Coach Hawkins' Journey to the Top: Volume I | The Problematic Pirates

[jpfine]

Pirates get first win of the season in rocky start to the season against Chattanooga

Corey James, The Greenville News Published 11:07 p.m. ET August 25, 2018

This evening, new coach for the Pirates, Brian Hawkins, led ECU to the first win of the era. Even with a rocky start on the ground for Hawkins and crew, the Pirates were able to defeat the Mocs tonight, 24-3.

During the post-game press conference, Hawkins said, "...I'm still getting used to the feel of the FBS, I'm still getting used to the strengths and the weaknesses of my players. We don't have everything ready yet to be able to produce the results that the Pirate Nation want to see and there are definitely things that I can work on and that I can help my players to work on to be able to produce those kinds of results that we want. This effort and quality of play isn't what you should expect to see."

The Pirates weren't able to get much going, and the Mocs defense was able to get a couple of stops early. Chattanooga struck first with a field goal in the 1st, but the East Carolina team were able to come back and get things going starting at the beginning of the 2nd quarter.

Hawkins and the offensive coordinator for the Pirates, Eddie Bennett, were able to get the run game going with running backs Corey Crawford and Matt Charles. During the press conference, Hawkins announced that Crawford earned "Player of the Game" accolades for his efforts on the field. "Corey produced an amazing game and it's safe to say that, without his production on the ground, the end result of game could have been flipped," said Hawkins. "I can't wait to see how well he can do this season and I can feel that he will be able to lift us over some opponents later down the road, like he did tonight."

To this, Crawford responded, "I'm glad to have had this kind of game and the numbers on paper that lean towards me doesn't show the effort that my buds on the O-line put in for me to be able to have this kind of game. Don't expect this to be a one time thing, though – I'm going to bring the heat with every touch that I get."

Overall, the Pirates looked like a team that, if given difficult circumstances, could turn on the "heat," to quote Crawford, and turn the momentum for them. For any ECU fan, the first quarter was tough to watch, but the Pirates were able to produce a solid win against FCS-team, Chattanooga – the first for Hawkins at East Carolina.

Chattanooga Mocs at East Carolina Pirates
Aug 25, 2018 1 2 3 4 F Chattanooga (0-1) 3 0 0 0 3 East Carolina (1-0) 0 3 7 14 24 Top Performers PASS: Josh Parks (ECU) - 9-14, 197 Yards, 1 TD, 1 INT RUSH: Corey Crawford (ECU) - 35 Rushes, 195 Yards, 1 TD REC: T.J. Woods (ECU) - 4 Receptions, 146 Yards, 1 TD	Team Stats Comparison CHAT ECU First Downs 12 18 3rd Down Efficiency 2-10 4-10 4th Down Efficiency 0-2 2-2 Total Yards 244 464 Passing Yards 117 197 Rushing Yards 120 201 Penalties-Penalty Yards 0-0 1-26 Turnovers 1 1 Time of Possession 11:16 16:44
Scoring Summary FIRST QUARTER SCORING CHAT ECU 3:10 (CHAT) FG: G. Boring, 27 Yd FG 3 0 SECOND QUARTER SCORING CHAT ECU 3:09 (ECU) FG: B. Manson, 23 Yd FG 3 3 THIRD QUARTER SCORING CHAT ECU 2:01 (ECU) TD: C. Crawford, 5 Yd run (B. Manson kick) 3 10 FOURTH QUARTER SCORING CHAT ECU 5:00 (ECU) TD: T. Woods, 67 Yd pass from J. Parks (B. Manson kick) 3 17 2:59 (ECU) TD: M. Charles, 1 Yd run (B. Manson kick) 3 24
Chattanooga Mocs East Carolina Pirates PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Josh Parks 9/14 197 1 1 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Corey Crawford 35 195 5.5 1 Matt Charles 6 13 2.1 1 Josh Parks 3 -7 -2.3 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD T.J. Woods 4 146 36.5 1 Johnnie Estes 2 23 11.5 0 Roy Evans 1 17 17.0 0 Willie Matthews 1 6 6.0 0 Matt Charles 1 5 5.0 0 BLOCKING PANCAKE SACK P.J. Marshall 3 0 Chaz Hunter 2 0 Justin Taylor 1 0 Willie Matthews 1 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Jerome Anderson 9 0.0 0 0 Jonathan Perry 5 0.0 0 0 Ron Bryant 4 0.0 0 0 Charles Jones 4 0.0 0 0 Evan Denmen 3 2.0 0 0 Nick Neal 3 0.0 0 0 Jamey West 2 0.0 0 0 Richard Goddard 2 0.0 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LG Brian Manson 1/2 3/3 6 24 PUNTING TOT YDS AVG -20 Peter Wheeler 2 75 37.5 0 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Matt Charles 1 24 24.0 0 Johnnie Estes 1 21 21.0 0 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Matt Charles 2 21 10.5 0

[PickleJuice1231]

Re: Coach Hawkins' Journey to the Top: Volume I | The Problematic Pirates

The schedule looks like a mixture of good teams and bad teams, so maybe an early promotion to Tier 7 could be in the cards. The rule changes are great, anything to make it tougher on yourself and to make it a process is great. Finally, solid win against Chattanooga, but it didn't seem pretty, to say the least. Looks like Hawkins is still hopeful for the season and he seems confident in his run game, which is good because that's what he's essentially been restricted to.

