Keys to the Game Friday, November 16, 2012 By Kevin Monroe

ECU at Tulane
Saturday, Nov. 17, 2012 • 3:30 pm
Mercedes-Benz Superdome (cap. 72,003)
TV: WITN

By Kevin Monroe
©2012 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.

East Carolina can defeat Tulane on Saturday if it performs well in these key aspects of the game:

SCORE EARLY AND OFTEN

East Carolina needs to get out of the blocks quickly. Rarely have the Pirates scored touchdowns this season on their opening drives after getting the opening kickoff. With kickoff return yards having been hard to come by, the Pirates usually start inside their own 20-yard line to begin the game. If ECU can get into its offensive game plan quickly by feeding the ball to Vintavious Cooper on the ground and spreading the football around through the air, it will establish the trend for the rest of the game. Tulane is giving up almost 40 points per outing. The Green Wave is also allowing 228 yards rushing and 253 yards passing, an average yield to their opponents of 481 yards. Keeping the chains moving, keeping Tulane’s high-powered offense off the field and scoring touchdowns in the red zone are going to be very important on Saturday.

BRING THE HEAT

Through ten games, Tulane's opponents have gotten through the Wave's offensive line for 26 sacks, an average of more than 2.5 sacks per contest. Tulane has only one senior on its offensive line. East Carolina must get in the face of senior quarterback Ryan Griffin and make him hurry the football and make bad decisions. ECU has 15 sacks on the year (1.5 per game), led by Darrell Johnson with 2.5 and Gabe Woulard with 3.0. Getting good pressure up front will be the key to affecting the Green Wave's passing game and forcing turnovers. Tulane has 27 giveaways season-to-date, an average of 2.7 per game.

PROTECT THE BACK END

East Carolina is giving up 254 yards passing per game and has yielded a total of 19 touchdowns to its foes. The defensive backs have been plagued with injuries, with cornerbacks Jacobi Jenkins and Leonard Paulk among the wounded. Those injuries have opened opportunities for Josh Hawkins, Rocco Scarfone, Adonis Armstrong and others to get some valuable game action. The good news is that a lot of players have logged playing time — the bad news is that they haven’t always played well. As a group, the secondary had a good game two weeks ago against Houston. Considering the 16 interceptions that Griffin has thrown, a solid pass rush and solid play in the secondary by the Pirates is bound to lead to some interceptions.

BOTTOM LINE

Though the 2-8 Green Wave has struggled this season, it has talent on offense and can pull off the upset if the Pirates don't come to play. With Tulane having become somewhat conditioned to losing, ECU can establish a bit of dominance early if it inflicts some discouragement on the Wave. Cooper and the running game can provide leverage to the ECU passing game. The Pirates' pass rush will set the tone defensively. If East Carolina brings it’s "A" game, it should be a pleasant day for Pirate fans.

E-mail Kevin Monroe.

PAGE UPDATED 11/16/12 01:27 AM.