East Carolina Paints It Black For Thursday Night Game vs. FAU
By Kyle Kensing
Justin Hardy models the black ECU helmet. Via @ECUPirates
East Carolina makes it national TV debut Thursday on FOX Sports 1, when it hosts FAU in the Conference USA opener. The Pirates are marking the special occasion with an all-black uniform that makes terrific use of the best logo in college football.
The university athletic department posted video to ECUPirates.com of the players seeing the uniforms for the first time:
ECU has the rare opportunity to open a season against two opponents embarking on new eras. The Pirates beat Old Dominion in Week 1, 52-38. The Monarchs are in their transitional phase before joining C-USA. FAU is making its C-USA debut Thursday after spending its last eight seasons in the Sun Belt.
NFL regular season kickoff on Thursday night usurped the spotlight from college football, and the result is a substantially lighter slate. The Pirates get to fly their black flag before a nationwide audience, as well as show off the outstanding quarterback-receiver combination of Shane Carden and Justin Hardy.
Carden won the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award Player of the Week after throwing for 447 yards and five touchdowns — surprisingly, none to Hardy. Hardy was on the receiving end of 11 scoring strikes a season ago, and his 191 yards Saturday put him on pace easily match the 1105 he hauled in a year ago.
But against Old Dominion, three Carden touchdowns went to freshman Davon Grayson. The newcomer gives Hardy a potential tag team partner in Ruffin McNeill’s pass-happy offensive scheme.
FAU’s defense will be tested again, one week after an admirable losing effort against Miami. The Owls were within a touchdown until the final six minutes of the second quarter.