EA Sports says this about ECU vs UNC…
Since I could not stand to wait until Saturday for the game between East Carolina and #24/19 North Carolina I decided to do the next best thing: do a simulation on EA Sports’ NCAA FB 10. To be clear, I took out the three players I knew for certain would not start for the Tar Heels: center Lowell Dyer, tight end Zack Pinalto and wide receiver Dwight Jones. On the other hand, for ECU I kept the line up as the game gave it to me. Since I was running the game while doing other (RL) things I was not able to keep a play by play diary, but I did take some notes to give you a breakdown on how the game went.
The coin flip was won by UNC who decided to kick it off to ECU. The first play of the game for the Pirates resulted in a 14 yard pass, however their next to plays were runs that did not gain anything and when ECU’s QB had to drop back on 3rd and 11 he was picked off by Deunta Williams, giving North Carolina great field position for their first drive. T.J. Yates capitalized on that and five plays later the Heels were up by a touchdown thanks to a 15 yards pass from Yates to Greg Little. UNC 7 – ECU 0 with 1:30 remaining in the first quarter.
The first five minutes of the game would end with the home squad maintaining its advantage, both teams would have decent drives, UNC would go over 50 yards in one but come up short on a long field goal. ECU would respond by driving down the field thanks mostly to their running back who had 65 yards in the game. But, once again on third and long, ECU would commit a bad mistake as their QB would throw a ball intended for a wide out that Kendric Burney would intercept and go 76 yards the other way. Now, with about three minutes left in the half it’s UNC 14 – ECU 0. The Pirates would bounce somewhat back from the shock and score a very late field goal, making the score UNC 14 – ECU 3 with less than a minute to go in the second quarter.
The second half began with UNC having the ball deep in its own territory (bad play by kickoff returner) and T.J. Yates once again began to hit one of his many receivers (Yates threw 13 completions to 6 different players) to get the Heels in better field position. However, when first and second down were runs the drive stalled and Carolina was forced to punt. ECU tried to start a drive of its own, but had to punt about 5 plays later. Just when I thought there would be no scoring in this quarter Yates hits Anthony Elzy with his longest pass of the day, a 30 yard strike that puts the score now at UNC 21 – ECU 3. The rest of the quarter (about 90 seconds) goes without anymore scoring.
About three series (two for ECU and one for UNC) go without much happening. Finally Yates begins to throw once again and hits a couple of receivers to get into the red zone. After a first down to get them inside the 5 yard line, it’s Shaun Draughn who carries the ball into the end zone on a four yard inside the tackles run. With less than two and a half minutes to go it’s now UNC 28 – ECU 3. The Pirates do muster another attack, and score their first touchdown with about 90 seconds left in the game (pass from QB to #17), making the score UNC 28 – ECU 10. Believe it or not, East Carolina gets the ball back once again when the onside kick works, but then the Carolina defense returns to its normal self in this game and the Pirates lose the ball after trying four passes that do not go anywhere. UNC runs out the clock and wins the game by the final of 24 to 10.
Here are some of the stats from the game:
Offense:
T.J. Yates: 13 for 15 for 197 yards and 2 TDs
Shaun Draughn: 85 yards (on 21 attempts) 1 TD
Greg Little: 71 yards (on 4 catches) 1 TD – 15 YAC
Ed Barham: 53 yards (on 3 catches) 0 TD – 17 YAC
Anthony Elzy: 31 yards (on 2 catches) 1 TD – 26 YAC
Jheranie Boyd: 23 yards (on 2 catches) 0 TD – 1 YAC
Peter Mangum: 14 yards (on 1 catch) 0 TD – 9 YAC
Shaun Draughn: 5 yards (on 1 catch) 0 TD – 8 YAC
Defense:
Quan Sturdivant: 6 tackles – 3 for loss – 2 sacks
Deunta Williams: 6 tackles – 1 for loss – 1 int (10 yds)
E.J. Wilson: 5 tackles – 2 for loss – 1 sack
Da’Norris Searcy: 4 tackles
Marvin Austin: 4 tackles – 1 for loss – 1 sack
Kendric Burney: 3 tackles – 1 int (76 yards) – 1 TD
Bruce Carter: 3 tackles – 1 for loss – 1 sack
