Countdown to Kickoff
September 05, 2003 09:13 AM | General
September 5, 2003
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia (0-1) visits East Carolina (0-1) for a 7 pm game at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium (43,000) in Greenville, N.C., on Saturday, Sept. 7. There will be no live television for the game, but Mountaineer fans can listen to the MSN radio broadcast by subscribing to Yahoo! Sports through MSNsportsNET.com.
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| Quarterback Rasheed Marshall loosens up his arm during West Virginia's light workout Friday afternoon. (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks) |
West Virginia will charter a flight and arrive in Greenville in time for an afternoon workout. The Mountaineers’ last visit to Greenville came in 1995 when East Carolina came away with a 23-20 victory.
Here is Saturday’s Countdown to Kickoff:
10 – Four West Virginia defenders recorded more than TEN tackles during last Saturday’s game against Wisconsin. Senior linebacker Grant Wiley led the way with 15 stops, followed by Brian King (13), Mike Lorello (12) and Adam Lehnortt (11).
9 – West Virginia linebacker Grant Wiley needs just six unassisted tackles to move into NINTH place on the school unassisted tackles list. Sitting in ninth place right now is Wes Richardson with 214 unassisted tackles recorded from 1990-93.
8 – East Carolina wide receiver Terrance Copper has had a streak of EIGHT straight games in which he has caught at least one pass. Copper had a career-high 11 catches for 106 yards in the loss Monday to Cincinnati.
7 – East Carolina is in the midst of its SEVENTH year as a member of Conference USA. Starting in 1997 the Pirates became eligible to compete for the C-USA championship after 20 seasons as a Division I independent.
6 – East Carolina was predicted to finish SIXTH in the preseason Conference USA coaches poll. The Pirates received one first-place vote and 64 poll points, placing behind TCU, Southern Mississippi, South Florida, Cincinnati and Louisville.
5 – This season is just the FIFTH time in school history that West Virginia has played a dozen regular season games. The first came way back in 1896 when WVU posted a 3-7-2 mark. In 1980 West Virginia played an extra game in Hawaii for a 12th regular season game; the Mountaineers played 12 regular season games in 1994 with the addition of Nebraska in the Kickoff Classic, and WVU faced 12 regular season games last year.
4 – Since 1992, East Carolina has won FOUR of seven games when it has had less than a week to prepare. ECU last played on Monday against Cincinnati and has had just five days to get ready for West Virginia.
3 – West Virginia has won THREE times in Greenville and owns a 3-1 overall record against East Carolina there. West Virginia’s victories at Greenville came in 1970 (28-14), 1986 (24-21) and 1988 (30-10).
2 – East Carolina has defeated West Virginia TWICE in 14 all-time meetings dating back to 1970. Both of ECU’s wins came in North Carolina; East Carolina defeated West Virginia 23-20 in Greenville in 1995 and 30-23 in Charlotte in 1999.
1 – West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez is still looking for his FIRST victory in road openers. In 2001, West Virginia lost a 34-10 decision at Boston College in its first road game, and last year the Mountaineers dropped a 34-17 verdict at Wisconsin.
Enjoy Saturday’s game and be sure to stop back afterward for complete postgame coverage.