[jpfine]

ECU defeats UConn in second straight impressive showing by run game

Corey James, The Greenville News Published 6:36 p.m. ET September 1, 2018

After a less than impressive beginning last week at home against Chattanooga, the Pirates were able to get the job done once again, this time against the Connecticut Huskies, when they pulled away late. In a game filled with a lot of field goals, the final score was 30-16, in favor of ECU.

"I think we played well," said head coach of East Carolina, Brian Hawkins, "but we weren't able to get the passing game going and we weren't able to finish off drives with a touchdown until the very end. Even then, one of the last of our touchdowns was an amazing return by Matt [Charles], which we shouldn't take away from him, but it wasn't a touchdown that capped off a solid drive."

To add onto Hawkins, the passing game was absolutely abysmal. Josh Parks completed three passes, and he matched that with three completed passes – to the Huskies. The only reason why he was able to reach roughly under 100 yards was because of a Willie Matthews 57-yard catch that got them in field goal range for the end of the half. The lack of a passing game was held up by the stunning display on the ground game and the magic of Matt Charles on special teams.

That being said, the Pirates were definitely the better team and deserved the win. Corey Crawford and Matt Charles were able to run all over the Huskies' defense and the defense of ECU was able to get a couple stops here and there on the offense of Connecticut. Jerome Anderson was able to get in the backfield a couple times on 3rd down and snuff out a running play that may have made it the distance. These stops forced the UConn Huskies to settle for field goals, which may have ultimately cost the Huskies the game. Just like the Pirates, if they were able to cap of some of their drives with a touchdown, the Huskies could have been ahead in the 4th quarter. Ultimately, it didn't matter as the Pirates earned a 2-0 record with a win against UConn.

Once again, the player of the game for the Pirates was Corey Crawford, who had another 195-yard game and accounted for a touchdown. "Corey truly is an outstanding player," said Hawkins, "and I'm excited to see how he improves over the course of the season and if he can ever possibly earn a 200-yard game on the ground."

The Pirates play the Tar Heels from Chapel Hill next Saturday in Chapel Hill –the first road test of the season.

Connecticut Huskies at East Carolina Pirates
Sep 1, 2018 1 2 3 4 F UConn (0-2) 0 10 6 0 16 East Carolina (2-0) 6 10 7 7 30 Top Performers PASS: Dan Mackey (CONN) - 24-38, 230 Yards, 1 TD, 1 INT RUSH: Corey Crawford (ECU) - 29 Rushes, 195 Yards, 2 TDs REC: Omar Mitchell (CONN) - 6 Receptions, 73 Yards, 0 TDs	Team Stats Comparison CONN ECU First Downs 18 14 3rd Down Efficiency 3-13 3-9 4th Down Efficiency 0-3 0-0 Total Yards 390 529 Passing Yards 230 92 Rushing Yards 108 215 Penalties-Penalty Yards 0-0 0-0 Turnovers 1 3 Time of Possession 14:37 13:23
Scoring Summary FIRST QUARTER SCORING CONN ECU 3:05 (ECU) FG: B. Manson, 20 Yd FG 0 3 0:22 (ECU) FG: B. Manson, 34 Yd FG 0 6 SECOND QUARTER SCORING CONN ECU 4:24 (CONN) TD: C. Smith, 3 Yd pass from D. Mackey (A. White kick) 7 6 2:20 (ECU) TD: C. Crawford, 3 Yd run (B. Manson kick) 7 13 0:56 (CONN) FG: A. White, 27 Yd FG 10 13 0:02 (ECU) FG: B. Manson, 18 Yd FG 10 16 THIRD QUARTER SCORING CONN ECU 5:14 (CONN) FG: A. White, 45 Yd FG 13 16 1:49 (CONN) FG: A. White, 33 Yd FG 16 16 1:37 (ECU) TD: M. Charles, returned kickoff 102 Yds (B. Manson kick) 16 23 FOURTH QUARTER SCORING CONN ECU 1:19 (ECU) TD: C. Crawford, 32 Yd run (B. Manson kick) 16 30
Connecticut Huskies PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Dan Mackey 24/38 230 1 1 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Gerald Chandler 15 116 7.7 0 Dan Mackey 7 -29 -4.1 0 Ben Miller 3 16 5.3 0 Shawn Miller 1 5 5.0 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Gerald Chandler 8 41 5.1 0 Omar Mitchell 6 73 12.1 0 David Jones 4 54 13.5 0 Corey Smith 2 48 48.0 1 Joey Pace 2 11 5.5 0 Ben Miller 1 2 2.0 0 Shawn Miller 1 1 1.0 0 BLOCKING PANCAKE SACK Michael Reid 2 0 Maurice Summers 1 0 Nick Heffner 0 3 David Bryant 0 1 Ryan Scott 0 1 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Robert Pruitt 6 0.0 1 0 Marcus Jackson 5 0.0 0 0 Walter Jones 5 0.0 0 0 Vince Nance 4 0.0 0 0 Garrett Skinner 4 0.0 0 0 Isaac Franklin 3 1.0 0 0 Charles Smith 3 0.0 1 0 Lukas Covington 3 0.0 0 0 Bryan Brooks 2 0.0 0 0 Brian Howell 1 0.0 1 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LG Aaron White 3/4 1/1 10 46 PUNTING TOT YDS AVG -20 Antonio Cunningham 2 76 38.0 1 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Steve Walters 1 18 18.0 0 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Omar Mitchell 3 34 11.3 0 East Carolina Pirates PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Josh Parks 3/14 92 0 3 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Corey Crawford 29 195 6.7 2 Matt Charles 5 33 6.6 0 Josh Parks 3 -13 -4.3 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Willie Matthews 1 57 57.0 0 T.J. Woods 1 18 18.0 0 Johnnie Estes 1 17 17.0 0 BLOCKING PANCAKE SACK Lee Jackson 1 0 Jeff Rosario 1 0 Craig Charles 0 1 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Jonathan Perry 8 0.0 0 0 Jerome Anderson 7 1.0 0 0 Richard Goddard 6 0.0 0 0 Patrick Gipson 5 0.0 1 0 Dan Davis 5 0.0 0 0 Derrick McTaggart 4 2.0 0 0 Andy Harris 3 0.0 0 0 Charles Jones 3 0.0 0 0 Jamey West 3 0.0 0 0 Nick Neal 2 0.0 0 0 Jason Hill 2 0.0 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LG Brian Manson 3/3 3/3 12 35 PUNTING TOT YDS AVG -20 Peter Wheeler 3 125 41.6 0 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Johnnie Estes 3 61 20.3 0 Matt Charles 2 141 70.5 1 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Matt Charles 1 20 20.0 0

