|
Game No. 6: SMU 28, ECU 21 |
|
|
|
| |
|
Game
Slants
Saturday, October 10, 2009
By Denny O'Brien |
 |
Scoring struggles cost ECU
By
Denny O'Brien
©2009 Bonesville.net
All Rights Reserved.
DALLAS — It’s a good thing style points
aren’t awarded in college football. If they were, East Carolina would have
left its cross-divisional Conference USA showdown with Southern Methodist a
three-touchdown loser and thoroughly humbled by the Mustangs’ up-tempo
offensive approach.
In a game featuring completely opposite
offensive philosophies, there is little doubt the Mustangs have more flash.
Long-departed from the Pony Express days of running backs Craig James and
Eric Dickerson, SMU now is the portrait of offensive innovation.
The Pirates by contrast have seemingly
exchanged their historically wide-open attack for a more conservative,
between-the-tackles look. On the occasions when ECU tried to emulate a
big-play offense against the Mustangs, it looked completely out of its
comfort zone.
But in a 28-21 loss to a seemingly outmanned
foe, the Pirates truthfully shouldn’t have needed a
long-range score. Running back Dominique Lindsay was an overwhelming
mismatch for the Mustangs’ defense most of the night, trampling through,
around and over it at will.
That was the case anytime the Pirates were
positioned between the thirties. But the deeper it crossed into SMU
territory, the more ECU seemed to lose its sense of direction.
“You look at it statistically, time of
possession and first downs, I don’t know what they all say,” Pirates Coach
Skip Holtz said after the game. “But you look at it, I’ve got to imagine the
game was pretty lopsided from that standpoint.
“But the only stat that matters is the way
that they keep score. And four plays that I talked about were 28 points.
That was the football game.”
The coach's hunch about the game's stats
was on the mark. ECU piled up 24 first downs to SMU's 14 and produced 357 yards of total offense, including 176 on the ground, while holding the Mustangs to 294 total yards and 28
rushing yards. The Pirates dominated time of possession 35:33 to 24:27.
It was the type of game the Pirates have
grown accustomed to winning during the Holtz era. If you had to define ECU’s
style, it most accurately is one in which it dresses itself up by making the
opponent dress down.
A defense that generates turnovers, tight
special teams, and an offense that does just enough to win has largely been
the blueprint. In a game critical to both in the
C-USA standings, it was SMU that
more closely followed that script.
It’s not like the Pirates were facing the
Steel Curtain, either. The Mustangs entered the game ranked 95th in total
defense and 100th in scoring defense.
But after a one-week hiatus from the red
zone blues, the Pirates found the real estate inside their opponents’
20-yard line somewhat akin to quicksand. That became apparent when the
Pirates faced a first and goal from the SMU two late in the first quarter,
but couldn’t punch it in on three consecutive attempts by reserve running
back Giavanni Ruffin.
When a false start reversed an apparent
touchdown sneak by Patrick Pinkney, Ben Hartman’s 23-yard field goal attempt
was clubbed by an SMU player. It was the first of two field goals the
Mustangs blocked, the second of which was carried 63 yards for a touchdown
by Bryan McCAnn.
It’s almost as if the opponents’ territory
has become a green mile of drive-killing obstacles. When it isn’t the
opponents completely sniffing out the play before the snap, it’s a false
start, delay of game, or holding penalty.
“The penalty on (fourth and goal) bothers
you because the play has a chance to turn and jump into the end zone,”
Pirates coach Skip Holtz said about the penalty that nullified the potential
touchdown by Pinkney. “Instead you jump offsides and it moves us back five.
Then you get a field goal blocked.
“I’m proud of the way that they compete,
and the way that they fight, and the way that they put their heart, soul,
and effort on the field. We just can’t make the mistakes that we make in a
hard-fought football game on the road in this conference.”
And while there is never a good time to
commit a mistake, this East Carolina bunch seems to do so at the worst times
possible. Usually it occurs when the Pirates have opportunities to put a
stranglehold on the game’s momentum, and against SMU the defense wasn’t
immune, either.
Though the ECU defense more than performed
at a winning level — truthfully you couldn’t have asked for much better —
safety Van Eskridge was flagged for an unnecessary roughness penalty after
the Pirates had stopped the Ponies on third and long. It kept a drive alive
that ended in what amounted to the game-winning touchdown.
A pair of second half plays further
accentuated the game's skewed plotline. One was an SMU jailbreak from the
shadow of its own goal line on a 96-yard scoring passing from quarterback Bo
Levi Mitchell to Aldrick Robinson. Another was the extreme termination of an
ECU possession when Dennis Rock intercepted a Pinkney pass and returned it
53 yards for a touchdown.
Ultimately those plays shouldn’t have had
an impact in the outcome. The Pirates truthfully should have emerged from
intermission with a 21-point advantage and unloaded an even bigger dose of
Lindsay on one of the nation’s weakest defenses.
Too many mistakes and too many missed
opportunities made sure that didn’t occur. It also prevented the Pirates
from creating extra wiggle room in the East Division standings.
What has to hurt most in this outcome that
ECU lost to a team that clearly wasn’t as good. But the Pirates’ biggest
offensive deficiency — their inability to score — has made them vulnerable
against almost any opponent.
Send
a message to Denny O'Brien.
Dig into Denny
O'Brien's Bonesville archives.
10/11/2009 04:59:41 AM |
