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View from the East Thursday, November 1, 2012 By Al Myatt

ECU needs to make a run for it

By Al Myatt
©2012 Bonesville.net
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Examining the 56-28 loss to Navy shows that throwing on first down didn't work out for East Carolina. On the first play from scrimmage, ECU's Danny Webster dropped a pass in the left flat, setting a tone that kept the Pirates trying to make up ground the rest of the day.

Getting yardage on first down is vital because it takes the pressure off making a big play on the rest of the downs in the series. The initial drop led to a three and out.

The Midshipmen scored for a 7-0 lead in less than three minutes.

On the Pirates' second series, Shane Carden threw in the right flat to Justin Hardy, who made a diving grab for a loss of a yard. The Big East officiating crew called two penalties on the Pirates that series and another Trent Tignor punt ensued.

Navy then drove for a 14-0 lead. East Carolina did not have a first down at that point.

Running back Vintavious Cooper got the ball to start ECU's third possession and went ahead four yards. That's a modest gain but second-and-six is preferable to the previous situations of second-and-10 and second-and-11. The Pirates got some momentum going and scored to cut the lead to 14-7 on that series.

On ECU's fourth possession, Cooper opened the series by running up the middle for six yards and the Pirates drove for a tying score.

Navy answered to lead 21-14.

ECU began its fifth possession with a Carden pass to Cooper for five yards but the series was bogged down by a holding penalty and a sack, which resulted in no first down and another Tignor boomer.

The Midshipmen drove after taking the second half kickoff to lead 28-14. ECU lost a fumble on the ensuing kickoff and gave Navy a short field, which led to a 35-14 deficit.

Cooper ran to the right to start the next series and gained 12 yards. That possession led to a score.

The penultimate ECU possession started with Cooper running for no gain and then a pass was intercepted on second down. Another short field for the Midshipmen was converted into a touchdown on the next play.

On ECU's last series, Reggie Bullock ran for three yards on the first snap to start a 15-play drive completed by a five-yard run by Bullock. The Pirates ran four out of five times on first down in the series.

My calculations show that running on the first play of a possession led to all 28 ECU points. The Pirates were shut out on all four pass-first possessions.

I'm not saying that success is as simple as running on first down, but it seems to me that this offense is underachieving in terms of where its abilities and priorities lie.

ECU has a sophomore quarterback who had never taken a college snap before this season. Those calling the plays evaluated all through spring ball and preseason camp before making Rio Johnson the starter. That in retrospect doesn't indicate good judgment to me. Johnson has now slipped to third team.

I'll grant that maybe it took the heat of competition for the real leader to emerge.

I'd still like to see ECU develop more of a run-first mentality for several reasons. It would take some pressure off the relatively-inexperienced Carden. Cooper and Bullock are more experienced as running backs. If they can get good gains to start a set of downs, that takes some pressure off of Carden and that should be a consideration in the big picture of developing a quarterback.

I think ECU's offensive linemen would have welcomed the opportunity to bulldoze Navy's smaller defensive front on Saturday. Offensive linemen are defined in three ways when they are acknowledged at all — team rushing yardage, sacks allowed and their film grades from the coaches.

As it was, ECU averaged 4.4 yards per rush. That will keep the chains moving. Take the 29 yards from three sacks away from the rushing column when a pass was called and the Pirates averaged a very healthy 5.2 yards per play on the ground.

Take what the defense is giving you is what coaches have always told me. Do what your personnel will allow you to do is another well-known adage.

Conditions would have seemed to be another factor that would have favored fewer passes and more running. Rain brings more variables in opposition to the precision needed in the passing game.

It clicked with me as Navy's option produced 512 yards rushing Saturday that they really weren't doing anything different or better than what ECU did at one time when Pat Dye was coaching. The Pirates' ascent to major college football as an independent in 1977 came when ECU was running the dive, keep or pitch. That used to be ECU's identity.

So how did the Pirates style change? Skip Holtz certainly favored ball control when he was guiding ECU to Conference USA championships in 2008 and 2009.

When Ruffin McNeill became the Pirates' head coach in 2010, the Texas Tech offense came with him. The Red Raiders had refined the passing game under coach Mike Leach because they weren't going to control the line of scrimmage against the likes of Oklahoma and Texas in their conference.

I look at Lincoln Riley as an offensive coordinator at age 29 and I think he's still in the maturation process as a coach. When McNeill was 29, he was linebackers coach at Austin Peay. I think he would say he's learned a lot since then. I like Lincoln. I enjoyed our conversation this summer, but I think he's making things difficult on himself with play selection. Find what works until a defense stops it and don't think you have to conform to the cookie cutter that Coach Leach gave you.

Long story short: It seems ECU is doing what it's doing because Texas Tech couldn't run on Oklahoma.

I'm not sure that the "Air Raid" approach is what ECU needs in C-USA. Running the ball to set up the pass might be a new way of thinking for the current staff, but I think it would have worked last week with ECU's personnel, the opponent and the conditions.

"Offensively, I thought we beat ourselves," McNeill said Wednesday after reviewing the Navy tape. "I didn't think they stopped us, really."

McNeill also cited the inability to get off blocks defensively and make plays.

"We've got to coach better and we've got to play better," said the Pirates coach.

It's back to C-USA this week, a game ECU needs to keep its league title hopes realistic. Bowl eligibility would be a nice byproduct.

Houston presents a new challenge this week — different personnel, different scheme and, thankfully, better weather, according to the forecast.

Hopefully, it will be a more efficient Pirates offense and a different outcome. That certainly would make the upcoming bye week more bearable.

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11/01/2012 01:19 AM
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