[jpfine]

The schedule looks like a mixture of good teams and bad teams, so maybe an early promotion to Tier 7 could be in the cards. The rule changes are great, anything to make it tougher on yourself and to make it a process is great. Finally, solid win against Chattanooga, but it didn't seem pretty, to say the least. Looks like Hawkins is still hopeful for the season and he seems confident in his run game, which is good because that's what he's essentially been restricted to.

That's the plan! We would love to get an early promotion and make our way up the ranks quickly. I would love to be able to shoot up quickly, but, obviously, with the restrictions, it may be a little tougher to do that than with the Chips. We didn't look great against Chattanooga, but this game against UConn really gave me some confidence in the team.

[jpfine]

Tar Heels not messing around – Pirates get clobbered by UNC for first loss of season

Corey James, The Greenville News Published 9:24 p.m. ET September 8, 2018

The Pirates played similarly to how they played against Chattanooga and UConn – the only problem was that North Carolina is a better team than both Chattanooga and UConn. The ECU defense wasn’t able to get any stops and the Tar Heels were able to capitalize on the rough showing by the Pirate defense, beating East Carolina in a rout, 45-17.

“It’s obviously not what we want to see,” said Hawkins. “We got outplayed. It's that simple."

Nothing that the East Carolina defense attempted to do to stop the Tar Heels worked. In the slightest. Even though the Pirates had more total yards in the game, a good chunk of that came from special teams, due to the high number of kickoffs from UNC. Corey Crawford was gobbled up by the Tar Heels, and it was evident that they were prepared to see the Pirates attempting to run the ball often. Especially late on, the offense wasn't able to get the passing game going to be able to chip away at the lead of North Carolina. Josh Parks threw the three interceptions on the last three drives for East Carolina on the game.

"Yeah, I mean, he didn't have a great game," said Hawkins, when asked about Parks' performance "But it wasn't all him, we had a poor performance all around. I can't blame it all on the quarterback or all on the defensive ends. What I can blame this performance on, however, is myself, because I made some poor decisions, which lead to some big plays for the Tar Heels. Sure, execution is part of it, but I didn't put my players in the best position to stop some plays."

Even with the loss, the player of the game, announced by Hawkins, was Johnnie Estes, due to his effort on special teams and his lone touchdown through the air.

