After a rough early stretch against a brutal schedule, East Carolina seems to have found its groove.
It helps that the opponents have become more manageable — and ECU will try to keep things going at home today against struggling Tulane. Kickoff is set for 3:30.
East Carolina (3-4, 2-1) is tied with Southern Mississippi atop the East Division of Conference USA and has won two straight after losing four of its first five.
"This group has put in a lot of work and extra work. To see it payoff is very important," coach Ruffin McNeill said. "Success is vital for the program. We've had some tough times and faced adversity, but we said we could handle it. Now we've had the opportunity to handle it. We're not there yet, but we're progressing. The success helps us know the work is paying off."
Tulane could use something to build on. The Green Wave (2-6, 1-3) has lost five in a row and also lost its coach. Bob Toledo resigned last week, and interim coach Mark Hutson's first game was a 33-17 loss to Memphis.
"We have to stay together, and we have to stay focused," Hutson said. "It's a challenge. It won't happen in one week or a half a week or however many days we had to work with that. We must continue to believe in ourselves. The staff believes in the players. The players believe in the staff. We just need to keep pressing forward."
Tulane must figure out how to slow quarterback Dominique Davis of ECU, who completed all 26 of his passes in the first half against Navy and extended his streak of completions to 36 straight over two games. Still, East Carolina needed Navy's field-goal attempt to bounce off an upright as time expired to seal the win.
McNeill, preparing to face one of the worst teams in the bowl subdivision, said he is confident that his team won't be overconfident.
"Our team is growing. They've found out that if we stay the course, it'll pay off," McNeill said. "I will hold the leaders within the team accountable, starting with myself."
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