2011 Prediction & Game Story
Week 11 - ECU at UTEP
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Nov. 12 at UTEP 22 … East Carolina 17
(AP) EL PASO, Texas -- Joe Banyard ran for a 77-yard touchdown in the third quarter to put UTEP in the lead for good in a 22-17 win over East Carolina Saturday night in El Paso.
Banyard finished the game with 140 rushing yards and the Miners (5-5, 2-4 C-USA) accumulated 241 rushing yards as a team. Sophomore Carson Meger, who came in for the injured Nick Lamaison, passed for 155 yards.
UTEP had a total of 429 yards of offense on the night.
East Carolina (4-6, 3-3) quarterback Dominique Davis was 18 for 34 and threw for 133 yards with one touchdown. Torrance Hunt was the Pirates' leading rusher with 54 yards while Michael Dobson ran for 43 yards and a touchdown.
Nov. 12 at BYU 42 … Idaho 7
(AP) PROVO, Utah -- Jake Heaps threw for 185 yards and two touchdowns after coming off the bench late in the first quarter to lead the BYU Cougars to a 42-7 victory over the Idaho Vandals on Saturday night.
Heaps entered the game when Riley Nelson suffered a broken rib on a play where he threw a touchdown pass to Cody Hoffman. Nelson did not return to the game. He finished with 56 yards and a touchdown.
Hoffman was the leading receiver for the Cougars (7-3) with 114 yards and two touchdowns on six catches. Michael Alisa led the way with 99 rushing yards and a touchdown on 10 carries.
Idaho (2-8) surrendered 505 yards of offense to BYU.
East Carolina (4-5) at UTEP (4-5) Nov. 12, 8:05
Here’s The Deal … Although there’s not a lot of intrigue as far as the divisional races go, both of this week’s participants in the Sun Bowl envision Week 11 as a chance to take a pivotal step closer to bowl eligibility. East Carolina and UTEP stand a game under .500, needing two more victories in the final three weeks to earn a 13th game. The Pirates, to their credit, have won when they were supposed to, and have fallen against quality opponents, such as South Carolina, Virginia Tech and the leaders of both divisions of Conference USA. They’ll need to rebound from last week’s debacle versus Southern Miss, which saw breakdowns in all phases. The Miners have dropped consecutive games, and are in danger of fading from the postseason picture if a quick turnaround cannot be initiated. Unlike this week’s visitor from Greenville, UTEP is not quite as battle-tested, facing only South Florida from the major conferences. Head coach can use a postseason berth to bolster a resume that’s become tattered over the last five or six years.
Why East Carolina Might Win: The past month has proven one important fact about the Pirates—they’re going to score points as long as Dominique Davis is taking snaps. The senior is the kind of gunslinger who’d earn an offer to play for Price. He’s the undisputed catalyst of an offense that’s averaging 34 points over the last four games, and ranks 10th nationally in passing. East Carolina plans to go right after a struggling UTEP secondary coming off two of its worst games of 2011. Against Southern Miss and Rice, it yielded six touchdown passes, pick off just one pass and has only one sack.
Why UTEP Might Win: In a battle of wills, the Miners will work the ground game, slowing down the tempo in an effort to keep Davis off the field. Despite struggles in recent weeks, UTEP has shown an ability to keep the chains moving between the tackles, using an eclectic mix of runners that includes Joe Banyard, Vernon Frazier and Leilyon Myers. It’ll pound away at a soft East Carolina front, creating play-action opportunities for QB Nick Lamaison to find his favorite big-play target, Mt. San Antonio College transfer Mike Edwards. Whereas East Carolina is one-dimensional, the Miners are more capable of operating with balance.
What To Watch Out For: East Carolina knows it has to throw the ball successfully in order to win in El Paso, but it’s facing an extra hurdle this weekend. Not only can UTEP safeties Travaun Nixon and DeShawn Grayson be ball-hawks, but the Pirates two best pass-catchers could be hobbled. Lance Lewis is expected to sit out with a foot injury, and Justin Hardy is still a little south of 100% as he recovers from a knee injury. Hardy should go, but his presence won’t diminish the importance of Danny Webster, Andrew Bodenheimer and Reese Wiggins filling some of the vacuum in the passing game for Davis.
What Will Happen: After being stuffed at the point of attack in consecutive games, UTEP is poised to once again crank out the yards on the ground. The Miners have myriad options to throw at a Pirates defense that can be skittish and inconsistent. East Carolina will take its best shot at climbing back to the .500 mark, leaning on the live arm of Davis, but it won’t match the grind-it-out missive of Price and his assistants. After going nip-and-tuck for 45 minutes, UTEP will wear down East Carolina in the final quarter to capture an essential victory.
CFN Prediction: UTEP 33 … East Carolina 28
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