 26, to just 180 yards, below its 212.7 average. But Virginia Tech - No. 41 - managed 249 yards on 41 carries. While the ECU pass defense is statistically worse than its rushing defense (119th out of 120 schools), Carolina will still have to both run and pass the ball to move it against ECU.
The little things: Carolina's young secondary will have a tough time dealing with the ECU offense. So what the Tar Heels can't do, on either side of the ball, is hurt themselves. One silly turnover, one penalty or one mistake in kick coverage could lead to easy ECU points. The Pirates don't need it any easier, and Carolina needs to limit those mistakes, which have plagued the Tar Heels. It's something ECU struggled two weeks ago; the Pirates had 12 penalties in their first two games before committing 11 against the Hokies. A pass interference call set up Virginia Tech's first touchdown and an ECU facemask set up the second. In the second half, ECU recovered a Virginia Tech fumble at the 39-yard line and got to the 13. But an offensive facemask, a false start and holding call made it 2nd and 40 at the Virginia Tech 33; the Pirates managed just a field goal. Carolina hasn't had a lot of penalties; it had three against Georgia Tech and six at Rutgers. But last week's penalties seemed costly. The only time an opponent has scored points set up by a Carolina penalty was last week on a 15-yard personal foul on a kickoff return that set up Rutgers at the Carolina 34, resulting in a field goal. Some offensive miscues have resulted in field position issues. Carolina has started its final drive in two of the last three games - with the outcome still in doubt - inside its own eight-yard line. Carolina, for the most part, has overcome its own offensive penalties, though. Of the seven drives affected by offensive penalties, it has scored a touchdown on three.
The biggest issue has been ball security. Carolina fumbled 15 times last year and lost ten; this year, it has ten fumbles, seven lost. Including the last four games last season and the first three games in 2010, Carolina has 19 fumbles, 14 lost in those seven games. The biggest issue has been where these turnovers have come - seven of eight have been in Carolina territory. Carolina allowed three scores off of five fumbles in the first two games but Rutgers managed just one score off three turnovers, two in North Carolina territory. Still, the 20 points off of turnovers out of 73 total surrendered points have hurt this already-depleted defense. "We put the ball on the ground way too many times - some that we actually lost and some that we didn't lose," Butch Davis said. "It would have certainly helped our offense and their production because we moved the ball at times but ultimately, some of those drives didn't manifest themselves into any points."
On the flip side, Carolina's opponents fumbled 23 times last season, but Carolina recovered just ten. This year, Carolina has already recovered five fumbles out of nine. The Carolina offense has struggled to take advantage, failing to score against LSU off of four forced turnovers (although they almost did at the end of the game). But in the last two games, the Carolina offense has scored touchdowns on two of three turnovers forced by the defense. It will have to continue to capitalize on those chances, especially since ECU is not a team that turns it over much. The Pirates have turned it over three times and have not lost a fumble yet. But two of their three turnovers last week were costly. Early in the fourth, it was two interceptions on two straight drives, one returned for a touchdown, that began the final barrage of Hokie points - two touchdowns in 2:29 to make it 49-27, the final score.
At The Game
Listening to the Tar Heel Sports Network at the game: WCHL 1360 is the local affiliate.
Parking/construction update: For the latest information, click here.
Pregame activities: Tar Heel Town will open at 12:30 on Saturday and the Countdown to Kickoff radio show will broadcast live there beginning at 1:30. The Old Well Walk will be at 1:15 and then the Marching Tar Heels will perform on the steps of Wilson Library at 2:30 before heading to the stadium. Then at 1:45, start making your way to Kenan Stadium and make sure you're in your seats early. For more information, see the new <"> on TarHeelBlue.com.
Postgame activities: See the Fan Guide on TarHeelBlue.com for the latest information on postgame parking and activities.
Watching At Home
Turn down the sound: If you're watching at home while listening to the radio or over the computer via Carolina All-Access, there will inevitably be some delay. For the reason - and a possible solution - click here.
A full list of THSN affiliates can be found here.
ESPN3.com/Time Warner Cable coverage: The game will be shown online where available on ESPN3.com. Matt Swierad will handle the play-by-play, Jay Taylor will serve as the analyst and Angela Mallon will be the sideline reporter. For a list of ESPN3.com availability based on Internet provider, click here. Local Time Warner digital cable customers can see the game throughout the Carolinas on channel 520.
