INDIVIDUAL NOTES  Senior inside receiver Dwayne Harris made nine receptions for 99 yards, bringing his total to 47 catches for 579 yards in the last six games against Conference USA opponents dating to 2009 (UAB, USM, UH, TLS, MEM, USM) - an average of 7.8 receptions and 96.5 yards. He has also added nine total touchdowns during that span.  Harris, already the ECU career leader in receptions (207) and receiving yards (2,335), has caught at least one pass in 36-straight games, the second-longest streak at the FBS level, trailing only Colorado’s Scotty McKnight (41). Harris also has two or more receptions in 29 consecutive contests.  Harris extended his streak to nine-straight games accounting for a touchdown and has a TD reception in six of the last seven contests.  Harris’ second-quarter touchdown gave him 144 career points, just 24 shy of entering the Pirates’ top 10 for all-time scoring.  Harris’ 13-yard punt return in the third quarter was the longest for ECU this season.  Junior center Will Towery made his first career start.  In this year’s three Conference USA games, junior inside receiver Michael Bowman has made 10 receptions for 113 yards and added a touchdown against Memphis and Southern Miss (TLS/3-26, MEM/5-35, USM/2-52). Entering the season, his only career receptions were in the 2009 and 2010 AutoZone Liberty Bowls.  Bowman’s 32-yard TD reception in the fourth quarter was his first game-winning score and a career-long catch. He also finished with a personal-best 52 receiving yards.  Bowman’s 56-yard kickoff return in the first quarter was the longest by an ECU player this season and just four yards shy of his career-best, 61-yard runback against UTEP, Nov. 28, 2008.  Senior running back Jonathan Williams’ 177 all-purpose yards put him over 100 for the fifth-straight game. Prior to this season, Williams had never had consecutive games reaching 100 all-purpose yards.  Williams’ second-quarter reception of 20 yards tied his career long, set last week at North Carolina.  Senior running back Giavanni Ruffin’s third-quarter touchdown rush of 13 yards was his first ground score of the season and also his longest rush in 2010.  Junior Lance Lewis’ second and third-quarter touchdown receptions were for a career-long 46 yards each. Lewis tied his career high with two touchdown catches and now has three TD grabs of 40 or more yards this season.  Junior quarterback Dominique Davis accounted for four of the team’s five offensive touchdowns. This season, Davis has accounted for 17 of the team’s 23 offensive TDs. o Davis entered the day ranked fourth in the country in points per game accounted for (19.5).  Davis completed career-long, 46-yard passes to Lewis on the second and third-quarter touchdowns. o Davis’ three longest touchdown passes this season, 46, 46 and 43 yards, are to Lewis.  Davis threw for 148 yards in the second quarter, marking the third time this season he has surpassed the 100-yard mark in a quarter.  Junior Michael Barbour’s second-quarter field goal from 30 yards away was his fourth-straight made FG and moved him to 4-of-4 this season from 40 yards or closer.  Senior linebacker Dustin Lineback made 11 tackles to bring his total in Conference USA games to 31, an average of 10.3 stops per contest.  Williams’ first-quarter fumble was the team’s first lost fumble of the season. The Pirates entered the game as one of only three teams in the country that had not lost a loose ball in 2010 (Miami (Fla.) and Oregon State).  Harris’ nine receptions moved him past Cody Slate (Marshall/199/2006-09) and LaDaris Vann (Cincinnati/204/1999-2002) and into 11th on the Conference USA all-time list. Harris now has 207 career receptions.  Harris’ 101 kickoff return yards moved him past Fred Smith (Tulane/1,727/2003-04, 06-07) and into 13th on the Conference USA all-time list. Harris has 1,819 kickoff return yards in his career. He is also 13th in league history with 75 career kickoff returns.

WITH THE WIN  With the win, ECU has … o Won seven of the last 10, nine of the last 13 and 11 of the last 16 games o Won 14 of the last 15 (and 17 of 19) games against C-USA members o Won eight straight and 14 of the last 16 games against C-USA East Division members o Won eight of its last 10 road games against C-USA East Division members o Won 24-straight games when scoring 30 or more points. The last loss was a 44-34 decision at Wake Forest Sept. 17, 2005.  East Carolina improves to 3-0 in Conference USA action for only the second time since joining the league in 1997. The Pirates were also 3-0 in 2001, defeating Tulane 51-24, Army 49-26 and Memphis 32-11.  The victory moves the Pirates to 3-2 for the third-straight year. The last three seasons are the only ones since 2001 ECU has had a winning record through the season’s first five contests.  East Carolina has now won the last two games against Southern Miss after going 2-11 from 1996-2008. The Golden Eagles still own a 26-10 advantage in the all-time series, but had not lost back-to-back contests to the Pirates since Oct. 1, 1994, and Oct. 28, 1995. Of ECU’s 10 series wins, seven have come in Hattiesburg.  The Pirates improve to 28-21 all-time in Conference USA road games, including a 15-6 mark since divisional play was implemented in 2005.

