ECU Athletic Media Relations

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — East Carolina senior quarterback Shane Carden is one of 50 players named to the initial 2014 Walter Camp Player-of-the-Year Watch List, the foundation announced Friday morning.

Carden, who was named Conference USA’s Most Valuable Player in 2013, passed for an ECU single-season record 4,139 yards and completed an FBS second-best 70.5 percent (387-of-549) of his throws with 33 touchdowns. The Houston, Texas prep product also ran for 10 scores, and against Ohio in the Beef `O’ Brady’s Bowl, caught a 14-yard TD pass to help the Pirates to a 37-20 victory.

A four-time C-USA Player-of-the-Week honoree a year ago, Carden engineered a Pirate offense that racked up 500 yards or more of total offense five times, including a pair of 600-plus yard contests. He was the lone C-USA quarterback with multiple 400-plus yard passing games (447/ODU, 480/Tulane) and authored a league-best seven 300-yard air efforts.

Nationally, Carden ranked among the top 15 in completion percentage (2nd), completions per game (5th/29.77), points responsible for per game (5th/20.5 pg), total points responsible for (6th/266), passing yards (7th), passing yards per game (8th/318.4 pg), passing TDs (9th) and total offense (14th/326.3).

Carden has also earned inclusion on the O’Brien Award, College Football Performance Quarterback Trophy and Maxwell Award Watch Lists heading in to the 2014 campaign.

The watch list will be narrowed to 10 semi-finalists in mid-November. The 2014 Walter Camp Player-of-the-Year recipient, which is voted on by the 125 NCAA Bowl Subdivision head coaches and sports information directors, will be announced live on ESPN SportsCenter on Thursday, December 11. The winner will then receive his trophy at the Foundation’s annual national awards banquet on January 17, 2015 at the Yale University Commons in New Haven.

East Carolina, which will play its inaugural campaign in the American Athletic Conference this fall under fifth-year head coach Ruffin McNeill, was 10-3 in 2013 and successfully completed the program’s seventh postseason appearance in the last eight years with a win over the Bobcats at Tropicana Field.

The Pirates will open the 2014 season at home against North Carolina Central inside Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium on August 30 with an 8 p.m. (ET) scheduled kickoff.

 

Pirates On Preseason Watch Lists

• Shane Carden – CFPA Quarterback Trophy Watch List, Davey O’Brien Watch List, Maxwell Award Watch List, Touchdown Club of Columbus (Ohio) Watch List, Walter Camp Watch List
• Maurice Falls – Butkus Award Watch List
• Justin Hardy – CFPA Wide Receiver Trophy Watch List, Biletnikoff Award Watch List, Hornung Award Watch List, Maxwell Award Watch List, Touchdown Club of Columbus (Ohio) Watch List
• Montese Overton – CFPA Linebacker Trophy Watch List