By Denny O'Brien
©2012 Bonesville.net
All Rights Reserved.

Two years ago, the East Carolina defense was so inept that it couldn’t even get in its own way, much less get out of it.

It reached a point during the 2010 season that eight or nine-yard gains by the opposition were met with sighs of relief from ECU fans, not groans of dissatisfaction.

The Pirates were so void of fundamentals and speed that defensive coordinator Brian Mitchell was forced to oversimplify ECU’s 4-3 system. At times it appeared as if the ECU defense was simply trying not to display a noticeable flinch as opposing offenses marched towards an inevitable score.

Fast forward two seasons and the approach — and results — are much different. The Pirates are now two years into a 3-4, attacking scheme, and the overall depth and skill have made a dramatic improvement.

One of the key pieces to that improvement has been the play of junior safety Chip Thompson, a junior college transfer who is demonstrating a bloodhound nose for the football. It started with his fumble return for a touchdown in the opener against Appalachian State, and continued with two interceptions against Texas-El Paso.

Both interceptions were the result of pressure from the Pirates’ defensive front.

“Our front seven is awesome,” Thompson said after ECU's Saturday night win over the Miners. “Their quarterback was constantly under duress. The first one I caught, I’ve been trying to play the slant all week. He lobbed it right to me because he was about to get sacked.

"I really appreciate those guys.”

The Pirates began to show flashes of that attacking style two weeks ago against Southern Miss, with an array of blitzes that kept both Golden Eagles quarterbacks on the run. The result was five sacks and 40 yards in losses.

Though ECU didn’t register as many sacks Saturday night, it did generate enough pressure to completely disrupt the UTEP passing attack. Miners quarterbacks finished the day completing only 10 of their 30 attempts for 151 yards and three interceptions.

The Pirates’ young but improving secondary still has occasional trouble with the deep ball, twice getting torched by long passes against the Miners. But aside from that, the ECU secondary looks as if it is beginning to fortify, which couldn’t come at a better time.

The more pressure the ECU defensive front can pressure opposing quarterback, the better the results from the Pirates’ secondary.

Feature back established

If there was any doubt over the identification of East Carolina’s go-to back, Vintavious Cooper erased that Saturday.

In the Pirates 28-18 Conference USA victory over UTEP, Cooper was the breakout offensive star, finishing with 151 yards rushing on 23 carries. He also chipped in four catches for 52 yards, giving him a grand total of 203 yards from scrimmage.

Not bad for a guy who was a junior college quarterback last year.

Of all the backs in the Pirates’ stable, Cooper is the only one who seems to be a three-tool back, possessing good hands as well as the ability to break tackles and make defenders miss in space.

While Cooper won’t win every footrace, he possesses plenty of big-play speed. He demonstrated that on 39-yard run during which he slipped out of a tackle in the backfield and sprinted down the sideline to the UTEP one-yard line, setting up the Pirates’ first score.

About the only thing Cooper didn’t do Saturday was throw a pass.

“Being that I was a quarterback in junior college, it wasn’t that hard of a transition to make,” Cooper said. “The biggest thing was to try to improve upon pass blocking.”\

“Running the ball has never really been an issue because I ran the ball a lot in junior college — 25 carries a game, probably. Being that I have to run the ball here a lot, it isn’t really anything new.”

The ECU offense has demonstrated on numerous occasions that it operates at a more explosive level when Cooper is in the game. Now that he’s beginning to understand his role in pass protection, expect more carries as a result.

Intro adjustment

Perhaps it’s time for East Carolina to alter its pregame package. Moments before the Pirates’ intro video hit the screen, the game day staff played the new-and-improved “Welcome to Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium” video.

The crowd responded at a much greater volume than it did for the pregame intro. It's easy to understand why.

The “Welcome” video includes inspiring vignettes from ECU players, highlights, and an abundance of crowd shots. It was executed amid a backdrop of blood-pumping music.

If ECU wants to improve its overall game day experience, it will make a pregame switch-a-roo. Ditching the cartoon for the more highlight-infused montage would be a good start.