Although his injury list for Saturday’s home game against South Florida is arguably as slim as it’s been all season, East Carolina head coach Ruffin McNeill called this the most trying of his six seasons at the helm of the Pirate football team.
On the heels of two straight American Athletic Conference losses and in need of two wins in the team’s last three games in order to qualify for a bowl game, McNeill said the team’s devastating injuries — which began late in August camp with a season-ending torn knee ligament sustained by quarterback Kurt Benkert — have had a greater impact on the season than any he can remember.