East Carolina Pirates: Isaiah Jones Approaches Hardy Record
The East Carolina Pirates now own the top two spots on the NCAA all-time receptions list.
The East Carolina Pirates wrapped up a successful weekend. They not only dispatched the Connecticut Huskies, but they also gained a personal honor to add to the collection. Isaiah Jones (going by Zay these days) became the NCAA’s second all-time leading pass grabber. He almost fielded an even twenty balls on Saturday to take his total to 355 catches.
Jones has some very East Carolina kind of company on this list. The only name that appears above his is his former partner in catch, current Atlanta Falcon Justin Hardy. Hardy stands thirty-two catches away at 387.
Jones is a senior so his pursuit of Hardy will continue for the remainder of the season. The Pirates are set to play four more times. They could still snag a bowl berth even though this is the crux of the conference schedule. That is a maximum of five more games for Jones to achieve the feat.
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If he has another nineteen catch game like he did on Saturday that will be relatively simple. In more realistic terms he needs to average eight catches a game over the last four to tie Hardy. Amazingly Jones has averaged just over fourteen catches per game so far this season. No doubt the team would try to improve his chances if they can. This would unfortunately be the most true if they do not become bowl eligible.
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The competition does help Jones out over the next four weeks. Tulsa and SMU have quick fire offenses that will guarantee plenty of possessions in the game. Navy typically does not have the kind of secondary personnel that would stop a guy like Jones either. Temple will be the biggest problem when it comes to Jones trying to get those last few catches.
If the Pirates could win just one of those games (Navy or Temple) then they can get back to the bowls in Coach Scottie Montgomery’s first season and give Jones some more chances to set the record.