Marshall University Athletics
Football Travels to East Carolina Saturday
11/8/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 8, 2006
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Marshall travels to Greenville, N.C., on Saturday for a key Conference USA East Division battle between two of the hottest teams in the conference. Marshall and East Carolina are both riding three game winning streaks and the East Division lead is up for grabs when the two collide at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
The game will be televised locally in the Charleston/Huntington market on WSAZ-TV.
East Carolina will place a plaque honoring the 1970 Marshall team on the outside wall of Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium near the visiting team entrance in a brief ceremony beginning at 10:45 a.m. All Marshall fans are invited. Also near the visiting team entrance, the Big Green/MUAA tailgate party is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The tailgate admission is $10 per person and will include food and beverages. Parking for Herd fans, about two blocks from the stadium, will be available at the Epps Middle School at the intersection of Elm and 14th St.
The Thundering Herd (4-5 overall, 3-2 C-USA) opened the season at 1-5 and now finds itself in the middle of the C-USA East Divsion title chase by virtue of its three game winning streak. Marshall at 3-2 is tied with Southern Miss for second place in the division, just percentage points behind division leader East Carolina at 4-2. The Herd still has games to play against UTEP at home and at Southern Miss and therefore controls its own destiny.
East Carolina (5-4, 4-2 C-USA) has won three straight and already has a 20-17 win at Southern Miss to its credit as it sits atop the East. A win over Marshall on Saturday and a victory at Rice on November 18 would give the Pirates the East Division championship and a berth in the C-USA title game on December 2.
The Thundering Herd features the top rushing offense in the conference thanks to the presence of Conference USA's top rusher - junior tailback Ahmad Bradshaw. The Doak Walker Award candidate has already rushed for 1,126 yards and 11 touchdowns this season. Bradshaw is averaging 125.1 yards per game and 6.3 yards per carry this season and is currently is ranked seventh in the nation in rushing.
Marshall has also benefited by several big plays on defense. Marshall entered its current three game winning streak with a -9 turnover margin thanks to only forcing six takeaways in the first six games. That trend has ended as Marshall has accumulated seven interceptions and recovered four fumbles in the last three games alone to post a +3 turnover margin during the win streak.
East Carolina counters with one of the top defenses and quarterbacks in Conference USA. The Pirates rank second in the league in total defense surrendering only 322.7 yards per game and rank third in scoring defense allowing only 21.3 points per outing. Offensively, senior signal caller James Pinkney directs a potent offense. Pinkney has thrown for 2,085 yards and secen touchdowns this season and is averaging 231.7 passing yards per game. His top target is Aundre Allison who has 44 catches for 527 yards and three touchdowns this season.
