Keys to the Game Saturday, October 10, 2015 By Kevin Monroe

East Carolina at Brigham Young

7:30 pm | LaVell Edwards Stadium (63,470) | TV: ESPNU

By Kevin Monroe
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East Carolina and Brigham Young come into today's game in Provo with 3-2 records. After tough road losses to Florida and Navy, ECU has settled in and started playing better defensively and scoring more points offensively. The losses don’t look nearly as bad now because both the Gators and Midshipmen are 5-0.

The Pirates wiped out a 14-0 deficit against Virginia Tech at home, scored 28 unanswered points and never relinquished the lead once they got it. They followed a similar scenario last week in Dallas and once again got behind early. This time they trailed 23-7 before scoring 49 unanswered points and holding the Mustangs scoreless the rest of the way.

Considering that BYU is a better team than either Tech or SMU, the Pirates can’t afford to get down too far in the Cougars' homecoming game. To bring back a win from LaVell Edwards Stadium, ECU will need to follow this script:

PROTECT THE BALL

The Cougars are averaging 2 takeaways per game with 9 interceptions and 1 fumble recovery. Leading the way is imposing defensive back Kai Nacua (6’2, 213). Nacua has 4 of the 9 picks. He set a BYU single-game record when he got three of those INT’s against Boise State. BYU has one of the biggest secondaries in the country with every starter over 6 feet tall and weighing 200 or more. They are a physical bunch and will give the Pirates all they can handle.

Blake Kemp has 4 giveaways in the last 3 games (3 interceptions and a fumble). James Summers has yet to turn the ball over. Both ECU quarterbacks will play today and avoiding turnovers will be priority number one.

DON'T LET THE MITCHES GO CRAZY

BYU’s top two receivers are Mitch Mathews (6’6, 215) and Mitch Juergens (5’10, 182). Mathews has 26 receptions for 267 yards and 5 TDs and Juergens has 25 catches for 324 yards and 2 TDs. Each Mitch is averaging more than 10 yards per catch and 5 catches per game. Respectively, they have 7 and 8 catches more than the next man on the stat sheet, Devon Blackmon, who has 18. Mitch & Mitch have 7 TDs between them, accounting for all of the Cougars' touchdown passes. Quarterback Tanner Mangum is completing 60.5% of his passes, which is pretty good, but he does have 5 interceptions versus 6 TD passes. Half of his 101 receptions have gone to the M&M boys (51). If the ECU secondary can rise to the occasion against this two-man threat, the Pirates have a good chance of containing Mangum and the BYU offense.

FLIP THE SCRIPT

In its last two games, the ECU offense has stalled early and its defense has been on the field too much. The Pirates need to flip the script this week. Scoring spurts of the type that brought the Pirates from behind that last two weeks are not a given against BYU, which is giving up 24 points per game. With that in mind, ECU will need to value each possession and take advantage of every opportunity to put points on the scoreboard. Defensively, the Pirates must contain a balanced BYU attack averaging 117 rushing yards, 270 passing yards and 24 points per game .

BOTTOM LINE

This is a big game for both teams. The Cougars were the darlings of the nation after winning their first two games – over Nebraska and Boise State – with last-minute heroics. The good fortune didn't hold up in a close loss at UCLA and a blowout by Michigan in the Big House. BYU reversed the trend last week with a nice win over Connecticut.

ECU has had a similar yo-yo start to the season. The open questions are which team will show up tonight for the Pirates and which team will show up for the Cougars.

If ECU takes care of the ball offensively, takes the Mitches out of the game defensively and establishes an early lead, it will have a very good chance to win this game.

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PAGE UPDATED 10/10/15 02:33 PM.