THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 31, 1995 TAG: 9512310196
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY VICKI L. FRIEDMAN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MEMPHIS, TENN. LENGTH: Medium: 97 lines
After being embarrassed 30-0 in last year's Liberty Bowl, East Carolina launched a season-long campaign dubbed ``Unfinished Business,'' and Saturday afternoon against Stanford, the Pirates made it a done deal.
This time no bitterness would haunt the purple and gold, as ECU survived a final Cardinal drive for a 19-13 victory on a chilly day before 47,398 at the Liberty Bowl.
``We tried to erase what happened last year, and we just couldn't,'' said senior running back Jerris McPhail, who led all rushers with 92 yards on 27 carries. ``So all year long, it was `unfinished business, unfinished business.' Right before the game we changed our motto to `finished business.' ''
But neither McPhail nor the rest of the Pirates (9-3) figured on winning their second bowl game in the last five years without scoring an offensive touchdown.
The game was billed as an offensive shootout. And for good reason. Junior quarterback Marcus Crandell holds nearly every mark in the Pirates' record book and came into Saturday's game with 2,751 passing yards, second only to the Cincinnati Bengals' Jeff Blake. And Stanford fifth-year senior Mark Butterfield is no slouch either, having amassed 2,533 yards and team MVP honors.
``The game played out as I expected it would,'' said Stanford first-year coach Tyrone Willingham, named Pac 10 coach of the year. ``It was a defensive game. Their defense stymied us, so our offense could not get on track.''
Surprised or not, ECU held Stanford (7-4-1) to 211 yards of offense, its lowest total of the season, and only 72 yards rushing, well below the Cardinal's 165.4 average.
The Pirates put up the first points with 8:46 remaining in the first quarter as Daren Hart intercepted a pass intended for Greg Clark and returned it 39 yards for the score.
``Coach said if I could keep my eye on the quarterback, I'd get an interception,'' said Hart, winner of defensive MVP honors. ``Last year was not East Carolina football. We wanted to show the country we could play defense at ECU.''
Kicker Chad Holcomb started his string of scores on the first play of the second quarter with a career-long 46-yarder. The junior placekicker, who made good on 4 of 5 field goals, came into the game connecting on only 10 of 17 field goals, although he made two game-winners earlier this season against Southern Mississippi (29 yards) and West Virginia (27 yards).
``This is probably the best thing that could happen to me,'' said Holcomb, whose longest kick before Saturday was 42 yards. ``Every day in practice I'd kick further than 43. I've only had one attempt greater than 43, and I missed it at Tennessee.''
Stanford's Damon Dunn fumbled the ensuing kickoff, but after the Pirates failed to capitalize, the Cardinal launched a six-minute, 69-yard scoring drive. The key play came from Butterfield, who was 15 of 25 with two interceptions for 139 yards, finding Brian Manning down the left sideline for 31 yards. Fullback Adam Salina's 1-yard run followed by the PAT made it 10-7.
Holcomb's 26-yarder on ECU's next possession put the Pirates up by six again. And with less than a minute remaining in the half, Butterfield's fumble off the double-pump gave Holcomb another shot from 41 yards, and the Pirates went into the break with a 16-7 edge.
Stanford got its final points when Nicodemus Watts blocked a Matt Levine punt in ECU's opening possession of the third quarter. Kwame Ellis, MVP of the game and Stanford's defensive player of the game, scooped it up for a 2-yard score. After the missed extra point, the Pirates clung to a 16-13 lead.
Holcomb gave the Pirates a cushion with a 34-yard field goal at 1:20 in the fourth quarter, but Stanford had one final shot at winning its first bowl game since the 1993 Blockbuster Bowl. Dunn's 48-yard kickoff return made things on the ECU sideline a little uneasy.
``I couldn't even look,'' admitted McPhail. ``I just had my fingers crossed that our defense would come through.''
Butterfield connected on his first two passes to put Stanford at the ECU 29, but the drive fizzled. On 4th-and-1 with no timeouts remaining, Butterfield's pass was at his receiver's feet, and the Pirates' celebration began.
``I'm proud ECU can win a game on defense if they have to,'' Logan said. ``I'm proud of our players who sat on a bitter defeat for one solid year and came in here and won.''
As for the lack of respect that has plagued ECU for years, tight end Scott Richards would only say this: ``I think we definitely made a statement today.'' ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOS
Above, East Carolina safety Daren Hart intercepts Stanford's Mark
Butterfield, returning it 39 yards for the Pirates' first touchdown.
Hart was named the Pirates' defensive player of the game for the
second year in a row.
At right, Pirates placekicker Chad Holcomb connects on a 41-yard
field goal to put East Carolina ahead 16-7 at halftime. Holcomb, who
came into the game with just 10 field goals, hit 4 of 5 attempts
Saturday.
by CNB