East Carolina Pirates at North Carolina Tar Heels
Sep 8, 2018 1 2 3 4 F East Carolina (2-1) 0 7 3 7 17 North Carolina (1-0) 14 14 10 7 45 Top Performers PASS: William Brooks (UNC) - 15-19, 351 Yards, 5 TDs RUSH: Corey Crawford (ECU) - 28 Rushes, 88 Yards, 1 TD REC: Brett Newton (UNC) - 4 Receptions, 107 Yards, 3 TDs	Team Stats Comparison ECU UNC First Downs 14 13 3rd Down Efficiency 7-15 6-11 4th Down Efficiency 1-2 0-1 Total Yards 468 457 Passing Yards 167 351 Rushing Yards 98 87 Penalties-Penalty Yards 1-5 0-0 Turnovers 3 0 Time of Possession 15:33 12:27
Scoring Summary FIRST QUARTER SCORING ECU UNC 4:00 (UNC) TD: B. Newton, 17 Yd pass from W. Brooks (D. Brown kick) 0 7 1:48 (UNC) TD: J. Reyes, 10 Yd pass from W. Brooks (D. Brown kick) 0 14 SECOND QUARTER SCORING ECU UNC 3:28 (UNC) TD: J. Reyes, 12 Yd pass from W. Brooks (D. Brown kick) 0 21 0:43 (ECU) TD: C. Crawford, 4 Yd run (B. Manson kick) 7 21 0:24 (UNC) TD: B. Newton, 3 Yd pass from W. Brooks (D. Brown kick) 7 28 THIRD QUARTER SCORING ECU UNC 3:31 (ECU) FG: B. Manson, 40 Yd FG 10 28 3:16 (UNC) TD: B. Newton, 75 Yd pass from W. Brooks (D. Brown kick) 10 35 0:46 (UNC) FG: D. Brown, 34 Yd FG 10 38 FOURTH QUARTER SCORING ECU UNC 4:30 (ECU) TD: J. Estes, 3 Yd pass from J. Parks (B. Manson kick) 17 38 2:56 (UNC) TD: W. Brooks, 1 Yd run (D. Brown kick) 17 45
East Carolina Pirates PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Josh Parks 13/29 167 1 3 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Corey Crawford 28 88 3.1 1 Matt Charles 4 5 1.2 0 Lee Jackson 2 13 6.5 0 Josh Parks 1 -8 -8.0 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD T.J. Woods 5 94 18.8 0 Corey Crawford 5 34 6.8 0 Jeff Rosario 2 36 18.0 0 Johnnie Estes 1 3 3.0 1 BLOCKING PANCAKE SACK Justin Taylor 5 0 Brian Yates 1 0 Craig Charles 1 0 Chaz Hunter 1 0 P.J. Marshall 0 1 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Derrick McTaggart 7 1.0 0 0 Jason Hill 6 2.0 0 0 Jamey West 5 0.0 0 0 Richard Goddard 4 0.0 0 0 Jerome Anderson 4 0.0 0 0 Nick Neal 3 0.0 0 0 Jonathan Perry 3 0.0 0 0 Dan Davis 2 0.0 0 0 Justin Taylor 2 0.0 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LG Brian Manson 1/1 2/2 5 40 PUNTING TOT YDS AVG -20 Peter Wheeler 4 161 40.2 0 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Johnnie Estes 6 148 24.6 0 Matt Charles 1 16 16.0 0 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Matt Charles 2 39 19.5 0 North Carolina Tar Heels PASSING C/A YDS TD INT William Brooks 15/19 351 5 0 Eric Prater 0/3 0 0 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD William Brooks 12 11 0.9 1 Roderick Collins 10 83 8.3 0 Seth Webb 5 9 1.8 0 Eric Prater 3 -16 -5.3 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Brett Newton 4 107 26.7 3 Jeff Reyes 4 90 22.5 2 George Wilson 3 53 17.6 0 Quinn Davis 2 74 37.0 0 Danny Stephens 2 27 13.5 0 BLOCKING PANCAKE SACK Ashton Charles 1 0 Matt Watkins 0 1 A.J. Robinson 0 1 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Sean Monroe 8 1.0 0 0 Luke Roach 6 0.0 0 0 Brandon Carter 5 0.0 0 0 Travis Davis 5 0.0 0 0 Curtis White 5 0.0 0 0 David White 4 0.0 0 0 Courtney Hayford 4 0.0 0 0 John Smith 4 0.0 1 0 Nate Davis 4 0.0 0 0 Steve Medlock 3 0.0 0 0 Eric Luke 2 0.0 0 0 Garrett Castillo 2 0.0 1 0 Nick Kane 1 0.0 1 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LG Darren Brown 1/1 6/6 9 35 PUNTING TOT YDS AVG -20 Brad Hartman 2 89 44.5 0 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Daniel Brown 2 16 8.0 0 Nate Davis 1 3 3.0 0

[PickleJuice1231]

Re: Coach Hawkins' Journey to the Top: Volume I | The Problematic Pirates

"Yeah, I mean, he didn't have a great game," said Hawkins, when asked about Parks' performance "But it wasn't all him, we had a poor performance all around. I can't blame it all on the quarterback or all on the defensive ends. What I can blame this performance on, however, is myself, because I made some poor decisions, which lead to some big plays for the Tar Heels. Sure, execution is part of it, but I didn't put my players in the best position to stop some plays."

It sucks to have lost to UNC, but I think Hawkins taking ownership for the loss may give him some respect. I honestly wouldn't want a coach who blames everything on the players and doesn't own up to anything. Good for him.

Also, close game against UConn, glad that you pulled out of that one with a win to keep a winning record so far. If you can really get the running game going, though, I would highly recommend that, because it looks like Parks doesn't really know how to control his throw. That may be the sliders that you're just not used to, but I would keep your throwing to a minimum because Parks doesn't seem too confident. That's just my two cents.

Overall, though, it's still looking good and, from what I can tell, you could've kept it close against UNC, you just turned it over late with the interceptions.

