East Carolina Pirates at Memphis Tigers (+4, 48.5)
The Conference-USA moves back to prime time Tuesday night when East Carolina (4-3, 3-1) visits Memphis (2-5, 1-3) at the Liberty Bowl Stadium in a game televised on ESPN2.
The Pirates opened a 4.5-point favorite and the line has moved to -4.
Weather update
Expect cloudy and cool weather with temperatures in the mid to low 50s. There is a 60 percent chance of thunderstorms.
Pirate points
With its 49-13 win over Rice 10 days ago, ECU sits atop the C-USA East Division at 3-1, in a three-way tie with Marshall and Southern Mississippi.
Eleven players caught at least one pass last week against Rice, including five with catches of 20 or more yards. WR Jamar Bryant has at least one reception in 25 straight games.
The Pirates have won seven of their last 10 conference road games, including six of their last eight against C-USA East division foes.
QB Patrick Pinkney notched his 12th career 200-yard passing performance and matched his personal best with three touchdown passes against the Owls.
JR WR Dwayne Harris was named the C-USA Special Teams Player of the Week after returning a kickoff for a touchdown for the second straight week with a 92-yarder versus Rice. He had a career-high 264 all-purpose yards and three TDs against the Owls.
DT Linval Joseph made his offensive debut at Marshall this year, serving as lead blocker in short-yardage situations that resulted in a pair of TDs and a fourth-down conversion. He also has 11.5 tackles for loss in his last eight games.
RB Dominique Lindsay, the Pirates' leading rusher with 431 yards on 77 carries, is day-to-day with a sprained ankle he suffered against Rice.
"I don't know how long it's going to be at this point," head coach Skip Holtz said. "It might be three or four days or two weeks. It's a shame because he's playing with a lot of confidence."
East Carolina has held its last two opponents to 106 total rushing yards. The Pirates will look to shut down Curtis Steele, who has rushed for 376 yards in the Tigers' last two games, and force Memphis to attack through the air. ECU is second in the league with 10 interceptions and Tigers quarterbacks have thrown 11 INTs, second-most in C-USA.
Memphis musings
Senior QB Will Hudgens is back for a sixth year of eligibility. Hudgens replaced QB Tyler Bass, who had season-ending surgery Tuesday to repair a torn labrum in his left, non-throwing shoulder. The sophomore appeared in four games this year with two starts, completing 53-of-81 passes for 673 yards with six touchdowns and four interceptions.
RB Curtis Steele has rushing touchdowns in eight of his last 11 games - 11 total - and has moved into the Top 10 in career rushing yardage at Memphis with 1,740. He needs 25 yards to pass Jeff Womack for ninth place and 260 yards to become the seventh Tiger to reach 2,000.
Senior WR Duke Calhoun has caught at least one pass in 44 consecutive games – including a strike from Hudgens in the Tigers 36-16 loss to Southern Miss 10 days ago. Calhoun is ranked sixth among all active FBS receivers with 2,724 career receiving yards. He ranks third in East Carolina history with 19 career touchdown catches.
Along with companion WR Carlos Singleton, they are the country's third most prolific scoring tandem with 40 combined touchdown catches.
The offensive line has allowed just seven sacks, which ranks second in C-USA and 16th nationally. Memphis also protects the ball well, having lost only four fumbles this year, two on punt returns and two by quarterbacks.
Still head coach Tommy west is concerned about the health of his squad.
"We're banged up at certain positions right now. We have three safeties playing right now at two positions. Seven straight weeks of playing will do that to you. Having a little bit of extra time for this game and having a weekend after this game should help us out,” said West.
West also indicated changes could be made on special teams in lieu of last week's erratic performance at Southern Miss, where the Tigers surrendered 33.0 yards per kick return and 26.5 yards per punt return with a touchdown.
Face time
The ESPN2 broadcast crew for East Carolina's game at Memphis includes play-by-play man Reese Davis and analysts Mark May and Lou Holtz, the father of Pirates head coach Skip Holtz.
"We have a real unique situation because we're playing Tuesday, Thursday and then Sunday. But our next three games are also going to be on national television on ESPN. That's an exposure that you can't get on Saturday. There are certainly tradeoffs for it,” said East Carolina coach Holtz.
History says
East Carolina has won its last three meetings against Memphis (by an average 17 PPG) and is 7-0 ATS the last seven games in this series.
Last season, in a 30-10 win over Memphis, the Pirates scored 23 unanswered points in the second half. The Tigers gained just 49 yards after intermission.
Memphis is 3-6 all-time in games played on Tuesdays.
Interesting tidbit: teams off a SU and ATS loss are 19-8-3 ATS in regular season games on Tuesdays. The Tigers fit that bill.