Frank Howard used to say never schedule So. Miss. or East Carolina. He said they were "show up on Friday, play on Saturday" teams meaning they had basically no eligibility requirements for players.
One of the best teams I ever saw play at Williams Brice was an East Carolina team. That same year, they took a very good Terry Bowden Auburn team to the brink of an upset down there. Bowden was amazed how good they were. No, I don't think they had any Rhodes Scholars.
East Carolina and So. Miss. used to be well known as giant killers. They brought in kids who couldn't read or write, paid players under the table and took pretty much any kid who could play regardless of his past. Greenville, NC and Hattiesburg, MS are both small towns in rural areas with nothing but college football to live for. Both were independents until the mid '90s so they didn't have to worry about any conference oversight or the NCAA looking too hard at them.One of the best teams I ever saw play at Williams Brice was an East Carolina team. That same year, they took a very good Terry Bowden Auburn team to the brink of an upset down there. Bowden was amazed how good they were. No, I don't think they had any Rhodes Scholars.
One of the best teams I ever saw play at Williams Brice was an East Carolina team. That same year, they took a very good Terry Bowden Auburn team to the brink of an upset down there. Bowden was amazed how good they were. No, I don't think they had any Rhodes Scholars.
Yes. Yes, it is.
Is that you, Pat Dye?
Closer to New Orleans.Is that you, Pat Dye?
Your hyperbole notwithstanding, Hattiesburg is a pretty nice town now and on my short list as potential retirement locales. I'd put it up against Oxford and Starkville any day.
And he played on a different, also excellent, ECU team than the one Junior Smith played on, which was the one I was citing above. I was there that rainy night when Harley set a new ECU single-game rushing record in a game against us. Backs had a habit of doing that against us back then, like that kid (Williams, I think) from Kentucky also did in setting THAT school's single game rushing record against us. I believe it rained throughout that game also. I don't mean poncho rain, I mean rain suit rain.