[jpfine]

It sucks to have lost to UNC, but I think Hawkins taking ownership for the loss may give him some respect. I honestly wouldn't want a coach who blames everything on the players and doesn't own up to anything. Good for him.

Also, close game against UConn, glad that you pulled out of that one with a win to keep a winning record so far. If you can really get the running game going, though, I would highly recommend that, because it looks like Parks doesn't really know how to control his throw. That may be the sliders that you're just not used to, but I would keep your throwing to a minimum because Parks doesn't seem too confident. That's just my two cents.

Overall, though, it's still looking good and, from what I can tell, you could've kept it close against UNC, you just turned it over late with the interceptions.

Yeah, I agree. I think that it's key for Hawkins to own up to blowouts like these. Obviously, the team wasn't playing well, but it wasn't like he was perfect and his players just weren't doing what he wanted them to do.

On the Parks front, I think it's more the QB Accuracy slider more than anything. The OS sliders have it at 5, I believe, and, I mean, it's tough to throw with these sliders. We'll have to maybe test some things in practice mode, but I really want to get good at running the ball. I ran the ball a solid amount against UNC, I just wasn't seeing the results. I felt like every play they gobbled me up in the backfield, but I hope I can see better results against UCF and get Hawkins' first rivalry at ECU.

I definitely feel like I could've gotten it to a 24-38 scoreline, but I started giving up the ball late in the 4th quarter, which kind of ended the scoring for us. Only thing we can do at this point is move on and put up a good fight against UConn. Thanks again, PickleJuice!

[jpfine]

Just to let you all know, I'll be doing updates on the league standings and what the pro-rel playoffs would look like if the season ended today during my bye weeks, so expect to see that after the UCF game is up. I think I might be able to play through it tomorrow and post it by Tuesday, but I can't promise anything.

[jpfine]

Hawkins, Pirates defeat rival UCF Knights for third win of the season, first win on the road

Eve Hansen, The Greenville News Published 6:49 p.m. ET September 15, 2018

In the 17th installment of a huge rivalry game between the two teams, the East Carolina Pirates and the UCF Knights went for all the marbles. Overall, the game was tough and the atmosphere at Spectrum Stadium this afternoon was electric, with a solid showing by the East Carolina fan base. However, even with a packed stadium, full of mostly UCF fans, the Pirates weren't rattled and they were able to get the job done.

"I'm glad to be able to see our guys play like this today," said Hawkins, "but we need to work on getting in the endzone. Don't get me wrong, Brian [Manson] is great and we're glad to have him produce such high numbers, but we can't expect to compete against teams by scoring field goals all day."

Brian Manson, the kicker for the Pirates, went 4/4 on the day, with the longest being 48 yards. The 48-yard field goal puts him at the 18th longest field goal in the nation thus far. He also went a perfect 2-for-2 in terms of extra points.

Even with the lack of touchdowns, the offensive productivity was not lacking for East Carolina. Corey Crawford accounted for 199 rushing yards alone, including a 49-yard breakout run to end the first quarter. Josh Parks went 6-for-12 and threw for 168 yards. Including special teams, the Pirates had a whopping total of 528 yards.

"I don't think that the score shows how well the offense worked, in my opinion," said Eddie Bennett, offensive coordinator of East Carolina. "I think we easily could've made it a 34-17, 38-17 game. We just weren't able to get in the end zone, and we're gonna have the opportunity to fix that during this bye week before we take a trip down to Florida."

The player of the game for the Pirates was Corey Crawford, with 199 yards in just 37 rushes and 1 touchdown.

As Bennett said, the Pirates will be continuing their stay down in Florida in two weeks as they face the Gators in Gainesville.

