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Keys to the
Game Saturday,
September 12, 2015
By Kevin Monroe |
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East Carolina at Florida
7 pm | Ben Hill Griffin
Stadium (cap.
88,548) | TV: ESPN2
By
Kevin Monroe
©2013 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
East Carolina will take
on the Florida Gators for the second time in 2015 after losing to them
In the Birmingham Bowl on Jan. 3 of this year. That game ended with the
Pirates driving with an opportunity to tie the game. Having the game
end with an interception in the end zone
left the ECU players and fans hungry for this encore shot at the Gators.
Now it's a new season
pitting new teams against each other. Both teams lost significant talent
to graduation and the NFL, and both teams return some very good players.
This time around its not a neutral site as the Pirates have to slog
through the "Swamp," one of the toughest places to play in the country.
In order to wrestle the Gators into submission, the Pirates will need to follow this script:
STRETCH
THE FIELD
Blake Kemp had a solid
performance in
the opener against Towson,
completing a high percentage of his passes and managing the game well.
Every pass was accurate, intentional and on time. The one curiosity
about his performance was not taking any shots down field to loosen up
the defense. Coach Ruffin McNeill says Blake just took what the defense
gave him. The Tigers sat back in zone coverage, so he took the short
pass plays. On Saturday, the Pirates will face a tough man to man
defense including the best corner in the country in Vernon Hargreaves
III, the namesake of the former ECU assistant coach. The Gators will
roll towards the line of scrimmage and try to take away the short throws
and force the Pirates to throw the ball down field.
STOP THE
RUN
East Carolina gave up
179 yards rushing to Darius Victor and Towson’s rushing attack. Florida
rushed for 224 yards in its win last week over New Mexico State. The
Gators had 4 rushing touchdowns and averaged 5.3 yards per carry in that
contest. The Pirate front seven was stout against the run last season,
but the departure of Terry Williams looked to have made a difference
last week. To win on the road in the Swamp, they will need to play much
better against the run.
PLAY
UNDER CONTROL
The first game of the
season is usually a little sloppy and week one was no exception for the
Pirates. The play on the field was good, but the penalties were
excessive. To win on the road in a hostile environment, ECU will need to
cut last week’s infractions in half. Road games provide plenty of
disadvantages, but committing penalties only makes things tougher. Coach
Ruff emphasized his disdain for penalties last week by benching a player
for drawing a dead ball personal foul. Coach deemed it a selfish play.
BOTTOM
LINE
Expect to see the
Pirates play better tonight than they did against the Tigers. Coach Ruff
always has his teams ready to play in big games. Winning on the road is
tough against any foe, but the challenge in a hostile stadium against a
Southeastern Conference team will present a tall task indeed. For a
victory to materialize, the Pirates will need to stretch the field
offensively, stop the run defensively and minimize the penalties. It
should be a fun game to watch.
E-mail Kevin Monroe.
PAGE UPDATED
09/12/15 02:50 PM.
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