By
Denny O'Brien
©2012 Bonesville.net
All Rights Reserved.
NEW ORLEANS — If East
Carolina coach Ruffin McNeill needed a reminder of his program’s most
pressing need, he got a sobering one Saturday.
It came in the form of a
Louisiana-Lafayette offense that thoroughly worked his defense over in
a 43-34 R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl loss,
much like many of the Pirates’ opponents did during the regular season.
Truthfully, any belief
that ECU would suddenly make a defensive about face in four weeks was
unrealistic. There were simply too many issues in need of patching to
possibly contain within a month.
And Ragin’ Cajuns Coach
Mark Hudspeth knew the scouting report.
“Obviously, when you watch
film, you always think there’s a couple of things that you can try to do
that you want to go to,” Hudspeth said. “We thought we could throw the
deep ball and get behind them.
“We felt like we could run
the football. We did get a good push. The zone read was working really
(well) with Terrance (Broadway). And then in the passing game we thought
we could get behind them for a play or two.”
It seemed like ten or 11.
And when you add all 77 offensive plays together, ULL finished with an
impressive — but not surprising — 591 yards.
Many of them came from
Cajuns quarterback Terrance Broadway, who threw for 316 yards and rushed
for 108 more. He completed passes to nine different receivers, many of
whom were given five and six-yard cushions.
When the Cajuns ran the
zone read, it was often met with confusion by a Pirates defense that had
difficulty following the ball. That led to several long gains by
Broadway and by running back Alonzo Harris, who finished with 120 yards
and two scores.
You might say that ULL’s
balanced attack was the perfect poison for ECU. Then again, almost any
offense the Pirates faced this season was.
During the course of the
2012 season, there wasn’t an offensive style the Pirates didn’t face. Be
it one of the many variations of the spread or the triple option, there
hasn’t been much the Pirates’ 3-4 schemes have been able to stop.
“It’s always a work in
progress,” McNeill said. “I think you’ve seen the benefits to going to
the 3-4. I think you see the kids really understanding their role within
the defense. I like the way the defense has installed and is advancing.
"It could be better and
should be better once the offseason begins. Because now they will have
heard the same calls and faced the same looks over again. I’m pleased
with the way we are heading. We’ll keep looking and evaluating and see
how we can make it better.”
When asked, McNeill was
wise to not directly address the status of defensive coordinator Brian
Mitchell. Emotions are never a good driving force for making decisions
that strategically affect the direction of your program.
But at the same time,
McNeill clearly needs to spend time in careful reflection of his
defense’s performance and seriously consider the changes that will drive
improvement. If there are better coordinators available who he
confidently feels can reverse the Pirates’ fortunes, that can’t be
dismissed.
It certainly won’t be easy
for a head coach who has strong relationships with his staff and clearly
values loyalty. Though a good quality for a head coach to possess, it
can’t overshadow the willingness to make difficult personnel decisions
that are necessary to advance the program.
What’s clear is that East
Carolina needs a change in its defensive course. That needs to occur
with an upgrade to personnel — especially in the secondary — and revised
schemes that better position those players for success.
The pressing question for
McNeill is whether or not Mitchell is the right coach to coordinate
those improvements.