Names To Know
Quinton Coples: The junior defensive tackle/end has shown flashes of being dominant, but he had never done it anywhere close to four quarters like he did against Rutgers. Even when he wasn't sacking Rutgers quarterback Tom Savage - which he did three times - he was hitting him or getting close on seemingly every dropback. And perhaps his biggest sack came at a huge moment; a Rutgers fumble recovery at its own 36 with 45 seconds left in the first half gave them plenty of time to drive for a field goal. But on the first play, Coples sacked Savage for a ten-yard loss back to the 46 and they went three and out before halftime. This East Carolina offense poses a stiffer test; the Pirates have allowed just five sacks all season, three by Virginia Tech. But if Carolina is going to slow them down, it will have to get pressure and disrupt the offense in the backfield. Coples was in the backfield constantly against Rutgers, notching a tackle for loss to go with his three sacks. And in the second half, when he had played almost the entire game, he had four of his nine tackles and two of his sacks, adding a pass breakup. He also had Carolina's first official quarterback hurry of the year, but Coples and the Tar Heels will need a lot more on Saturday.
Jheranie Boyd: After breaking out with six catches for 221 yards against LSU, he had no catches against Georgia Tech and no targets. But he is still third on the team in targets with 11. He was targeted four times against Rutgers and caught three for 37 yards; unfortunately, two of Carolina's turnovers came on two of those targets as an interception bounced off his hands and he fumbled one of his catches away. But Boyd is still a threat; five of his nine catches this year have been for a first down and he has caught nine of the 11 balls thrown his way. And just because Yates hasn't found him as often, particularly downfield, doesn't mean he hasn't been looking. Yates says teams have concentrated on making sure Boyd doesn't get loose downfield as he did against LSU. But ECU's pass defense has struggled, and he had a long score against the Pirates last year. It seems like the kind of game that Boyd could flourish, if he can get open. But Yates says Boyd is not letting the increased defensive attention get to him too much. "He's getting a little frustrated. That's the thing he does best, is going downfield and catching the ball deep," Yates said. "But I think he's doing a better job becoming more of a complete wide receiver, catching the short routes, running the short routes, not having to just rely on his speed for everything."
Dominique Davis: The junior transfer from Boston College has fit right in as quarterback in ECU's spread offense. He has accounted for 12 of 16 offensive touchdowns. His impact was obvious in the opener; while ECU had just four passing touchdowns of 30 or more yards in all of 2009, he had four such scores in that game alone. He has completed 65.9% for nine touchdowns and three interceptions, averaging 296.7 yards. At Virginia Tech, he completed 30-of-44 for 251 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Davis has rushed for 73 yards and three touchdowns on 35 carries. ECU's passing attack is frightening, averaging 299.3 yards per game (13th in the country). Carolina has the No. 4 pass defense but it has faced three passing offenses ranked 109th or lower. But ECU has faced the 120th, 103rd and 53rd pass defenses. Against the Hokies (53rd), Davis managed 251 yards - 60 more than Virginia Tech's average allowed - and completed 30-of-44 passes. It will be a new test for Carolina; ECU has completed 86-of-132 passes in three games. Carolina's previous opponents - in 11 games - have combined to complete 96-of-195.
Dwayne Harris: The 6-0 senior wide receiver has caught at least one pass in 34 straight games, the second-longest FBS streak. He is 11th in the nation in catches per game (7.7). Last season, he caught 83 passes for 978 yards and over his career he has averaged 11.4 yards per catch. This season, he is averaging 98.0 yards per game and 12.8 yards per catch, his career best. He is one of only two Pirates to have at least 100 all-purpose yards in all three games. He has two 100-yard receiving efforts in three games so far, including catching ten passes for 119 yards and a touchdown against a tough Virginia Tech defense. He's a big-play guy and someone who has Butch Davis' attention. "(Harris) might be one of the most gifted athletes that we've played ... as far as all-purpose, do-everything - catch balls, run reverses, run reverse passes," Davis said. "He's somebody that you'd better know where he is because he's got a chance to really light it up."
Lauren Brownlow is the executive editor of Tar Heel Monthly.
Follow the THM staff on Twitt