TEAM NOTES  The Pirates improve to 3-0 in Conference USA action for only the second time since joining the league in 1997. The Pirates were also 3-0 in 2001, defeating Tulane 51-24, Army 49-26 and Memphis 32-11.  East Carolina scored its 23rd offensive touchdown of the season today. In 2009, the Pirates did not reach the 23-touchdown mark until the eighth game of the season.  ECU scored in three quarters of today’s game and has scored in 17 of the 20 quarters this season with the lone misses being the opening quarter tonight and the final frames at Virginia Tech and North Carolina.  With Will Towery making his first career start, at center, 18 Pirates, nine offensive and nine defensive, have made their initial starts in 2010.  The Pirates failed to score first in a road/neutral site contest for the first time in the last 12 such contests. ECU had scored first in this season’s two road/neutral games, all seven in 2009 and the final two in 2008. The last time East Carolina did not have the initial score in a road/neutral game was at Legion Field in Birmingham, Ala., Nov. 22, 2008, when UAB’s Joe Webb had a three-yard TD run in the first quarter. o Entering tonight, East Carolina had scored first in eight of the last nine overall games with the only time falling behind early being a first-quarter touchdown by Houston’s James Cleveland in last season’s Conference USA Championship game.  At the end of the first quarter, Southern Miss led 20-0. It was the first time this season the Pirates had not been ahead or tied at the close of the opening quarter. Entering the contest, ECU had outscored its opponents 55-24 in the first.  The Pirate defense held Southern Miss scoreless in the second quarter. It was the first quarter this season in which an opponent had been held off the board by ECU.  Southern Miss also led at the half 20-17. The Pirates had been ahead or tied at the break all four times in 2010.  Dominique Davis’ second-quarter touchdown pass extended ECU’s streak to seven-straight games with a scoring pass.  East Carolina returned a third quarter kickoff for a touchdown after Dwayne Harris caught it and tossed it back to Jonathan Williams on a reverse. It was the Pirates’ first runback for a TD since Harris took one 99 yards against UAB Nov. 21, 2009.  East Carolina broke out of its second-half “slump” with 27 points and 182 total yards. ECU had averaged 6.7 points and 127.7 total yards in the second halves against Memphis, North Carolina and Virginia Tech.  For the third-straight game, an opponent returned a Davis interception for a touchdown as Jamie Collins ran one back 32 yards for Southern Miss in the fourth quarter.  With today’s four passing touchdowns, the Pirates have 15 aerial scores this season, a mark they did not reach until at least game No. 7 the last five years. In fact, the total is more than or equal to the totals for the whole season for the 2006 (13), 2008 (15) and 2009 (15) squads.  The Pirates held Southern Miss to 3-of-17 (17.6%) on third down after entering the game allowing opponents to convert 54.9% on third downs.  With its three-of-three redzone performance today, East Carolina improved to 18-of-18 this season when inside the opponents’ 20-yard line. o The Pirates entered the game as one of five schools (Illinois, Memphis, Washington and San Jose State) to have 100% redzone efficiency. o The Pirates have also made the most of their 18 redzone trips, scoring 14 touchdowns.  With its fourth-quarter, fourth-down conversion that led to a touchdown, the Pirates remain perfect on fourth down this season at 8-of-8. o ECU entered the day as one of 11 programs with a flawless fourth-down mark. o With their eighth four-down conversion, the Pirates have more successful fourth-down attempts than they did all of last season (7-of-13).  The Pirates recorded 250+ passing yards (305) and won. o ECU snapped a two-game losing streak when surpassing 250 aerial yards (Virginia Tech, North Carolina) after winning eight-straight games in 2009 and the start of 2010 when reaching 250 or more passing yards.  With Josh Smith’s sack in the second quarter, ECU has recorded at least one quarterback drop in 19 of the past 22 games.  For the second-straight game, East Carolina failed to force a turnover. The Pirates had not gone back-to-back contests without forcing a miscue since Oct. 22-29, 2005, against Memphis and UCF. ECU had forced at least one turnover in 33-straight games before last week’s game at North Carolina.  With its second-quarter touchdown, ECU extended its streak to a school-record 160 games without suffering a shutout.  The Pirates have the most wins against C-USA foes since 2007, picking up their 22nd in the last three seasons with today’s victory. Houston is second with 20 wins during that span.  ECU’s seniors picked up their 29th victory. Only nine classes in Pirate history have reached the 30-victory plateau.

OTHER  Team Captains: Offense: Dwayne Harris, Jonathan Williams; Defense: Emanuel Davis, Josh Smith; Special Teams: Ben Ryan  Up Next: East Carolina returns home after a three-game road swing for a 12:00 p.m. contest against rival N.C. State (5-1). The game will be broadcast nationally by CBS College Sports.