East Carolina University
Location: Greenville, NC
Student Body: 27,816 total students, 20,974 undergrads
Established: March 9, 1907
Mascot:PeeDee the Pirate
Head Coach: Ruffin McNeil (2nd Season as Head Coach) 6-7 in first season
Last Game of 2010: Lost to Maryland in the Military Bowl 51-20
Stadium: The game will be played at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC
Stadium Capacity: 73,778
ECU Famous Alumni: Sandra Bullock (Actress) Vince McMahon (WWE CEO), Chris Johnson( Tennessee Titans RB) and Kevin Williamson (Creator of Dawson’s Creek)
Neutral field game: For the first time in the Steve Spurrier era USC will open the season on a neutral field. Since the Chick-fil-a Classic is booked till 2015, the Gamecocks will take their talents to Charlotte to play against East Carolina. For the second straight season, USC will open against a Conference USA team that will rely heavily on their offense. The last two neutral field games didn’t go very well for the Gamecocks, with a blow out lose to Auburn in the SEC Championship game and a lose to FSU in the Chick-fil-a bowl.
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Players to watch on offense for ECU: The Pirates are lead by senior quarterback Dominique Davis, who passed for 3967 yards and 37 touchdowns in 2010. The top returning receiver is Lance Lewis who had 89 receptions for 1116 yards and 14 touchdowns. The Pirates will look to JUCO transfer Reggie Bullock to be the top running back this season. Bullock rushed for 3,247 yards in his two seasons at Arizona Western.
Players to watch on defense for ECU: ECU’s 2010 defense allowed the most points in a single season in the history of the FBS. The Pirates will switch from a 4-3 to a 3-4 scheme this season, hoping to improve on a horrific 2010 season. The anchor in the 3-4 defense will be junior Michael Brooks, who was hampered by a knee injury in 2010. The Pirates linebacking group will look to rebuild for the second straight year as they will look to find new starters to fill the void. Redshirt sophomore Ty Holmes who was a backup last year, will look to lead the group at inside linebacker.
For USC – playing up to the hype: As defending SEC East Champs, the Gamecocks come into this season with high expectations of making it back to Atlanta and possible a BCS bowl game this season. Just like last year, the Gamecocks will rely on Marcus Lattimore to run the ball and stay healthy. Lucky for the Gamecocks there should be no shortage of playmakers on both sides of the ball. If the Pirates load the box to stop Lattimore, look for the Alshon Jeffery to have a big game. The top returning WR in the SEC should cause major problems for the Pirates and help keep the running game wide open.
Garcia vs. Shaw: Coach Spurrier said earlier in the week that both Shaw and Garcia will play in the season opener. Hopefully Carolina can get out to a big lead and allow Shaw to get ample playing time in the second half. Garica has the experience and should play the majority of the game, but Shaw has looked good in the pre-season. Whether Garcia or Shaw, the Gamecocks look primed for a good showing in Charlotte.
Welcome to the Show: The Gamecocks have a couple of newcomers that should see the field early and often in Charlotte. We all want to see what some newbie with the last name Clowney can do but I will get to that in a minute. On the offensive side of the ball, look for freshman speedster Damiere Byrd to be a factor. Also you might see Bruce Ellington at some point and he may run the WildCock.
Defense will be the key: East Carolina scored a lot of points last season and they are geared up to score more this season so the secondary will need to step up and slow down the Pirates pass happy offense. Stephon Gilmore is back at corner this season and will look to be the shut down corner we all know he can be. Having Shaq Wilson back at middle linebacker should be a big plus for the defense as well. The defense line is probably the strongest it has been in years with Devin Taylor and Melvin Ingram looking to continue their dominance from last year. As for Clowney, we all want to see if he can live up to the hype, and I think he will. He might not be the dominate defensive end we all want him to be right out of the gate, but he will be a force at some point this season.
With all that being said, Prediction: ECU 17 USC 42
