ECU's McNeill embraces challenge of 1st game week

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08/31/2010 -

GREENVILLE, N.C. (AP) -The smoke will billow near East Carolina's locker room, the pyrotechnics will sparkle and they'll blast Jimi Hendrix's ``Purple Haze'' over the speakers.

Then, for the first time, Ruffin McNeill will lead the Pirates onto the field.

``Right now, I'm getting little goose bumps,'' McNeill said Monday, a full six days before gameday. ``You can't fake that.''

While there's no hiding McNeill's passion for his alma mater, there are more pressing things to worry about than making a grand entrance.

Playing a Conference USA rival - not to mention, one that might be carrying a grudge - has a way of creating an added sense of urgency.

McNeill's first game in charge of the two-time defending league champion Pirates, and his first game as a full-time head coach anywhere, comes Sunday when Tulsa visits in the first C-USA game of the season.

``It's a conference game, but it's our first game, and it's the only game we've got this week, so all the focus will be on Tulsa,'' McNeill said. ``The motivation will be there. It's the next guy up. It's the first guy up. That's enough motivation for us.''

It helps that McNeill has some familiarity with Tulsa coach Todd Graham. McNeill spent the past decade on Texas Tech's staff, while Graham was a high school coach in a Dallas suburb before he made the jump to college ball, joining West Virginia's staff in 2001 and later getting his Division I head coaching job at Rice in 2006. He moved to Tulsa a year later.

``I've crossed paths with coach McNeill quite a bit,'' Graham said. ``It's genuinely the real deal. I'm very impressed with him. ... As a former high school coach, just the type of person that he is, he really cares about people.''

The Pirates are 2-0 in the past two seasons against Tulsa, including a victory in the 2008 C-USA title game, and that prompted Graham to call East Carolina ``the team to beat in this conference.''

But those teams were settled at quarterback. That is not the case, at least not yet.

McNeill said he has yet to decide whether former Boston College QB Dominique Davis or sophomore walk-on Brad Wornick will take the first snap Sunday against the Golden Hurricane.

The longtime Mike Leach assistant said Wornick at times reminds him of former Tech signal-callers Cody Hodges and Kliff Kingsbury. Davis, Ruffin said, has big-game experience after helping BC reach the 2008 ACC title game, plus the talent and intelligence to run McNeill's version of the ``Air Raid'' offense.

``In this offense, and what we do, a strong arm is great, but it's ... when and how you deliver that thing that's important in this offense,'' McNeill said. ``Both guys are doing a great job. ... Those guys are battling night and day. ... You'll see one guy in seven-on-seven just complete great throws. Then, the next guy in team (drills will) do the same thing.''

For the man known around campus as ``Coach Ruff,'' it's been a long wait to not only return home, but to get that elusive first head coaching opportunity.

The Lumberton native and former East Carolina defensive back in the late 1970s spent the past 30 years as a career assistant. He bounced from Austin Peay to Appalachian State to UNLV, before landing at Texas Tech in 2000.

Following a messy divorce between Leach and the school, McNeill was put in charge on an interim basis for the Red Raiders' Alamo Bowl victory over Michigan State. Tommy Tuberville got the full-time job and didn't retain McNeill, who was hired by his alma mater in January after Skip Holtz left for South Florida.

``I'm looking forward to seeing our fans and getting around Pirate Nation and getting our football team, more importantly than me, around them,'' McNeill said. ``They're not coming to see me. They're coming to see our football team.

``I'm sure it'll be emotional, and I'm looking forward to the execution of the game operation. That's the exciting part of it to me. Let's see who can beat who. I love that part of the game. But I'll be excited, I'm sure.''Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

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Many fans thought it was the best side in the nation by the end of last season. This year, the polls have built on Georgia's momentum and granted it the No. 1 preseason ranking, followed by Ohio State and USC. (The Associated Press has the Buckeyes at No. 2; USA Today took the Trojans.)

"To have people believing we have one of the best teams in the nation going into this thing, it's exciting for us," Bulldogs coach Mark Richt told the AP. "I don't think anything is guaranteed, but we certainly have put ourselves in position where at least the college football world thinks we're pretty good."

Georgia Bulldogs - 9.5 wins

There's no question they're good, but the Bulldogs have one of the toughest 12-game schedules in the nation, mostly because they play in the powerhouse Southeastern Conference. Away games at No. 15 Arizona State, No. 7 LSU and No. 10 Auburn loom large, with contests between the hedges versus No. 24 Alabama and No. 18 Tennessee as well as the World's Largest Cocktail Party in Jacksonville versus No.5 Florida.

Ohio State Buckeyes - 10 wins

Like the Bulldogs, the Buckeyes also have a number of tough road contests in 2008. After two scrimmages dressed up as real games versus Youngstown State and Ohio, it's off to face USC. Other tough away games include No.13 Wisconsin in October and No. 20 Illinois in November. Granted, it should be pretty easy sledding at the Horseshoe. In fact, the only ranked team that travels to Columbus is No. 22 Penn State, in October.

USC Trojans - 10.5 wins

A similarly light schedule awaits the Trojans of Southern California, which is why the oddsmakers' total is one win more and the over is currently commanding -150 odds. Pete Carroll's troops only play three ranked teams in 2008, and all of those games are at home. After what should be an easy trip to Virginia to start things off on Aug. 30, the Trojans get two weeks to prepare for Ohio State in Los Angeles. Their two other ranked opponents, No. 21 Oregon and No. 15 Arizona State, visit in consecutive weeks to start the month of October. After that, the competition eases up. Of course, this is the same highly-touted school that lost to Stanford in 2007 and Oregon State in 2006. And don't discount the fact that USC plays its biggest rivals, Notre Dame and UCLA, back-to-back to close out the regular season. On paper, the Trojans are far superior, but motivation will be high for the Irish and Bruins, especially if their historic foes are in national-title contention.

Odds to Win the Heisman Trophy

Tim Tebow, Florida - 7/2
He won it last year, so it's no surprise he's the favorite to do it again, making him just the second player to go back-to-back. Ohio State's Archie Griffin turned the trick in 1974 and 1975, and Tebow's coach, Urban Meyer, is pretty sure his star quarterback can match the Buckeyes legend.

"There has never been anyone quite like him," Meyer told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "I am very lucky to be his coach."

Chris Wells, Ohio State - 5/1

The man they call "Beanie" was a star recruit out of high school, so it's not like nobody knew who the star tailback was before he rushed for 576 yards as a freshman in 2006 and 1,609 as a sophomore. But perhaps his finest moment came last year versus Michigan when he rumbled for 222 yards and two touchdowns in the Buckeyes' 14-3 victory over the hated Wolverines.

Knowshon Moreno, Georgia - 8/1

If the Bulldogs are to live up to expectations, they'll need a huge effort from their sophomore running back. This might be the last year of college ball for Moreno, who rushed for 1,334 yards and for 14 touchdowns as a freshman, while adding 253 receiving yards on 20 receptions, so expect big things for the man from Belford, N.J.

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