The crowd, or at least crowd noise, was deafening at the final home East Carolina football practice of the season.

Monday was one last chance for the Pirates (8-4) to simulate a few game sequences for what head coach Ruffin McNeill said he believes will be a raucous New Orleans Bowl on Saturday inside the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

The third-year coach has said for the last couple of weeks he expects half of the dome’s nearly 75,000 seats to be packed with Pirate fans for the noon EST showdown against defending bowl champ Louisiana. Last year, the Ragin Cajuns brought better than 30,000 to the dome for their victory over San Diego State.

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