Keys to the Game Thursday, Oct. 23, 2014 By Kevin Monroe

East Carolina vs. Connecticut

7 pm | Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium (cap. 50,000) | TV: ESPNU

By Kevin Monroe
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East Carolina is back in action today after its second bye week. The opening in the schedule came at a perfect time for the Pirates. With just one American Athletic Conference game under its belt, it gave the team the opportunity to get healthy and recharge to make its first run at the American title. There was time to not only heal up the bumps and bruises of the first six weeks, but also to rest bodies and get fresh for the next several weeks.

After tonight’s game, the Pirates go on the road to Temple and Cincinnati, which could prove to be their two toughest conference games. But it starts with tonight. Though the Huskies are 1-5, they are a competitive 1-5, allowing only 12 points last week at Tulane and 17 at South Florida three weeks ago.

ECU is favored and will win this game if it follows this script:

ESTABLISH THE RUN

The Pirates are rushing for almost 200 yards per game through six games. The running game is led by scatback Breon Allen who has 504 rushing yards and 4 touchdowns. Breon is the lead singer, but the band behind him boasts a core of talented backs that are all prepared to carry the load when called upon — names like Hairston, Grayson and Scott to name a few. UConn has a pretty stout run defense, holding opponents to only 4 touchdowns on the ground and 121 yards rushing per game. The Pirates need to run the ball early to get the Huskies on their heels and to open the passing game. It all starts up front with the offensive line, which must control the line of scrimmage for the running game to be affective.

APPLY PRESSURE

Coach Rick Smith's ECU defense needs to get after Huskies quarterback Chandler Whitmer. The senior has started every game this season except the first one. UConn has struggled offensively, gaining only 256 total yards per game (178 through the air, 77 on the ground). A nice mixture of run and pass blitzes that keeps the QB guessing and out of rhythm would disrupt the Huskies' offensive efforts. Whitmer is only completing 55% of his passes and there hasn’t been much of a running game to support his passing effort. The Huskies are converting just 32 percent of the time on third down. The Pirates need to make sure that percentage doesn’t improve tonight.

PROTECT THE FOOTBALL

East Carolina has a minus-1 turnover margin, which is not bad. Coach Ruffin McNeil would rather it be positive, but it could be worse considering that UConn is at minus-9. Those numbers are derived by starting with the number of takeaways your team gets while on defense and subtracting the number of times your team has turned the ball over on offense. That simple calculation can give some clues about a team's chances of winning. Shane Carden has protected the ball really well this season, only turning it over multiple times in one game. Shane has 16 touchdown passes and just 4 interceptions. ECU has lost only 3 fumbles season-to-date. If the Pirates protect the ball and avoid giving UConn easy opportunities, they should be in good shape.

BOTTOM LINE

The Huskies are looking for an opportunity to turn their season around. As it stands right now, they have three conference losses, but they still have five more on the slate to get things headed in the right direction. UConn also still has a chance to become bowl eligible. As long as a team has something to fight for, it won’t quit. ECU cannot expect the Huskies to show up tonight and just lay down. The Pirates need to take the fight to UConn. Establish the running game early and then open it up downfield with the passing game. Play up-tempo, high-intensity defense, showing a number of different looks. ECU must protect the football and not allow turnovers to be its undoing. Deliver on those tasks and the Pirates will win this game.

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PAGE UPDATED 10/23/14 03:20 AM.