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BAILEY'S TAKE
ON PIRATE SPORTS
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From the Anchor Desk
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
By Brian Bailey |
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Underdog faces
juggernaut
By
Brian Bailey
©2008 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
East Carolina coach Skip
Holtz looks at the
numbers and says this is
certainly a “David vs.
Goliath” matchup for the
Conference USA
championship.
Tulsa is 10-2 on the
season while the Pirates
are 8-4. The Golden
Hurricane is one of the
most powerful offensive
machines in the country.
Tulsa scores points at a
dizzying clip, averaging
just under 50 points per
game.
“Last week (vs.
Texas-El Paso)
we had 477 yards of
total offense and
thought we were really
doing something,” said
Holtz. “Tulsa AVERAGES
580 yards of offense.
Tulsa also leads the
nation in third down
efficiency, converting
nearly 60 percent of the
time.
"This will be a
tremendous challenge for
sure.”
The old adage goes that
figures lie and liars
figure.
These numbers are
startling. Tulsa ranks
first in the nation in
scoring offense, first
in pass efficiency,
second in scoring
offense and third in
first downs.
The Golden Hurricane has
had a weaker schedule
then East Carolina.
Tulsa's strength of
schedule is pretty much
at the opposite end from
those gaudy numbers on
offense.
The challenge of
stopping such a lethal
attack falls in the
hands of Pirate
defensive coordinator
Greg Hudson. Hudson also
knows the challenge that
lies ahead.
“That’s a good question,
because nobody has done
it,” said Hudson about
his unit's game plan.
“We will just prepare
the same way we’ve done
it all year. We look at
negative plays, plays
under five yards and
what teams have done to
put them in that
position.
"Unfortunately, most of
those types of plays
have been incomplete
passes, which is self
inflicted. You work on
the things that you’ve
seen other teams do
well, and then you do
the things you know that
you can do. You have to
try and eliminate
mistakes before they
happen.”
Hudson has seen his
share of injuries on his
side of the ball. Pierre
Bell will be back this
week for sure, which
will certainly help.
Hudson also likes the
way this defense is
playing with confidence.
“The guys aren’t
confused,” said Hudson.
“That’s a good thing.
We’ve got some young
kids out there but we’ve
given them very little
to try and focus on. The
older guys have really
stepped up their play to
fill in those gaps.”
Most of the attention on
Tulsa focuses on the
offense, but look out
for the Golden Hurricane
defense. Tulsa is sixth
in the nation in sacks,
averaging three per
game.
“That’s one of the
problems against a team
like Tulsa,” explained
Holtz. “They do a good
job in stopping the run,
so it’s hard for a team
to control the game on
offense and keep that
high powered attack off
the field.”
Tulsa goes into the game
as a 13-point favorite.
A win sends East
Carolina to the Liberty
Bowl. A loss in the
title game, and the
Pirates' destination
could literally be
anywhere. There is one
scenario where the GMAC
Bowl in Mobile may ask
out of its C-USA
commitment to try and
get Ball State to play
Boise State in a battle
of unbeatens.
The GMAC Bowl normally
gets the second pick
from Conference USA, and
the early thought was
that it might take
Houston.
I found my old Peach
Bowl Christmas ornament
this weekend when I put
my tree up. That came
from the 1991 season and
has to be a true
collector’s item. I also
remembered that I bought
a couple of ornaments
last year at the bowl
game, and
now I have a “Mele
Kalikimaka” (Merry
Christmas) ornament on
my tree.
I never did get an
ornament from those two
trips to Memphis in the
mid-'90’s.
Here’s hoping for a
Pirate win this week. A
conference title, a trip
to the Liberty Bowl and
an Elvis Christmas
ornament — now that’s a
list for Santa!
BB
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12/02/2008 12:50:49 AM |
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