East Carolina Pirates at UCF Knights
Sep 15, 2018 1 2 3 4 F East Carolina (3-1) 7 13 3 3 26 UCF (0-2) 7 3 0 7 17 Top Performers PASS: Josh Parks (ECU) - 6-12, 168 Yards, 1 TD RUSH: Corey Crawford (ECU) - 37 Rushes, 199 Yards, 1 TD REC: Johnnie Estes (ECU) - 1 Reception, 77 Yards	Team Stats Comparison ECU UCF First Downs 13 10 3rd Down Efficiency 2-11 0-7 4th Down Efficiency 2-2 0-1 Total Yards 528 246 Passing Yards 168 128 Rushing Yards 213 91 Penalties-Penalty Yards 1-5 0-0 Turnovers 0 1 Time of Possession 18:22 9:38
Scoring Summary FIRST QUARTER SCORING ECU UCF 4:43 (UCF) TD: D. Mathis, 33 Yd pass from B. Coleman (J. Haynes kick) 0 7 0:11 (ECU) TD: C. Crawford, 49 Yd run (B. Manson kick) 7 7 SECOND QUARTER SCORING ECU UCF 5:40 (UCF) FG: J. Haynes, 40 Yd FG 7 10 3:39 (ECU) FG: B. Manson, 19 Yd FG 10 10 0:44 (ECU) FG: B. Manson, 48 Yd FG 13 10 0:04 (ECU) TD: T. Woods, 53 Yd pass from J. Parks (B. Manson kick) 20 10 THIRD QUARTER SCORING ECU UCF 4:21 (ECU) FG: B. Manson, 35 Yd FG 23 10 FOURTH QUARTER SCORING ECU UCF 6:22 (UCF) TD: B. Richardson, 4 Yd run (J. Haynes kick) 23 17 2:04 (ECU) FG: B. Manson, 17 Yd FG 26 17
East Carolina Pirates PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Josh Parks 6/12 168 1 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Corey Crawford 37 199 5.3 1 Josh Parks 3 14 4.6 0 Lee Jackson 1 0 0.0 0 Matt Charles 1 0 0.0 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD T.J. Woods 3 67 22.3 1 Johnnie Estes 1 77 77.0 0 Roy Evans 1 18 18.0 0 Matt Charles 1 6 6.0 0 BLOCKING PANCAKE SACK Justin Taylor 8 0 P.J. Marshall 3 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Jerome Anderson 7 2.0 0 0 Richard Goddard 6 2.0 0 0 Nick Neal 4 0.0 0 0 Patrick Gipson 4 0.0 1 0 Jonathan Perry 4 0.0 0 0 Jamey West 3 0.0 0 0 Evan Denan 2 1.0 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LG Brian Manson 4/4 2/2 14 48 PUNTING TOT YDS AVG -20 Peter Wheeler 3 106 35.3 0 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Matt Charles 2 82 41.0 0 Johnnie Estes 1 19 19.0 0 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Matt Charles 4 46 11.5 0 UCF Knights PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Brandon Coleman 14/21 128 1 1 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Brandon Richardson 11 92 8.3 1 Brandon Coleman 8 -11 -1.3 0 Alex Felder 1 2 2.0 0 Alex Jackson 1 8 8.0 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Dan Mathis 3 43 14.3 1 Mario Hood 3 31 10.3 0 Kendrick Johnson 2 21 10.5 0 Alex Jackson 2 12 6.0 0 Brandon Richardson 2 -1 -0.5 0 Steve Hayes 1 17 17.0 0 Dan Davis 1 5 5.0 0 BLOCKING PANCAKE SACK Mark Parker 1 1 Dominic Evans 1 0 Dan Davis 1 0 Brandon Jones 1 0 Alex Jackson 1 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Chaz Cannon 8 0.0 0 0 Brent Parrish 7 0.0 0 0 Garth Sullivan 6 0.0 0 0 Darrell Goff 5 0.0 0 0 Jermaine Edwards 5 0.0 0 0 James Cobb 4 0.0 0 0 Phillip Sullivan 3 0.0 0 0 Steve Smith 3 0.0 0 0 Jeff Muhammad 2 0.0 0 0 Grant McFarland 2 0.0 0 0 Tony Christian 2 0.0 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LG Jason Haynes 1/2 2/2 5 40 PUNTING TOT YDS AVG -20 David Allen 4 188 47.0 0 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Ricky Landry 3 27 9.0 0

[jpfine]

Tier 8 Conference Standings Update

Tier 8 Conference Standings - Updated: Sep 22, 2018
TEAM	REC	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STRK
East Carolina	3-1	.750	6 pts.	97	81	W1
Idaho	2-1	.667	4 pts.	73	71	W1
Eastern Michigan	2-1	.667	3 pts.	72	61	W1
Old Dominion	2-1	.667	1 pt.	106	89	W1
New Mexico State	1-2	.333	0 pts.	80	94	L2
UTSA	0-4	.000	0 pts.	87	167	L4

[jpfine]

ECU can't keep pace with 6th-ranked Florida Gators in hostile Gainesville environment

Corey James, The Greenville News Published 7:53 p.m. ET September 29, 2018

The Pirates weren't all bad this afternoon against the high powered Gators, as they only lost 38-21 after a last-minute surge in the 4th quarter. This surge gave Hawkins and his Pirates a touchdown and another chance for a second in a matter of minutes after a successful onside kick. However, they, obviously, weren't able to pull off the comeback against the 6th-ranked team in the nation.

"I honestly think that we played very well," said Hawkins. "The only thing is we played a top-10 team at their own stadium, which is definitely one of the toughest environments to play in. We didn't get completely blown out and I think we held our own, especially in the early stages. The lack of depth that we have right now showed, but, overall, I'm proud of my guys' efforts across the board."

After the first touchdown from Florida, the East Carolina defense was able to get some stops. However, the offense wasn't able to do the opposite, and the Florida offense was able to exploit poor coverages. As I stated, even with the last-minute surge in the 4th quarter, the Pirates weren't able to really get back in the game after they allowed the third Gators touchdown of the game.

The player of the game, for the fourth time, was Corey Crawford, who ran 170 yards in 28 rushes and 2 touchdowns.

