GREENVILLE, N.C. (AP) -Scotty Robinson can’t do anything around East Carolina’s campus without hearing people weigh in on Saturday’s matchup with No. 18 Houston in the Conference USA championship game.
“It’s been buzzing all week,” the senior defensive end said. “I’ve got people calling me from everywhere to get tickets. There’s been pep rallies all over campus. Every class I go to, people are saying, ‘You’ve got to get this one.”’
The Pirates (8-4, 7-1 C-USA) are the defending champions and hosting the game for the first time after winning the East Division with the best overall league record. East Carolina can become the first repeat winner since the league went to a divisional format in 2005.
But the Cougars (10-2, 6-2) are the favorite, boasting an offense that East Carolina coach Skip Holtz jokes puts up “video game-type numbers” behind quarterback Case Keenum.
Stadium, rolling up 621 total yards in a 41-24 victory.
It’s a memory that lingers with the Pirates, if for no other reason than it gave them an up-close look at the Keenum-led attack that has scored 128 points in the past two games and left the Pirates gasping for air last season. And because East Carolina’s secondary has allowed six touchdown passes of 43 yards or more – including scores of 80 and 96 yards – Holtz said his team’s oft-criticized offense will have to shoulder a significant burden to help the defense.
That means efficient passing from sixth-year quarterback Patrick Pinkney, who will look to get to the ball to big-play threat Dwayne Harris, and a strong dose of Dominique Lindsay carrying the football.
“You can’t just go three-and-out, but you can’t just sit on the ball and run quarterback sneaks and try to inch it out and eat up the clock,” Holtz said. “It can’t be your only goal. You have to try to score points, but the offense is going to have to try to protect the defense some in this game.”
Regardless, hosting the championship game is another step forward for the Pirates under their fifth-year coach. He inherited a program that had lost 22 of 25 games, but his second team reached a bowl game in 2006, then his third squad won a bowl. Last year, the Pirates won the C-USA East after falling just short the previous two years, then forced Tulsa’s high-powered offense into seven turnovers in a 27-24 road win for the program’s first conference championship since 1976.
Last year’s Pirates also upset Virginia Tech and West Virginia to open the season and earn national rankings, but the Cougars knocked them out of the polls while earning their first win against a ranked team in a dozen years.
“Defensively we came with great energy, feeding off our offense,” cornerback Brandon Brinkley said. “Everything was just going together – offense would make plays and defense would create turnovers and then we scored off of them. It was a whole team win.”
East Carolina has won seven straight home games against league opponents since, including last week’s 25-20 win against a Southern Mississippi team that had taken 15 of 17 meetings against the Pirates in Greenville coming in.
Houston has tied the program record for single-season wins, though the Cougars were so dominant in a 55-14 win against Memphis and a 73-14 win last week against Rice that key players have been able to rest during the second half. But receiver Tyron Carrier said he didn’t think it would prevent the Cougars from coming out sharp Saturday.
“It can help us in most ways seeing that we’re fresh. But it could also harm us because we haven’t played a full game in a while,” Carrier said. “But wins like that really don’t do anything but help you, it keeps everybody confident. I like winning like that.”
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AP Sports Writer Kristie Rieken in Houston contributed to this report.
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