Maybe a trip to face one of Conference USA's worst teams is just what East Carolina needs to right its ship. The Pirates (1-4, 1-1) haven't had an easy time, and they hope to rediscover their rhythm on offense and defense tonight at 7 when they play at Memphis (1-5, 0-2).
East Carolina has lost two straight. It went 0-3 against a brutal nonconference schedule that included games against South Carolina, Virginia Tech and North Carolina, and is coming off a 56-3 loss at Houston in which nothing went right.
"When things are going well, it's easy to handle," coach Ruffin McNeill said. "Right now it's a little tough for us. I look forward to handling adversity. I've been around adverse situations most of my life. I look forward to handling this one and fighting back out of it, contending for the division championship and playing in the championship game."
They could take the first step toward a turnaround against a Memphis team that ranks in the bottom half of Conference USA in every meaningful statistical category. The Tigers haven't beaten a Bowl Subdivision team this season and have lost five straight to the Pirates.
The Tigers rank 10th in C-USA in rushing offense and scoring offense, ninth against the run and 11th in both scoring defense and total offense.
"We've got to do some things differently offensively. Nothing drastic, but we've got to make some subtle changes to what we're doing," coach Larry Porter of Memphis said. "We've got to get healthy, too, because that's been a big part of the inconsistency, just different lineups and things of that nature. All in all, we're disappointed, but we've got to move forward."
East Carolina is taking a similar attitude. McNeill hasn't lost any confidence in quarterback Dominique Davis, who was benched in the third quarter of the loss to Houston but will start against Memphis, or his team — especially now that the Pirates are approaching a series of winnable games. After next week's trip to Navy, they will play three of four at home against C-USA teams.
McNeill said he told coach Kevin Sumlin of Houston after last week's rout that he expects to face his team again — in the league-championship game.
"I never look at it as all is lost. We have a chance to win our division," McNeill said. "That's where I hope everybody stays strong around our football team. I am and I'm leading this thing. We have a game at Memphis this week that we need to win. We have a chance to win our division. That's still in our hands."
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