By Al Myatt, Special to CNNSI.com
Credit Conference USA for beating the approaching
string of Championship Saturdays to the punch. While the MAC, Big 12 and
Southeastern Conference division winners will match up in title games
later on, No. 19 Louisville and East Carolina will play for at least a
share of their league title on Thursday night on the national TV.
Both teams are 5-0 in league play and the winner will get at least a
share of the C-USA championship.
From the perspective of the defending league champion Cardinals, it's
like a long wait for Christmas is over. They can officially focus on a
showdown with the Pirates.
"The last couple of weeks have not been easy," said Louisville coach
John L. Smith, whose team is 9-1, the only blemish, a 34-10 loss at
Illinois on Sept. 22. "As coaches, we've just had to keep prying their
mouths open and pouring it in somehow. Sometimes the ones that you're
supposed to win are not the easiest ones to play. We've had to get past
these last two, and I'm proud of our players for taking care of business."
The Cards took care of business by rolling past Tulane 52-7 and whipping
winless Houston 34-10, but Louisville quarterback Dave Ragone admitted
there has been a tendency to look forward to playing ECU.
"The stage is set," said Ragone, C-USA's offensive player of the year in
2000. "This is why we came here to play for a conference championship on
national television. I couldn't stage it any better, and I don't think
anybody else could.
"I've been looking forward to this game for a long time. I had to put
everything in perspective and take each game one at a time. But in the
back of your head, you were always looking toward the East Carolina
game. ... I know we keep tabs on each other. I guarantee it. We look at
what they've done and they look at what we've done."
While the Cards, who lost 28-25 at home to the Pirates last season,
accent the "big game" theme, ECU seems to be trying to deflate the hype.
The C-USA title is the Pirates' goal but they insist it's a plateau that
is reached one step at a time.
At his weekly news conference on Monday, ECU coach Steve Logan said he
had tried to prepare his team for heightened media interest.
"I told our players that you guys would come in here today and do your
job and the job would entail starting conversations about all the
peripherals of this event," Logan said. "As players and coaches, what
we've got to do is remain on the central issue, which is Louisville. Win
the game. All the peripherals will matter only when the final whistle
has blown and we'll either be heartbroken or feel pretty good.
"My take on this whole deal is there's another game to play next week
that's absolutely huge against a team that's just as good as Louisville."
The Pirates host Southern Miss on Nov. 23,
and ECU traditionally has trouble with the Golden Eagles. USM has a 10-2
lead in the series in games played in Greenville and leads 19-7 overall.
Louisville completes its regular season at TCU the same day.
ECU could beat the Cards and still tie with Louisville for the C-USA
title if the Pirates lose to Southern Miss and U of L finishes with a
win in Fort Worth. The Liberty Bowl gets its choice of teams if there is
a tie for the C-USA title. Louisville went to Memphis last season and
traveled well in terms of fan support. The Liberty Bowl officials might
prefer a 9-2 Cardinals team to the 7-4 Pirates despite the head to head
results in that scenario.
ECU defensive tackle Bernard Williams figures all the "peripherals" will
be sorted out.
"The driving force is just to win this ballgame," Williams said. "We
haven't reallly talked much about rings or the bowl game. We want to
stay focused week by week and at the end of the year, it would be nice
if we got a ring. And it would be nice if we were called champions. We
want to be the champion on Thursday night. We want to win this one-game season."
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It turns out Cincinnati has two promising true freshmen quarterbacks, as George Murray
showed on Saturday against East Carolina after his classmate, Gino
Guidugli, was forced out of the game with a shoulder injury.
Murray, 6-foot-2 and 190 pounds from Tallahassee (Fla.) Rickards High, completed 6 of 9 passes for 86 yards as he helped rally the
Bearcats from a 28-6 halftime deficit. He also showed great partiality
to the quarterback draw and option keeper as he ran 21 times for 54
yards, including touchdowns of 4 and 8 yards.
"I was nervous," Murray said of his entrance against the Pirates. "But
the players and coaches told me to settle down and they'd be there to
support me. After that first completion and after a few runs, I settled
down and got into a rhythm."
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HOT:
ECU's Leonard Henry
Had his seventh 100-yard rushing effort
this season with a career-high 234 yards at Cincinnati.
NOT: Cincinnati kicker Jonathan Ruffin
Had 26 field goals last year and
won the Lou Groza Award. He's 9 of 13 on field goal attempts this
season, missing a 52-yarder into the wind for the game against ECU.
HOT:
Tulane's Mewelde Moore
Had 131 yards rushing in a 42-28 win over Navy.
NOT:
TCU
Has been a bowl team the last three years but at 4-5 must beat
Louisville and Southern Miss to be eligible this season.
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Part of East Carolina's problem in second-half demises against TCU and
Cincinnati has been its inability to recover the opposition's onside
kicks. It happened twice against the Horned Frogs and again against the
Bearcats after Cincy had pulled within 28-26 in the final minute.
Two Pirates went up for the bounding ball at Cincinnati and appeared to
prevent one another from catching it. The pigskin bounced to a Bearcat
who was in the right place at the right time, giving the hosts a shot at victory.
ECU's hands team has been unable to get its hands on the ball at crucial times.
"Part of it has been the kicks," said ECU assistant Jerry McManus.
"They've been perfect. Hit twice on the ground and then bounce high."
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East Carolina LB Christshawn Gilliam
Stopped
Cincinnati back DeMarco McCleskey on an option play for a two-point
conversion with 46 seconds left after the Bearcats had pulled within
28-26. Earlier, Gilliam thwarted a Cincinnati threat with an
interception at the ECU 3-yard line. Gilliam was named C-USA defensive
player of the week.
Louisville's Anthony Floyd
Returned a punt 52 yards for a touchdown
early in the second quarter against Houston to help the Cardinals take
control of the game. He was named C-USA special teams player of the week.
Tulane's Patrick Ramsey
Completed 36 of 49 passes for 442 yards and
three touchdowns against Navy.
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No need to make those reservations just yet, but those four Conference USA bowl ties are taking shape to a degree. The league champion
plays in the Dec. 31 Liberty Bowl against the Mountain West
champion. That projects as East Carolina or Louisville against BYU or Utah. ECU needs to figure on beating Louisville and Southern Miss to go
to Memphis.
If not the Pirates will return to the Dec. 19 GMAC Bowl in
Mobile, Ala., where they lost to TCU 28-14 in 1999. ECU would probably
play Marshall.
With wins in two of its four remaining games, Southern Miss may be
headed for the Astrodome and the galleryfurniture.com bowl (Dec. 28) against a middle-of-the-pack Big 12 team.
Cincinnati (5-4) may be making a return to the Motor City Bowl (Dec. 29) in
Pontiac, Mich., where it lost 25-14 to Marshall last
year. The Bearcats need to win one of two remaining games -- at Memphis
on Nov. 24 or at home against Louisiana-Monroe on Dec. 1 -- to become
qualified for a bowl with six wins.
UAB, TCU and Memphis could still become bowl eligible. The Horned Frogs
would have to upset Louisville and Southern Miss. UAB would have to win
games on the road at Houston and Pittsburgh. Memphis needs to win both
of its home games with Army and Cincinnati. Lack of fan support is a
factor that hurts UAB in bowl consideration.
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Louisville's Deion Branch caught nine passes for 147 yards against
Houston. ... Casey Printers threw for 310 yards in TCU's loss to UAB.
... Willie Quinnie of the Blazers had 109 yards on four catches. ...
UAB's Bryan Thomas has 32 career sacks and needs three more to break the
league record. ... Louisville's 18 wins over the last two seasons is
tied for fifth-highest nationally. ... ECU's Jarad Preston is averaging
44.6 yards per punt, fourth nationally. ... Tulane leads the nation in
fumbles recovered with 16. ... UAB tops Division I-A in rushing defense,
allowing an average of just 53.8 yards per game. ... Army quarterback
Curtis Zervic replaced injured Chad Jenkins in the third quarter of a
26-19 loss to Buffalo and completed 16 of 24 passes for 186 yards and a
touchdown. ... Southern Miss kicker Brent Hanna has made 62 consecutive
PATs. |
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