East Carolinian

Photo by Tanesha Sistrunk [Click to enlarge]

The Pirates are thirsty for more success after first year head coach John Thompson picked up his first career victory in a 38-32 shootout with Army last week. ECU returns to Greenville this Saturday to face the red hot Louisville Cardinals who are 6-1 after a 47-28 win over Tulane.

Louisville vs. Tulane Game Recap

Louisville is off to their hottest start since 2001 after their sixth win of the season against the Tulane Green Wave. Running back Eric Shelton ran for 128 yards on 19 carries. Shelton also ran for three touchdowns for the second time in two weeks. Shelton also found the end zone three times in a 34-10 win over Army.

Michael Bush also had two touchdowns runs and gained 66 yards on nine carries as the Cardinals tallied 288 yards on the ground.

The Cardinals jumped out to a 21-0 lead and never looked back. Tulane was able to score half way through the second quarter on a 16-yard touchdown pass from J.P. Losman to Carl Davis but Louisville responded with a field goal to take a 24-7 halftime lead.

The second half was more of the same. Losman was able to toss two more touchdowns passes but was also picked off twice. Kerry Rhodes was the culprit, returning one for a 33-yard touchdown.

Losman completed 16-of-29 passes for 243 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. His counterpart Stefan LeFors threw 188 yards on 16-of-27 passing attempts for the Cardinals.

One of the few bright spots for the Green Wave was senior running back Mewelde Moore. Moore, the C-USA career leader in rushing, ran for 123 yards and had 57 receiving yards. With 180 all-purpose yards, Moore went over 6,000 for his career. He also became the second player in Division I-A history to run for over 4,000 yards and have over 2,000 yards receiving. The only other back to accomplish that feat was Stanford's Darrin Nelson.

Last Meeting

The Pirates were handled decisively in their last meeting with the Louisville Cardinals last season by the score of 44-20. Senior quarterback Dave Ragone upstaged ECU quarterback Paul Troth for one his best performances ever. Ragone completed 23-of-32 passes for 352 yards and threw five touchdown passes. He also completed an insane 18 straight attempts, breaking a school record.

Three of his five scores went to senior wide receiver Damien Dorsey. Dorsey caught nine passes for 158 yards. Louisville running back Henry Miller took the pressure off of Ragone and threw the Pirates off balance with 127 yards rushing on 18 attempts and a touchdown. The Cardinals racked up a season high 556 total yards.

ECU held an early 10-7 lead in the first quarter after Marvin Townes plowed into the end zone from a yard out. But Ragone and the Cardinals quickly responded with 21 unanswered points as he connected with Dorsey for three consecutive scores. The Pirates added a field goal to cut the lead 28-13 heading into the half.

ECU was able to hold the Cardinals to 16 points in the second half but the only touchdown from the Pirates came from another one-yard plunge, this time by Art Brown in the third quarter.

After falling behind early, the Pirates were forced to the air. Troth completed just 14-of-36 passes for 211 yards and an interception. The Cardinal defense held ECU to just 68 rushing yards on 29 attempts. Brown finished with 56 yards on 14 carries and Richard Alston hauled in three receptions for 84 yards for the Pirates.

Players to Watch

OFFENSE: With the departure of one of the best quarterbacks in Cardinal history in Dave Ragone, junior quarterback Stefan LeFors has had some big cleats to fill. LeFors is well on his way to establishing his own legacy at Louisville.

LeFors has completed nearly 60 percent of his passes this season and thrown for over 1,500 yards. He also has had an excellent touchdown to interception ratio of nine-to-five.

Ragone had some dynamic wideouts on the receiving end of his passes in his career including Deion Branch and Damien Dorsey. LeFors favorite target has been fellow junior J.R. Russell. Russell has 36 receptions for 615 yards and two touchdowns. He is also averaging an impressive 17.1 yards per catch.

But perhaps the key to Louisville's offensive success has been the offensive line. The unit has paved the way for four different players that have average over 4.8 yards per carry. Eric Shelton leads the team with 622 yards on 130 carries but right behind him is Lionel Gates with 332 yards on 58 carries. LeFors has much more mobility than his predecessor, averaging 5.3 yards per carry. Michael Bush is the team's fourth leading rusher with 167 yards.

DEFENSE: The offense has significantly overshadowed the play of the Cardinal defense in 2003 but no team can have the success of a 6-1 record without a stout defense. Louisville is holding opponents to under 20 points per game with their only loss coming 31-28 against South Florida.

Louisville has done a good job forcing the opposition to commit turnovers and holds an impressive +7 turnover margin. Kerry Rhodes contributed to that stat with his two interceptions against Tulane. Rhodes is a tremendous playmaker and athlete and was a former prep quarterback.

Redshirt freshman Abe Brown could also see some action in the secondary. Brown was the No. 10 safety in the nation coming out of high school.

Senior Rod Day leads the linebacking corps at his weakside position. Day earned second-team All-C-USA honors last season and tallied 100 tackles.

Quick Facts

Chris Moore continues to lead the nation in tackles per game. Moore has averaged 15.3 tackles per game and has racked up 92 stops despite missing a game.

Marvin Townes was named C-USA offensive player of the week. Townes has racked up three consecutive 100-yard rushing games with latest garnering player of the week honors. Townes earned the honor with 184 yards on 39 carries against Army. Townes is also fourth in C-USA at 89.0 yards per game.

Desmond Robinson moves up to second in the nation in completion percentage. Robinson moved up into second place after a 17-of-23 performance against Army. His 70.8 completion percentage trails only Virginia's Matt Schaub (72.4).

Terrance Copper ranks fifth in total receptions in the country. He is also dangerously close to breaking a school record against Louisville. Copper needs just three receptions to break Troy Smith's single season mark of 54. Smith earned the record in 1997. Copper is also fifth on the all-time receptions list at ECU with 104 and 10th place in yardage with 1,291.

This writer can be contacted at sports@theeastcarolinian.com.

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