PirateIllustrated.com - ECU Manhandles Tigers

October 27, 2009

Mark Lindsay
PirateIllustrated.com Publisher

MEMPHIS - In a battle of two sixth year quarterbacks in Conference USA, East Carolina took a convincing 38-19 win over Memphis in Liberty Bowl Stadium Tuesday night.

Aided by four Memphis turnovers, ECU scored in every quarter as Dominque Lindsay led the Pirate rushing attack behind the Steve Shankweiler's offensive line road graders.

Lindsay ended up with with 139 yards on 22 carries with backup from sidekick Giavanni Ruffin who had 87 yards on the ground in his best outing of the year.

All told, the Pirates had their best offensive performance of the year with 497 yards net yards including 275 yards rushing and 222 yards via the air.

Patrick Pinkney had a good night overall scoring touchdowns both through the air and a pair of scores with his feet as the Fayetteville senior went 14 of 27 for 216 yards through the air with no sacks.

Darryl Freeney was on the other end of five of those snags for 116 yards receiving and a touchdown.

Dwayne Harris also had five catches for 56 yards as he kept his streak going with 25 straight games with at least one catch while Jamar Bryant extended his consecutive catch streak to 26 on a 13-yard snag in the second quarter for his 99th catch of his ECU career.

Chris Mattocks, Nick Johnson, and Emanuel Davis had seven tackles apiece for East Carolina. The Pirates have now forced at least one turnover in 24 straight games.

Tall Tiger receivers Duke Calhoun and Carlos Singleton hauled in nine catches apiece for Memphis.

"Really proud of the way the defense kept everything in front of them," said Holtz, "and finally we got the offense going."

East Carolina(5-3, 4-1) used multiple formations in their first drive from the shotgun, to the pistol to going under center. Patrick Pinkney led a 63-yard, nine play drive with Dominque Lindsay picking up good yardage and showing no ill effects from his ankle injury. Harris capped off the drive with three-yard touchdown run. Ben Hartman's point after gave the Pirates a 7-0 lead.

Chris Hobbs put Memphis(2-6,1-4) in business with a 35-yard kickoff return on their first drive. Sixth year quarterback Will Hudgens was looking to cash in on his best opportunity of the season to conduct the Memphis offense. Emanuel Davis snuffed out two critical plays inside the redzone with big stops - forcing Memphis into a Matt Reagan 26-yard field goal.

A special teams misque by Hobbs and a Justin Brockmeyer fumble recovery led to a Dwayne Harris 10-yard touchdown from the wildcat formation put ECU out in front 14-3 with 5:15 to go in the first quarter.

ECU cornerback Levin Neal recovered Memphis' second turnover after a pass in the the right flat and a hook and ladder pitch was bobbled as the second quarter began. The Pirates took full advantage behind the running of Giavanni Ruffin and Dominque Lindsay. Patrick Pinkney's "no option" fake handoff and jaunt around the left end extended the ECU lead to 21-3.

With :43 seconds left in the half, Hudgens fired a lob pass to 6-9 Carlos Singleton for a Memphis touchdown as the Tigers turned the momentum just before halftime to cut the lead to 21-10.

Brian Wright intercepted a Patrick Pinkney pass on the first ECU series of the second half to put Memphis in ECU territory at the 46-yard line. Carlos Singleton's reception put the Tigers in position for a Matt Reagan field goal to close the lead to 21-13.

ECU scored to make the score 28-13 on the next drive despite several penalties that negated a number of big plays on offense. The Pirates finally settled down and put together a sustained drive that culminated in a 19-yard Giavanni Ruffin touchdown run.

Pirate free safety Van Eskridge picked off a Will Hudgens pass on a tip drill on the ensuing drive with just under three minutes left in the third quarter that led to a 31-yard Pinkney completion to Darryl Freeney for a 35-13 cushion.

Marcus Rucker gave Memphis hope when he won a foot race on the next drive on a 43-yard touchdown reception, but the Tigers missed the extra point.

Dwayne Harris dropped two straight passes with the football near midfield to stall a drive with ten minutes to play, but Ben Hartman's 49-yard field goal put the ballgame out of reach at 38-19.

Memphis nearly scored on the next drive but Duke Calhoun's fumble with nine minutes left gave the ECU yet another takeaway. ECU didn't score but Matt Dodge's 73-yard punt set an ECU record.

Hudgins connected on 33 of 49 passes for 313 yards, two touchdowns and a interception while tailback Curtis Steele was held under his 108 yard average with only 80 yards for Memphis who tallied 397 yards of total offense and only 84 net yards rushing as a team.

East Carolina - Memphis BOX SCORE

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