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.

Though the Pirates won comfortably over the Owls, much of that can be attributed to the performance of the defense. It provided the offense with favorable field position throughout the night, with three of its scoring drives starting inside the FAU 25-yard line.

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.

Veteran call

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.

Escaping C-USA

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.