East Carolina receiver Dwayne Harris leads the Pirates in receiving with 79 catches for 914 yards with 6 touchdowns. He’s also the team’s fourth-leading rusher, gaining 149 yards and 5 touchdowns and 31 rushing attempts. And, oh yeah, he is averaging 27.4 yards with three more touchdowns on kick returns.
So it’s a pretty good idea for the Razorbacks to keep an eye on the junior Saturday.
Defensive coordinator Willy Robinson knows that. In fact, he has been sizing up Harris this week.
“I got a chance to eyeball him on Monday,” Robinson said, likely referring to the Liberty Bowl welcome dinner that night. “I wanted to see what he looked like because in pads he’s really a special football player.”
Robinson said he did more than get a glance at Harris in person. He got his hands on him, too, getting an indication at the 6-foot-, 205-pound receiver’s strength.
“I happened to grab him by the arm just to check him out,” Robinson said. “They all wear these baggy clothes. I wanted to see what he was like. He’s rock solid.”
Harris figures to be a pretty big challenge for the Razorbacks, who have had problems giving up big plays all season. The elusive receiver lines up in a variety of places for the Pirates. He’ll be out wide one play. He’ll be in the backfield at running back on another. He’ll even take snaps in a Wildcat package.
Robinson said Harris is remarkably “well-rounded.”
“He does a great job of blocking downfield. He does a great job of setting up his double moves. And he’s awfully strong after the catch. He can make the first guy miss or he can shed the first guy. He’s really a solid football player.”
Harris’ play was important in ECU’s win in the Conference-USA title game. He caught 9 passes for 123 yards with a touchdown. His 22-yard touchdown catch early in the third quarter helped give ECU a 21-19 lead it wouldn’t relinquish the rest of the game.
His play has left his teammates impressed.
“He’s a freak of nature,” quarterback Patrick Pinkney said. “He’s got huge legs. You’re not going tackle him. The first person that hits him he’s not going to go down. So I think that’s what helps him a lot. And he’s got great vision. A lot of people don’t know he was a high school quarterback. So when he’s running routes and he sees defenders, that helps him out to get open.”
Harris holds the school’s career reception record (163) and is second on the receiving yards chart (1,814). He can break that mark, which was set by Troy Smith from 1995-98, with a 169-yard performance against the Razorbacks.
To do so, Harris knows he’ll need to turn in a handful of big plays. But that’s something Arkansas’ pass defense has allowed this season. So anything is possible.
“We know one of their weaknesses is going deep on them,” Harris said. “A lot of teams go deep. We’re going to try to use that to our advantage.”
