Bonesville Mobile Alpha Rev. 2.1a*

Mobile Home  |  Desktop Home

Reformulated defense may surprise

By Brett Friedlander
©2014 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.

We’ve all heard that offense sells tickets, so it shouldn’t come as a great surprise that earlier this week, East Carolina – which already ranks first in attendance among programs in non-“Power Five” conferences – announced that it has surpassed the 20,000 mark in season ticket sales again this year.

Led by quarterback Shane Carden and wide receiver Justin Hardy, the Pirates were among the best in the nation while averaging 468 yards and 40.2 points per game in 2013. With most of their top playmakers returning, they figure to be just as potent in their American Athletic Conference debut this fall.

As exciting a prospect as that might be, it’s the other half of the aforementioned adage that has some doubting ECU’s ability to compete with college football’s best.

Because while offense sells tickets, anyone worth his or her salt also knows that it’s defense that wins championships. And it’s tough to put together a championship unit when you’re forced to replace eight of 11 starters thanks to graduation and injury.

Or so it would seem.

But while it’s an indisputable fact that coach Ruffin McNeill and defensive coordinator Rick Smith have their work cut out for them in filling all the holes, especially in the secondary, the category “Starters Returning” can sometimes be deceiving.

In the case of the 2014 Pirates, there’s a lot more veteran talent on hand than meets the eye.

“Some people don’t think we have a lot of experience, but I think we do,” junior inside linebacker Zeek Bigger said. “We’ve got a lot of guys that have played a lot of football and we’re all hungry. We want to have a better season this year than we did last year.”

Bigger’s point is best illustrated by his linebacking corps. Although technically he is the only returning starter of the group, each of the three other positions will be manned by players that have already been there and done that thanks to Smith’s reliance on depth and injuries to Jeremy Grove and Kyle Tudor.

Fellow inside linebacker Brandon Williams, for example, is a three-year letterman who recorded 69 tackles and an interception as a reserve last season. On the outside, junior Montese Overton and senior Maurice Falls have 56 games and 122 tackles between them.

The situation up front is a little more unsettled thanks to a leg injury that has sidelined senior nose tackle Terry Williams for at least Saturday’s opener against N.C. Central and the unexpected loss of junior Terrell Stanley, who will sit out the season while recovering from injuries suffered in a serious offseason car accident.

But even without those two, there’s still some battle-tested talent with returning starter Crishon Rose sliding over from end to the middle and career backups Johnathon White and Fred Presley taking over on the outside. The ace in the hole, however, is 6-foot-1, 300-pound N.C. State transfer K’Hadree Hooker, who despite never having taken a college snap, has impressed his teammates with his strength and quickness during practice last season and preseason camp.

His addition is emblematic of a new wave of defenders, which also includes outside linebacker Dayon Pratt and inside linebacker Devaris Brunson, who make up in athleticism what they lack in actual game experience.

“We have a lot more speed on the field this year,” Brandon Williams said.

“Everybody at every position is just an athlete,” Falls added. “You can’t label anyone as a defensive end or defensive tackle, it’s just athlete, athlete, athlete across the entire defense. This year is going to be a big year.”

How big a year will ultimately depend on the development of a secondary that head coach McNeill proclaimed is a “reload” situation rather than a rebuild.

“I think we’ve done a good job recruiting the kids who fit there,” McNeill said. “Coach Smith is one of the best secondary coaches I’ve been around. I like the way the secondary is competing.”

One thing that will help a unit that features only two players with extensive resumes – corners Detric Allen and Josh Hawkins – is the front seven’s ability to pressure the quarterback. The quicker the opposition has to get rid of the ball, the less time ECU’s defensive backs have to cover their man.

But let’s face it, the Pirates don’t have to be the reincarnation of the 1985 Chicago Bears for the team to be successful. With Carden, Hardy and so many other offensive weapons putting fans in the seats at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, ECU’s defense need only be a little better than average to complete the old football adage and give its team a realistic chance at winning a championship.

Contact Brett Friedlander

PAGE UPDATED 08/29/14 03:54 AM.

Copyright © Bonesville.net. All rights reserved. No content on this site may be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in any fashion without explicit written permission from the editor. Information from Bonesville staff members, East Carolina University, Conference USA and other sources was used in composing and/or compiling the articles and data on this site. This site is editorially independent and is not affiliated with East Carolina University or Conference USA. View Bonesville.net's privacy policy. For advertising or other information, e-mail editor@bonesville.net.