INDIVIDUAL NOTES  Junior Dominique Davis accounted for four of the team’s five offensive today. This season, he has accounted for 42 of the team’s 53 offensive TDs. He entered the day leading the country in points per game accounted for (23.0).  Davis’ nation-leading 34 passes are an ECU single-season record and the seventh most in a year by a Conference USA quarterback.  Davis’ 42 touchdowns responsible for leave him six short of entering the C-USA single-season top-five list.  Davis’ career-long streak of 151 passes without an interception was snapped with his second-quarter pick.  Davis completed fewer than 25 passes (21) for only the third time this season. He entered the contest leading the NCAA in completions per game (30.4).  Davis’ 39 attempts and 21 completions today give him 507 and 325, respectively, this season. Those totals are ECU single-season records and the fifth-most attempts and fifth-most completions by a C-USA quarterback in a year. o Davis also has already set the ECU single-season record for passing yards (3,385).  Davis’ fourth-quarter touchdown run was his eighth of the season, the most for a Pirate quarterback since David Garrard’s eight in 1999.  Senior inside receiver Dwayne Harris, the East Carolina career leader in receptions (250) and receiving yards (2,876), made seven catches for 119 yards. He has caught at least one pass in 42-straight games, the second-longest streak at the FBS level - trailing only Colorado’s Scotty McKnight (47). Harris also has two or more receptions in 35 consecutive contests. He entered the game ranked sixth nationally this season in receptions per game (7.6).  Harris brought his totals to 83 receptions and 998 receiving yards this season, tied for the second most and alone with the second most, respectively, in a year in ECU history.  Harris’ second-quarter touchdown reception was his 10th of the year, one short of the Pirate single-season record. After scoring at least one touchdown in four-straight games, Harris has brought his career TD reception total to 19, two shy of Larry Shannon’s (1994-97) ECU record.  Harris tallied 184 all-purpose yards, giving him 1,222 in this season’s seven C-USA games (174.6 APY/G). He also surpassed Ketric Sanford (Houston/5,817/1996-99) for seventh on the league’s career all-purpose yardage list as Harris now has 5,942.  Harris’ 54 kickoff moved him past Jason Southall (UAB/2,092/2001-04) and into ninth on the Conference USA all-time list. Harris has 2,106 kickoff return yards and is also tied for ninth on the C-USA kickoff return list with 89.  Senior Jonathan Williams recorded his third total touchdown in the last two games with his second-quarter, two-yard rushing score. This season, ECU is 5-2 in games when Williams scores a rushing touchdown.  Williams also recorded his fourth career 100-yard rushing game, and third of the season, finishing with exactly 100 yards.  Junior inside receiver Lance Lewis hauled in seven balls to bring his total to 70 this season, the fifth most in a year in ECU history. Lewis also totaled a career high with 126 receiving yards in the game.  Lewis’ first-quarter, 47-yard touchdown reception gave him an ECU single-season record 11 TD grabs. He has scored at least once in seven of the last eight games. o The 47-yard scoring strike was the longest touchdown pass for the Pirates this season.  Freshman Justin Jones caught his third career touchdown pass in the second quarter, giving him two scores on his last nine receptions.  Junior kicker Michael Barbour converted his 12th-straight field goal with a 31-yard make in the third quarter.  Barbour also converted five point-after attempts, giving him 49 this season, one shy of the single-season record of 50 by Ben Hartman in 2007.  Barbour has 88 points this season, six short of Hartman’s school-record 94 (20 FGs, 34 PAT) points by a kicker, set in 2009.  Senior Dour Polochak and freshman Ty Holmes made their first career starts, at left guard and middle linebacker, respectively.  Holmes booked his first career tackle for a loss in the third quarter, stopping Sam McGuffie for a five-yard loss.  Freshman Matt Milner recovered his first career fumble in the second quarter and returned it 50 yards, the longest by an ECU player since Van Eskridge 50-yard runback at UTEP, Oct. 13, 2007.  Junior defensive back Derek Blacknall tied his career high with nine tackles, making six in the opening quarter.  Senior defensive lineman Josh Smith blocked his first career kick in the second quarter on a Rice point-after attempt.  Smith also recorded one tackle for a loss, giving him 4.5 TFLs in the last three games.

