Spring Break
Pirates return to 'The Rock'
Teams continue rivalry
Jared Jackson, Staff Writer
Issue date: 11/13/08 Section: Sports
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ECU (6-3, 4-1 Conference USA) travels to "The Rock" in Hattiesburg, Miss. this weekend to take on long-time rival Southern Miss (4-6, 2-4 C-USA). The game pits the Pirates-who are trying to seal up the program's first ever C-USA title game appearance-against the Golden Eagles, who must win their final two contests to become bowl-eligible.
Talk about drama.
"Anytime we line up and play against those guys from Southern Miss, you know it's always going to be a dogfight," said ECU junior defensive back Van Eskridge. "It's a rivalry game … and they have pretty much owned us in the last 12 meetings. Even though they are kind of down this season, we know they are going to play physical. They have two more games left and they still have a chance to get bowl-eligible, so we defiantly have to make sure we come out with our 'A' game if we want to leave Mississippi with a 5-1 conference record."
It seems as if ECU coach Skip Holtz has made his team quite aware of the history surrounding this always-bitter match-up. Southern Miss, like Eskridge said, has taken 10 of the last 12 meetings against ECU, while the Pirates have a 6-10 all-time record in Hattiesburg.
Two years ago, ECU cornerback Travis Williams secured a Pirates 20-17 overtime win with an interception on the Golden Eagles' first overtime possession. The win was the first for ECU in Hattiesburg since 2000.
Last season, Southern Miss defeated ECU 28-21 in a back-and-forth game. The Pirates trailed 14-0 at the half before taking a 21-14 lead late in the third quarter. The Golden Eagles scored two fourth quarter touchdowns, however, culminating with a Jeremy Young 1-yard run with 32 seconds left, giving Southern Miss a 28-21 victory.
Southern Miss coach Larry Fedora is in his first season, but while the Golden Eagles have struggled so far under his tenure, Holtz knows just how big this game is for his team.
"It's going to be a big one," he said. "It's Southern Miss-ECU. Talk to the people who have followed this rivalry for a while and [they] know what that means. It's going to be a battle for us."
The Golden Eagles have won two-straight games coming into this week's match-up. The main reason for the Southern Miss turnaround the last two weeks has been its offensive output. Against UAB, Southern Miss put up 70 points in a blowout victory, and last week beat UCF, 17-6.
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