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East Carolina Pirates: It’s All About Zay Jones Now

By John Woodcock

Oct 29, 2016; Greenville, NC, USA; East Carolina Pirates wide receiver Zay Jones (7) runs with the ball during the first quarter against Connecticut Huskies at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 29, 2016; Greenville, NC, USA; East Carolina Pirates wide receiver Zay Jones (7) runs with the ball during the first quarter against Connecticut Huskies at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports /
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The East Carolina Pirates can focus on getting Isaiah Jones to the promised land with bowls likely out of reach.

With the loss to Tulsa we can just about close the book on an East Carolina Pirates bowl bid this season. Technically it is still possible, but it would require three straight wins to end the season. Two of those games are Pirates antagonists Navy and Temple. In the words of ‘Dumb and Dumber,’ so I’m saying there is a chance.

The more likely scenario is that the Pirates turn their attention to another project. That would be the promotion of wide receiver Isaiah Jones. There are two things of significance that Jones could be in line for. One is the Biletnikoff Award for the best wide receiver. The other is the NCAA all-time receptions leader where he currently sits second to former teammate Justin Hardy.

The Biletnikoff Trophy is probably the harder of the two. Despite Jones’ monster stats, he has done it on a team that has not really gotten much national attention. He lacks the Big 12 spotlight that Michael Crabtree had. At least there is fan input, so make sure to make your preference known to the Biletnikoff voters.

The other task is getting to the reception record. Hardy’s number is 387. Despite a Pirates loss, Jones had a big day against Tulsa. He added thirteen receptions for 206 more yards. That got him to 367 receptions for his career and 1300 yards on the season. Twenty catches over three games does not seem like much at the pace that Jones is setting currently. He would just need seven a game to make it.

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Jones also has a good shot at 1500 receiving yards this season. That number would be more impressive for Biletnikoff voters and any additional yards to that would be gravy.

The only problem is that teams will know what the Pirates are going to do. This is especially true if the Pirates lose to SMU at home this weekend. Let’s hope Jones is just too good to stop.

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