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High-flying East Carolina guarding against letdown

Sep 13, 2008 - 10:07 AM No. 20 East Carolina (2-0) at Tulane (0-1), 3:00 pm EDT

NEW ORLEANS (Ticker) -- Ranked for the first time since 1999, 20th-ranked East Carolina will try to avoid a letdown Saturday when its opens Conference USA play against Tulane.

The Pirates (2-0) also play their first true road game this season after upsetting Virginia Tech in Charlotte and thrashing then-No. 8 West Virginia at home.

East Carolina is coming off a dominant 24-3 win over the Mountaineers.

The Pirates actually have three straight wins over ranked opponents, dating to a victory over then-No. 24 Boise State in last year's Hawaii Bowl.

Last week, East Carolina defeated a top-10 opponent for the first time since a 27-23 win over then-No. 9 Miami in 1999, which also is the last time it started 2-0.

Patrick Pinkney completed 22-of-28 passes for 236 yards and a touchdown for East Carolina (2-0), which gained 386 yards against West Virginia while holding the Mountaineers to 251.

The back-to-back wins over Virginia Tech and West Virginia would seem to make the Pirates the favorite in Conference USA, but coach Skip Holtz warned his players not to get too excited.

"I told them to go out and enjoy this win with their families, friends and the alumni but only enjoy it for 24 hours," Holtz said. "We have to come in tomorrow and prepare for Tulane. I think our senior leaders will help us immensely in preparing for conference play."

East Carolina defeated Tulane, 35-12, last season as Chris Johnson ran for two touchdowns and caught a scoring pass. The Pirates have won six of their last seven games against the Green Wave.

Tulane, which opened its season with a 20-6 loss at Alabama last week, is happy just to be home. The Green Wave (0-1) were evacuated from New Orleans due to Hurricane Gustav and had to spend the week practicing in Birmingham.

Tulane played well against Alabama, outgaining the Crimson Tide, 318-172, but surrendered two special teams touchdowns in the first quarter. The Green Wave gave up an 87-yard punt return for a touchdown by Javier Arenas and allowed Chris Rogers to return a blocked punt 17 yards for a score.