East Carolina Pirates at Florida Gators
Sep 29, 2018 1 2 3 4 F East Carolina (3-2) 0 14 0 7 21 #6 Florida (4-1) 7 14 14 3 38 Top Performers PASS: Darrius Hairston (UF) - 24-32, 349 Yards, 4 TDs RUSH: Corey Crawford (ECU) - 28 Rushes, 170 Yards, 2 TDs REC: Ryan May (UF) - 7 Receptions, 128 Yards, 2 TDs	Team Stats Comparison ECU FLA First Downs 16 17 3rd Down Efficiency 6-13 4-11 4th Down Efficiency 0-4 1-1 Total Yards 591 474 Passing Yards 225 349 Rushing Yards 183 116 Penalties-Penalty Yards 1-5 1-5 Turnovers 2 0 Time of Possession 15:17 12:43
Scoring Summary FIRST QUARTER SCORING ECU FLA 0:37 (FLA) TD: M. Quinn, 8 Yd run (D. Moss kick) 0 7 SECOND QUARTER SCORING ECU FLA 6:23 (ECU) TD: C. Crawford, 1 Yd run (B. Manson kick) 7 7 4:16 (FLA) TD: J. Greene, 60 Yd pass from D. Hairston (D. Moss kick) 7 14 1:28 (FLA) TD: T. Lewis, 15 Yd pass from D. Hairston (D. Moss kick) 7 21 0:33 (ECU) TD: C. Crawford, 2 Yd run (B. Manson kick) 14 21 THIRD QUARTER SCORING ECU FLA 5:08 (FLA) TD: R. May, 28 Yd pass from D. Hairston (D. Moss kick) 14 28 3:20 (FLA) TD: R. May, 52 Yd pass from D. Hairston (D. Moss kick) 14 35 FOURTH QUARTER SCORING ECU FLA 3:42 (FLA) FG: D. Moss, 38 Yd FG 14 38 3:17 (ECU) TD: J. Estes, 75 Yd pass from J. Parks (B. Manson kick) 21 38
East Carolina Pirates PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Josh Parks 10/25 225 1 2 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Corey Crawford 28 170 6.0 2 Matt Charles 5 15 3.0 0 Lee Jackson 4 9 2.2 0 Josh Parks 1 -11 -11.0 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD T.J. Woods 3 68 22.6 0 Johnnie Estes 2 92 46.0 1 Roy Evans 2 30 15.0 0 Willie Matthews 1 31 31.0 0 Lee Jackson 1 8 8.0 0 Corey Crawford 1 -4 -4.0 0 BLOCKING PANCAKE SACK Jeff Rosario 1 0 Justin Taylor 1 0 P.J. Marshall 1 0 Corey Crawford 0 1 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Jerome Anderson 7 1.0 0 0 Jamey West 6 0.0 0 0 Jonathan Perry 5 0.0 0 0 Charles Jones 5 0.0 0 0 Jason Hill 5 0.0 0 0 Richard Goddard 4 0.0 0 0 Nick Neal 4 0.0 0 0 Dan Davis 2 0.0 0 0 Patrick Gipson 2 0.0 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LG Brian Mason 0/0 3/3 3 0 PUNTING TOT YDS AVG -20 Peter Wheeler 2 86 43.0 0 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Matt Charles 3 115 38.3 0 Johnnie Estes 1 43 43.0 0 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Matt Charles 3 25 8.3 0 Florida Gators PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Darrius Hairston 24/32 349 4 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Marcus Quinn 21 124 5.9 1 Darrius Hairston 4 -14 -3.5 0 Joey Bray 1 6 6.0 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Ryan May 7 128 18.2 2 John Greene 6 90 15.0 1 Todd Lewis 4 45 11.2 1 J.B. Jones 3 41 13.6 0 Tyler Turner 2 36 18.0 0 Marcus Quinn 1 10 10.0 0 Joey Bray 1 -1 -1.0 0 BLOCKING PANCAKE SACK Jamal Massey 3 0 Chris Pittman 2 0 Brad Hicks 2 0 Darren Barclay 1 0 Brandon Graves 1 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Ashton James 7 0.0 0 0 Shane Harris 7 0.0 0 0 Danny Wright 6 0.0 1 0 Ed Brown 6 0.0 0 0 Brian Green 4 0.0 1 0 Tyler Moss 3 0.0 0 0 David Vaughn 3 0.0 0 0 Terry Wesley 3 0.0 0 0 Reggie McIntyre 2 0.0 0 0 Michael Williams 2 1.0 0 0 Chaz Thomas 2 0.0 0 0 Alex Sykes 2 0.0 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LG David Moss 1/1 5/5 8 39 PUNTING TOT YDS AVG -20 Henry Hopkins 3 143 47.6 0 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Ryan May 1 9 9.0 0

[PickleJuice1231]

Re: Coach Hawkins' Journey to the Top: Volume I | The Problematic Pirates

Honestly, it seems like you played better against Florida than you did UCF.

In all seriousness though, I think the improvement of getting into the end zone from the UCF game to the Florida game was crucial, but, as Corey James said, it just wasn't enough to pull off the upset bid. However, a game like the game against Florida is really assuring for a team at the bottom level. Keep it up, and it looks like Hawkins has a chance to bring them up to Tier 7 this season.

[jpfine]

Honestly, it seems like you played better against Florida than you did UCF.

