Football on the Fringe Season Previews were ranked, then delivered in random order.
At 21st, ECU is my lowest rated defending conference champion. The Pirates had an outstanding 2009 season, running through C-USA at 7-1 and taking Arkansas to overtime in the Liberty Bowl. But 2010 has too many question marks to expect the same performance again.
Head Coach Skip Holtz left for the USF job, and most of their defense is gone too. The offense loses the starting QB and RB, with a 3 way fight for the new quarterback job underway between two freshmen and a sophomore. ECU has always outperformed expectations, but this year may be their biggest challenge in a while.
Schedule
9/5/2010 Tulsa
9/11/2010 Memphis
9/18/2010 at Virginia Tech
10/2/2010 at North Carolina
10/9/2010 at Southern Miss
10/16/2010 NC State
10/23/2010 Marshall
10/30/2010 at UCF
11/6/2010 Navy
11/11/2010 at UAB
11/20/2010 at Rice
11/26/2010 SMU
ECU jumps right in this year with a Sunday afternoon ESPN season opener against Tulsa, another team trying to find its own identity after a shaky 2009. Then a week two divisional game against Memphis, who also comes in with a new coach and big question marks, then it’s on the road for a tough three game stretch.
Coaching
Ruffin McNeill returns to his alma mater after spending the 2000s as an offensive coach at Texas Tech. He was the interim coach there for Tech’s 41-31 win over Michigan State after Mike Leach was let go before the Alamo Bowl.
Rankings
Conference USA does not release a preseason poll, and the Pirates do not figure into the national rankings.
Outlook
For a schedule as difficult as ECU’s, the timing plays out very nicely. They get two approachable home games before the worst of the schedule begins up at Virginia Tech, but they better have things clicking by week five when they go on a run against the best of the division, plus NC State, all in four weeks. Ultimately, though, there are 5 games they should win and a handful they could win, and I see about 6 wins total, which should be enough to find a bowl game somewhere.
East Carolina Connections
Boneyard Banter – independent message board
Greenville Daily Reflector – Local coverage of the Pirates