WITH THE LOSS  With the loss, ECU has … o Won 10 of the last 16, 12 of the last 19 and 14 of the last 22 games o Has won 10 of the last 12 (and 16 of 19) Conference USA games o Has won eight of the last 11 games against Conference USA West Division members o Has won six of the last nine road games against C-USA opponents o Has won four of the last six road games against C-USA West Division members  East Carolina falls to 6-5 overall. It is the third time in the last five years the Pirates have been 6-5 through 11 games.  ECU falls to 5-2 in league play, marking the fourth time in the last five years the Pirates have been 5-2 through seven league games.  Rice evened the series with East Carolina at 2-2 and improved to 2-0 at home against the Pirates.  The Pirates fall to 29-23 in Conference USA road games, including a 15-9 mark since divisional play was implemented in 2005.

TEAM NOTES  With senior Doug Polochak and freshman Ty Holmes making their first career starts, 24 Pirates, 11 on offense and 13 on defense, have made their first career starts in 2010.  East Carolina scored its 53rd offensive touchdown of the season today, establishing a program record. The previous best was 50 offensive TDs by the 2007 team. o The Pirates’ 55 overall touchdowns this season also set the program record, surpassing the 2007 squad’s 52 touchdowns.  ECU has scored a program-record 308 points in this season’s seven league games. The previous best was 259 by the 2007 team. o ECU is averaging 44.0 points per C-USA game this season after averaging 31.8 points per league tilt in 2009.  Overall this year, East Carolina has scored a school-record 420 points.  With its 38 points today, East Carolina has reached the 35-point plateau in seven-straight C-USA games.  Rice took a 7-0 lead, marking the fourth-straight game in which the opponent has scored first.  Dominique Davis’ first-quarter touchdown pass extended ECU’s streak to 13-straight games with a scoring pass.  With today’s three passing touchdowns and 308 aerial yards, the team has set program single-season records in both categories with 35 touchdowns and 3,518 yards this season. The 1991 squad held both pervious-best marks with 30 passing scores and 3,379 yards.  The Pirates recorded 454 yards of total offense to surpass the 400-yard mark for the sixth-straight game and eighth time this season. In the last two years, ECU had seven games with 400 or more yards of total offense. o ECU is 21-3 in its last 24 games when reaching 400 or more yards of total offense.  East Carolina continued its redzone success, converting four-of-five opportunities. The Pirates are now 47-of-51 inside the opponents’ 20-yard line this season. ECU entered the game ranked fourth in the country in redzone efficiency (93.5%), trailing only Memphis (100%/15-of-15), Illinois (94.9%/37-of-39) and Oklahoma State (93.8%/45-of-48).  Rice’s 639 total yards were the most allowed by the Pirates this season, the fifth most ever given up and the most since allowing 649 to Marshall in the 2001 GMAC Bowl. o The Owls’ 410 rushing yards were tied for the eighth most ever allowed by the Pirates.  The 88-yard touchdown run by Rice’s Jeremy Eddington was the longest run allowed by the Pirates this season. o Eddington scored four rushing touchdowns, becoming the first player to do so against ECU since Wake Forest’s Chris Barclay, Sept. 17, 2005.  East Carolina surrendered 62 points to Rice, the eighth most ever allowed by the Pirates. o The 34 points by Rice in the first half were the most surrendered in an opening half by the Pirates this season.  Rice totaled one yard on punt returns during the game. In the last two contests, the Pirates had not surrendered a punt return yard.  Their two fourth-down conversions gave the Pirates 18 successful fourth-down attempts this season. In all of 2009, East Carolina totaled seven fourth-down conversions.  The East Carolina defense forced one turnover to bring its total to 13 in the last six games after netting only one takeaway in the previous three tilts.  The Pirates booked six tackles for a loss (-19 yds.) in the game, bringing their total to 13 (-39 yds.) in the last two games after having 11 for -18 yds. in the previous four tilts.  The blocked extra-point attempt by Rice was the Pirates’ second blocked kick of the year and the first since a field goal knockdown in the season opener against Tulsa. The Pirates are now 15-3 during the last five-plus seasons when recording a blocked kick.  With its first-quarter touchdown, ECU extended its streak to a school-record 166 games without suffering a shutout.

OTHER  Team Captains: Offense: Dominique Davis, Dwayne Harris; Defense: Emanuel Davis, Josh Smith; Special Teams: Damon Magazu  Up Next: East Carolina closes out the 2010 regular season Friday by hosting SMU. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. ET with television coverage provided by CBS College Sports.