THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 19, 1996 TAG: 9610190511
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JAMES C. BLACK, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 29 lines
East Carolina's last appearance on prime time did not go as scripted. Instead of wooing the home crowd and putting big numbers on the scoreboard, the Pirates were whipped 28-7 by Southern Mississippi on ESPN2 last Thursday.
Quarterback Marcus Crandell & Co. get another chance tonight - at No. 12 Miami (Fla.).
``Playing at Miami, against one of the top-ranked teams, we have to bounce back,'' ECU linebacker Carlos Brown said.
The Pirates (3-2) face a Hurricane squad also coming off a big loss. Miami had its 11-game winning streak snapped with a 34-16 loss to third-ranked Florida State last Saturday.
This is the first meeting between the two teams since Miami defeated ECU 40-10 in 1989. The Hurricanes (4-1) have won the previous eight meetings.
A key for ECU Saturday is getting running back Scott Harley on track. The sophomore was averaging 159.5 yards going into the Southern Miss. game, but only had 74 yards on 12 carries last Thursday.
With the win, Southern Miss. moved ahead of the Pirates in the race for a Liberty Bowl berth. ECU has played in the last two.
The Liberty will match either the Conference USA winner or ECU against the Big East fourth-place finisher. Southern Miss. (5-1) has one more currently ranked opponent this season, Florida State on Nov. 16. by CNB