By
Denny O'Brien
©2012 Bonesville.net
All Rights Reserved.
GREENVILLE — East Carolina
needs to ensure that Memphis remains a part of the annual football
schedule.
With the Tigers set to
join the Big East next season, they officially move off ECU’s regular
Conference USA East Division docket following their 41-7 thrashing by
the Pirates on Saturday. The Tigers’ departure also represents the loss
of an almost-sure-fire annual victory in a climate where gimmes are few
and far between.
That’s exactly why ECU AD
Terry Holland should have spent most of Saturday negotiating an annual
home-and-home series with the pushover Tigers. Their presence on future
Pirates schedules would add a school from a more respected conference,
while padding the win total in the process.
It would be the equivalent
of a scheduling touchdown — actually multiple ones considering the ease
with which ECU has handled Memphis historically.
“I think Justin (Fuente)
is trying to build his team,” Pirates Coach Ruffin McNeill said about
the Memphis program after the game. “I’ve been through what he’s going
through. He’s trying to build depth and competition.
"I wish them well. But if
we have some spots on the schedule, they can come back. Want some, get
some. But I never have a mean streak about them. I wanted to beat them
tonight, because they were the next game on the schedule.”
After Saturday’s runaway,
you can certainly understand why McNeill would welcome Memphis back on
the slate. And when you consider the Pirates’ series record against the
Tigers — 15-6, with multiple blowout wins — it makes even more sense to
negotiate a deal with the Memphis brass.
Because the Pirates can
use the occasional non-conference breather.
Even on an evening when
the Pirates’ play can be best classified as sloppy, the competitive gap
was resoundingly clear. The only team capable of preventing ECU from
hanging 50 points on the Tigers Saturday was the Pirates themselves.
Sacks, fumbles, and missed
blocking assignments short-circuited several promising drives. Mistakes
also fueled the mid-game lull that has become the most defining
characteristic of the ECU offense to date.
Even so, the occasional
blunders weren’t enough to make Memphis remotely competitive on ECU’s
Homecoming.
That’s because Pirates
quarterback Shane Carden delivered far more good plays than bad. Ditto
for his receivers, running back Vintavious Cooper, and a defense that
registered one of the best performances we’ve seen in Dowdy-Ficklen
Stadium of late.
“We had a simple game
plan, a lot like we’ve had in the past,” Pirates safety Damon Magazu
said. “We really just focused on keeping our eyes on where they need to
be, reading our keys, running to the ball, and tackling well. I think
our defense did a great job of that today.
"We have a fast team, and
I think that played well for us today. Everybody was running to the
ball. Those holes closed up really quick.”
The Pirates were so
dominant defensively that Memphis could barely muster a first down as
long as ECU was interested.
Offensively, the Pirates
were equally as dominant when they didn’t get in their own way. Carden
threw for 305 yards, Vintavious Cooper rushed for nearly 100, and the
Justins — Hardy and Jones — were dynamic bookends at receiver.
Hardy finished with 137
receiving yards and two scores. Jones added 80 and three touchdowns of
his own.
East Carolina’s
overpowering victory clearly came at the expense of one of the nation’s
worst football outfits. There is simply no debating that.
And if the Pirates were to
continue playing the Tigers in the future, the results would likely
remain the same.