The East Carolina Pirates went 9-5 on 2010 NCAA Football Picks, but lost to Arkansas 20-17 in the Liberty Bowl. The Pirates have won back to back Conference USA titles, but the team has lost too much, including their head coach - to win a third crown in a row. ECU hired Ruffin McNeil to replace Holtz, who is now the new head coach at South Florida. McNeil served as intern head coach at Texas Tech, and was on their short list of candidates, but the school went in another direction. McNeil returns to his alma mater in a season which they lost a lot, including quarterback Patrick Pinkney, who is the big loss on offense. Holtz and his staff recruited well, so East Carolina still has a shot at a bowl.
ECU went 7-6 against the spread, going over the football betting odds total 7 times and under 6 times last season. The offense ranked 67th in the FBS division, averaging 369.4 yards per contest, the passing game averaged 217 yards, which ranked 58th in the nation, the running game ranked 55th nationally, averaging 152.1 yards per contest and the Pirates scored 27 points per game. The 2009 defense ranked 72nd in college football, giving up 378.3 yards per game, the majority of it was through the air where the Pirates ranked 107th nationally, giving up 258 yards per contest, the run defense was pretty good, thy ranked 27th in the country, giving up 120.5 yards per game, the team gave almost 22 points per contest and that ranked 36th nationally.
East Carolina isn't going to become the East coast version of Texas Tech, but you will see more 4 wide receiver sets and a lot more passing trust this sports handicapper on this one. Senior wide receiver Dewayne Harris has to be pumped over the new offense. Harris has 10 career touchdown catches, a 70 catch season and 1,000 receiving yards should be his goal in 2010. ECU will be deep at the wide receiver position, but the question is who will throw the ball to these guy's. Brad Wornick is the front runner in the quarterback competition, Rio Johnson, Josh Jordan and Junior college transfer Dominique Davis will all battle in the fall to take the job. The offensive line will be one of the best in C-USA. McNeil kicked the best running back off of the team in the spring, Jonathan Williams will get the majority of the carries this season, Williams is a very good reciever and that will help when the competition comes in the fall.
The defense could be in trouble this season with the loss of nine starters, this sports handicapper believes that no matter how good you recruit, you can't replace that many starters on one unit. The only returning starters are cornerbacks Emanuel Davis and Travis Simmons, and they will headline what could be a decent secondary. The interior line has some good talent also, but they will be pressed into duty, this is a good time for incoming freshman to shine in fall practice. The linebackers will be rotated until someone steps up and takes a position. Can Ruffin McNeil continue the success at East Carolina, a lot will be said about his leadership ability.
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