In all seriousness though, I think the improvement of getting into the end zone from the UCF game to the Florida game was crucial, but, as Corey James said, it just wasn't enough to pull off the upset bid. However, a game like the game against Florida is really assuring for a team at the bottom level. Keep it up, and it looks like Hawkins has a chance to bring them up to Tier 7 this season.

I feel like I felt better playing against UCF, I just couldn't find the end zone. I had FOUR field goals, and I easily could've scored two of those for TDs. The UCF defense stopped me twice on the 2-yard line, which was crazy.

But I'm definitely not saying we didn't play well against Florida because we did. They obviously showed that they're better. Plain and simple. I expect those at this point and I'm honestly kind of glad I lost, because I don't want the process to be super quick.

[PickleJuice1231]

Re: Coach Hawkins' Journey to the Top: Volume I | The Problematic Pirates

I feel like I felt better playing against UCF, I just couldn't find the end zone. I had FOUR field goals, and I easily could've scored two of those for TDs. The UCF defense stopped me twice on the 2-yard line, which was crazy.

But I'm definitely not saying we didn't play well against Florida because we did. They obviously showed that they're better. Plain and simple. I expect those at this point and I'm honestly kind of glad I lost, because I don't want the process to be super quick.

Sometimes that happens with the CPU, though. At least you got some form of points out of it and didn't just go for it on 4th and inches, because you probably would have gotten stuffed if you ran the ball and I don't think that it would have been likely for you to throw it, especially with Josh Parks' accuracy in the past couple games.

Yeah, I think you definitely played well against Florida. It seemed like an impressive showing and, as Hawkins essentially said post-game, it could've been worse. Keep it up, and it looks like you could get 3, maybe 4 more wins to clinch eligibility for promotion!

[jpfine]

Two field goals by Manson the difference in ECU victory

Corey James, The Greenville News Published 12:02 a.m. ET October 7, 2018

In a game that didn't seem close at all, the battle between the Pirates of ECU and the Toledo Rockets was actually a closely contested fight. The Pirates were able to come out of the Glass Bowl with their fourth win of the season, handing the Rockets their second loss. The Pirates defeated the Rockets, 27-21.

A major factor in the game was a clock-draining drive to start the second half, that nearly lasted ten minutes of game time and that ate up the entire third quarter. "Yeah, sure it was a factor," said Hawkins. "I had it planned in the second quarter after we allowed those two touchdowns within a minute. Our defense was allowing their offense to blow right past us, and quickly, and it definitely wasn't what we wanted. After the field goal to end the half, we had the lead, and both Eddie [Bennett] and I thought that we should keep that lead for as long as possible. We talked with Josh [Parks] and Corey [Crawford] and they were on board, so that's what we talked about in the locker. It worked out in the end with a touchdown, and we were able to seal it with a field goal by Brian [Manson] later on in the fourth.

In addition to that drive, a major factor was the turnover differential. The Pirates went +4 on the day. "It was huge," said Clarence Means, the defensive coordinator of the Pirates. "Our offense wasn't able to get anything going, to begin with, and I think we were able to give them some time to adjust and be able to get things going with the three interceptions early."

The player of the game for ECU was Brian Manson, who went 2-for-2 for field goals and 3-for-3 for extra points on the day.

After the solid showing by the Pirates, Hawkins and ECU head home to face Tier 8-foe, Idaho, in the homecoming game.

East Carolina Pirates at Toledo Rockets
Oct 6, 2018 1 2 3 4 F East Carolina (4-2) 7 10 0 10 27 Toledo (4-2) 0 14 0 7 21 Top Performers PASS: Harold Craig (TOL) - 13-21, 220 Yards, 2 TDs, 3 INTs RUSH: Corey Crawford (ECU) - 34 Rushes, 128 Yards, 1 TD REC: Brian Scales (TOL) - 5 Receptions, 132 Yards, 1 TD	Team Stats Comparison ECU TOL First Downs 14 7 3rd Down Efficiency 7-14 1-6 4th Down Efficiency 1-2 1-3 Total Yards 334 250 Passing Yards 37 221 Rushing Yards 202 20 Penalties-Penalty Yards 1-5 1-15 Turnovers 0 4 Time of Possession 20:10 7:50
Scoring Summary FIRST QUARTER SCORING ECU TOL 4:06 (ECU) TD: J. Parks, 10 Yd run (B. Manson kick) 7 0 SECOND QUARTER SCORING ECU TOL 5:09 (ECU) TD: C. Crawford, 6 Yd run (B. Manson kick) 14 0 1:53 (TOL) TD: H. Craig, 2 Yd run (J. Moore kick) 14 7 1:03 (TOL) TD: C. Martin, 8 Yd pass from H. Craig (J. Moore kick) 14 14 0:02 (ECU) FG: B. Manson, 38 Yd FG 17 14 FOURTH QUARTER SCORING ECU TOL 4:04 (ECU) TD: J. Parks, 5 Yd run (B. Manson kick) 24 14 1:24 (ECU) FG: B. Manson, 41 Yd FG 27 14 1:00 (TOL) TD: B. Scales, 47 Yd pass from H. Craig 27 21