Inside
Game Day Friday,
October 30, 2015
By Al Myatt |
|
Friday night loss hard to
figure
Al Myatt
©2015 Bonesville.net
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EAST HARTFORD, CT
—
What happened to East Carolina at Connecticut on Friday night?
Maybe
the loss to Temple beat the Pirates
again.
Coach Ruffin McNeill
acknowledged that the physicality of last Thursday night's 24-14 home
setback was a factor going forward.
Perhaps the loss to the Owls
took away confidence and left ECU flat.
Maybe the incentive to win the
American Athletic Conference East Division was missing.
Connecticut, quarterbacked by
N.C. State transfer Bryant Shirreffs, was ready to seize the opportunities
that the Pirates presented, including four interceptions.
Maybe it was too cold for ECU
to play its best. Maybe the role of the underdog inspired the Huskies, as it
has so many times for the Pirates.
ECU's game-long search for
offense led to a 31-13 loss to the Huskies at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at
Rentschler Field.
The offense struggled to
overcome penalties and turnovers. The defense gave up big plays, like a
90-yard touchdown run by Arkeel Newsome, who carried 25 times for 179 yards
with two scores.
UConn converted seven of 14
first downs. The Pirates converted five of 15. ECU went for it three times
on fourth down and was successful once.
There was little to sugar coat
a decisive defeat from a team that came in at 3-5 on the season and 1-3 in
the league.
ECU (4-5, 2-3) even had the
extra point blocked after its first touchdown.
The question going forward is
whether the Pirate ship is taking on water and sinking or are the season and
a bowl trip salvageable?
ECU needs to win two of its
four remaining games to become eligible for a postseason trip.
McNeill cited the value of
being home next Saturday (7:30 p.m. vs. South Florida) in terms of having a
routine game week for a change.
This wasn't Florida, Navy,
Brigham Young or Temple, who have a combined 24-4 record with losses to some
nationally-elite teams. UConn had lost five of its last six, but the Huskies
played great in some new gray uniforms.
The Pirates showed some life in
completing a 49-yard drive with a 2-yard scoring run by Blake Kemp to pull
within 24-13 with 9:25 left in the game.
UConn answered with a 66-yard
scoring march capped by a 3-yard run by Shirreffs, who was flipped into the
end zone by the Pirate pursuit.
The Pirates were in trouble
after a 23-yard scoring pass by Shirreffs to tight end Alec Bloom gave the
Huskies a 17-6 lead with 3:38 left in the third quarter.
Going into the fourth quarter,
ECU's offense had not scored a point since late in the first half of the
preceding game against Temple. The Pirates played James Summers most of the
way at quarterback at UConn until Kemp came in late.
Summers ran and came up short
on a fourth down that preceded UConn's Shirreffs to Bloom scoring
connection.
UConn muffed a punt catch but
recovered at its own 10 and went ahead 24-6 on the next play, the 90-yard
touchdown run by Newsome with 1:51 left in the third quarter.
When Kemp came in late in the
third quarter, the problems continued as his second pass was picked off.
Kemp finished seven for 11 for 50 yards with three picks.
Summers was 12 for 21 for 87
yards with one interception.
"Definitely, lack of
execution," Summers said. " ... You can only get better. Getting worse is
not an option. ... We've got to stick together. The team knows that and
we're going to get better. We've got to get better."
Summers didn't totally slight
UConn's role in the stunning outcome.
"They played well," said the
Pirates quarterback. "They played fast out there on the field. They're
well-disciplined. When you're disciplined and know your spot, you're already
there."
One bright spot was the return
of Marquez Grayson, who ran nine times for 87 yards for ECU. Chris Hairston
had 12 carries for 67 yards.
Isaiah Jones led the receivers
with nine catches for 85 yards.
The Huskies led 10-6 at the
half. The Pirates took the initial lead on a 32-yard interception return by
DaShawn Amos with 5:15 left in the first quarter.
Bobby Plowman's extra-point
attempt was blocked.
UConn got within 6-3 with 22
seconds left in the opening period as Bobby Puyol hit a 45-yard field goal.
The Huskies drove 94 yards in
12 plays to take the lead on a 2-yard carry by Newsome with 7:44 remaining
in the half after a pass interference call on the Pirates' Josh Hawkins
moved the ball from the ECU 10-yard line to the Pirates 2.
The Pirates had a 157-138 lead
in total yardage in the first 30 minutes. The Huskies led 404-340 for the
game.
"The first half I thought we
needed some answers from our offense," McNeill said. "I thought our defense
played extremely well in the first half."
Matters obviously got out of
hand for ECU in the second half.
"You can't turn the ball over,"
McNeill said. "I thought we had some opportunities for some makes there
early."
E-mail Al Myatt.
PAGE UPDATED
11/01/15 12:29 AM.
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