This is the fifth and final year for Shane Carden with the ECU Pirates. Carden has had a great college career and is looking to build on that success in his final year in a Pirates uniform.
Carden comes from a long line of athletes in his family. His two brothers played baseball, his uncle played quarterback at Southern California, his father played professional baseball for eight years, and his mother played college volleyball and ran track at Cal State Poly. Needless to say, not playing sports wasn’t an option for Carden, and success was sure to follow and it has.
Carden came to Greenville in 2010 after a great high school career in Houston, Texas where he led his the Episcopal Knights to their first title in his senior year. Carden followed the mold of many great quarterbacks before him. He redshirted his first year, learned his second year behind Dominique Davis and earned the scout team’s MVP award. His hard work paid off in 2012, when he earned the right to be the commander of the offense and his success has really taken off.
In 2012, Carden was slated to be the second string quarterback again, and lost a closely contested fall camp battle. However, he quickly took over the starting job in the Pirates third game against Southern Miss and has kept his job ever since. Carden would finish the year with 3,116 yards and 23 touchdowns, while rushing for 74 yards on 85 carries.
Carden ranked among the top-five league leaders in passing efficiency with a 143.01 rating (3rd), passing yards per game with 239.7 per game (4th) , and total offense 245.4 per game (5th). Carden became just the third ECU passer to throw for over 3,000 yards in a season and was named the program’s Offensive Player of the Year.
The doors really got blown off in Carden’s junior season in 2013. Carden would finish with 4,139 yards and 33 touchdowns en route to being awarded the conference MVP, becoming the first quarterback in ECU history to pass for more than 4,000 yards and one of two in ECU history to throw for over 3,000 yards in consecutive years.
Carden finished second in the nation for completion percentage, fifth in completions per game, fifth in points responsible for per game, sixth in points responsible for, seventh in passing yards, eighth in passing yards per game, ninth in touchdown passes, 14th in total offense per game and finally, 24th in pass efficiency rating. He also broke the school’s single-game passing record in three games.
Phew.
With all of those great accomplishments, is there anything this kid hasn’t already done? Well, Carden sits third on the all-time passing list with 7,255 yards and only needs 1,775 yards to pass David Gerrard for the crown. Realistically, he could have the record in four or five games this season.
Carden has also been named to the CFPA Quarterback Trophy Watch List, Davey O’Brien Watch List, Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award Watch List, Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award Watch List, Manning Award Watch List, Maxwell Award Watch List, Touchdown Club of Columbus (Ohio) Watch List and Walter Camp Watch List.
With only two years to have accomplished so much, Carden will cement himself as the best quarterback in ECU history. With a great schedule against South Carolina, Virginia Tech and North Carolina, Carden can garnish some national attention and work his way to playing at the next level.
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