By
Denny O'Brien
©2013 Bonesville.net
All Rights Reserved.
After nearly eclipsing 500 yards in the season opener
against Old Dominion, the East Carolina offense took a step back
against Florida Atlantic.
A puzzling one given the caliber of competition it
was facing.
Take away three Owls turnovers, and this one would
have been more competitive.
“I think we had too many negative plays,” Pirates
quarterback Shane Carden said in his assessment of the offense.
“Penalties, too many fumbles… we’ve got to take much better care of
the ball than that.
“When we were good, we were good. We just kept
stopping ourselves with penalties and sacks here and there. That’s
on me a little bit and the O-line. We haven’t really gotten into
that rhythm.”
Even on the Pirates’ initial scoring drive — by far
their best of the night — the offense had to overcome a false start
and sack that placed it in long yardage situations.
ECU’s lack of rhythm can be partially traced to the
lack of consistency along the offensive front. It was the culprit of
most of the Pirates’ penalties Thursday night, and it also struggled
at times dealing with FAU’s pressure.
To some degree you have to credit the FAU staff for
making adjustments that bumped the ECU offense off course. But given
the caliber of opponent the Pirates are facing on Saturday, there is
no denying that offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley and his
offensive staff have much ground to cover.
Virginia Tech’s defensive personnel will be a
significant step up from FAU's, as will the coaches directing them.
Their last trip to Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium proved a sobering one for
the ECU offense.
The most encouraging detail from the offense Thursday
was the renewed emphasis on establishing the run. ECU finished with
a modest 110 yards rushing, but it would have been much more had the
Owls not recorded a trio of sacks.
East Carolina will definitely need to establish some
balance against the Hokies. It’s hard to envision the Pirates
winning Saturday with a one-dimensional offensive performance.
Carden’s defining play in East Carolina’s victory
over FAU wasn’t his touchdown strike to Davon Grayson. Nor was it
his one-yard scoring toss to Justin Hardy.
With the Pirates facing third and goal from the FAU
seven-yard line, a passing play seemed imminent. But after looking
the defense over, Carden quickly checked the Pirates out of a pass,
instead calling running back Vintavious Cooper’s number.
The result was Cooper dashing into the end zone
virtually untouched.
“We go into each goal line situation each week
knowing that if you see this, you check into this,” Carden said. “It
was kind of what we had seen on film and what we had talked about.
“I saw it, got a quick check, and Tay had a great
run.”
Most of Carden’s praise this season undoubtedly will
result from the yardage he compiles. But ultimately his ability to
read defenses and make adjustments at the line of scrimmage is what
will set him apart.
Though just two weeks into the 2013 campaign, it’s
not too early to draw one conclusion about East Carolina’s future:
The Pirates are very fortunate that this is their final season in
Conference USA.
Considering the final scores from this weekend’s
action, it’s clear the league’s competitive quality has taken a more
significant hit than anticipated. And judging by the crowds for
ECU’s first two home games — the two lowest since Dowdy-Ficklen
Stadium expanded in 2010 — it’s evident that fans have little
interest in C-USA opponents.
The jump to the American Athletic Conference isn’t
the competitive leap ECU was ultimately hoping for. But there is no
question that it is a significant step up from the new-look C-USA.