By
Al Myatt
©2013 Bonesville.net
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Florida International coach Ron Turner has been an
assistant for a number of NFL teams in addition to being a successful
college head coach at Illinois. His brother, Norv, currently offensive
coordinator for the Cleveland Browns, has been a head coach for the
Washington Redskins, Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers.
When East Carolina coach Ruffin McNeill talks about
Turner putting his imprint on the Panthers program, understandably it is
with a pro style offense.
The Pirates (5-2, 3-1 Conference USA) meet FIU (1-6, 1-2)
in Miami at 6 p.m. Saturday.
"He's implementing his personality into FIU with a
pro-style offense, four down linemen and a multiple defense with
even-type fronts, which have a lot of movement, stunting and blitzing,"
McNeill said. "He's trying to convert FIU from more of a
quarterback-running, zone-read type offense to what he wants as far as
the pro style. He has open sets, but he has more closed sets than we've
seen this year with dual tight ends, two (running) backs, wings and
trying to out-leverage you and gain advantages by personnel and
formations."
It might be good that ECU has had two weeks to prepare
since
a 55-14 win over Southern Miss
on Oct. 19.
Turner, who became the Panthers coach in January, might
have forced some adjustments in ECU's defensive game plan by making a
quarterback change this week.
Junior Jake Medlock has been benched after an
unproductive performance in a 23-7 loss to visiting Louisiana Tech, Skip
Holtz's new program, last week. Medlock went 11 for 26 for 128 yards
with one touchdown and a pair of picks.
Sophomore E.J. Hilliard, who played at Northwestern High
School in Miami, will get his chance against ECU.
Medlock has completed 63 of 125 passes for 821 yards with
six interceptions and four TDs for the season. Hilliard's 2013 numbers
include 22 completions in 35 attempts for 195 yards with two TDs and one
interception.
Turner defined his goals for Hilliard in terms of what he
doesn't want him to do.
"Turn the ball over," said the FIU coach. "I just want
him to go out there and execute the offense. Play within himself, have
great eye discipline, run the offense the way it is supposed to be run.
"He’s done a good job of that. He’s had a good week of
practice. He has had several good weeks of practice leading into it.
That’s why we made the move — give him an opportunity to show what he
can do.
'He’s had a great attitude. He’s worked hard. He has a
really good grasp of the offense, but now he has to take that to game
day. I do not expect him to play perfect. I don’t ever expect him to
play perfect, but I expect him to run the offense, have great eye
discipline, great technique and fundamentals."
Turner wouldn't go there when asked if Medlock might see
action should things turn sour for the former backup.
"I don’t know," he said of Hilliard. "He’s the starter.
He’s playing. " ... He’s going to go out there and do a good job. He’s
going to execute. The team around him is going to execute.
"We still have a lot of confidence in Jake Medlock. He is
still a very good player.
"I just thought it was
time to give E.J. a shot and see what he can do."
The situation is not
without worrisome precedent for the Pirates, who have had their
struggles against backup quarterbacks over the years.
The most recent of those
was Devin Powell at Tulane on Oct. 12. Powell stepped in for Nick
Montana, who was banged up, and responded by connecting on 23 of 39
passes for 224 yards and two scores with one interception in
a 36-33 triple overtime win over ECU
in the Superdome. Powell played exclusively last week in a 14-7 Green
Wave win over Tulsa.
There were also
developments this week with ECU's own backup QB as Cody Keith has been
shelved with elbow problems.
McNeill said true
freshman Kurt Benkert has been promoted from the scout team.
McNeill and offensive
coordinator Lincoln Riley have discussed taking the redshirt off Benkert,
who is from Cape Coral, FL.
Like Tulane, there won't
be a large crowd this week. The Panthers drew 13,389 last week, although
there are several promotions going for the ECU game.
Alfonso Field at FIU
Stadium seats 20,000.
The Pirates
moved into first place in the C-USA East
Division with Middle Tennessee's 51-49 win over Marshall
last week.
McNeill has not been to
the FIU facility, which features synthetic turf, although he used to
recruit the area when he was on staff at Appalachian State years ago.
A good showing Saturday
would obviously be an enhancement for offensive line coach Brandon Jones
and Riley, who recruit the Miami area for ECU.
Defensive coordinator
Rick Smith has Tampa and the panhandle of the Sunshine State.
The family of McNeill's
older daughter, Renata, resides in Fort Lauderdale.
"We've got to be ready
to play," McNeill said. "We know it's a big game because it's a chance
for us to advance in our division. ... I know Coach Turner is a good
football coach. He's installing his package like we had to do our first
year. He's playing with guys learning the system, learning the program,
but we have to worry about ourselves, making sure we execute properly,
everybody doing their job.
"We need to make routine
plays. That's the biggest thing I've harped to our kids.
"We need to continue to
play fast and smart and confident, making sure we're always in the
attack mode and taking advantage of any opportunity that we can."
ECU
coach
Ruffin
McNeill
discussed
the
Pirates'
bye
week
and
looked
ahead
to
the
Florida
International
game:
