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BAILEY'S TAKE
ON PIRATE SPORTS
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From the Anchor Desk
Wednesday, October 7, 2008
By Brian Bailey |
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Black and blue vs.
Barnum & Bailey
By
Brian Bailey
©2009 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
Conference USA has
always had this weird
personality about it.
That’s what you get when
you mix the east and the
west. You get two
totally different ways
to play the same game.
"They're different, the
two divisions,” said
East Carolina coach Skip
Holtz. “When you look at
UCF, Marshall, Southern
Miss and Memphis, they
all have very physical
defenses. They are big,
strong, and physical and
try to play
lower-scoring games.
"These teams want to
control the ball, punt
it away, have great
special teams, play
solid defense and win
lower-scoring games."
The East Division of
Conference USA is
black-and-blue power
football. It’s three
yards and a cloud of
dust. It’s a no risk, no
frills formula.
It worked for East
Carolina last year and
so far it’s been pretty
successful after Pirate
wins over Central
Florida and Marshall.
The West Division of
Conference USA is more
like the circus. It’s a
high-flying, high-risk
attack that results in
hundreds of yards and
plenty of points.
Notice, there is no “d”
in West in more ways
then one.
Houston was ranked 12th
nationally and was in
discussions as a
possible BCS buster.
Enter Texas-El Paso, and
the Miners put almost 60
points on the board in a
58-41 victory.
One former ECU coach
used to call it
basketball on grass.
"When you go to the West
Division, it is full of
wide-open offenses,"
Holtz said at his weekly
media luncheon. "The
quarterbacks over there
with Houston's Case
Keenum, SMU's Mitchell
and UTEP's Trevor
Vittatoe are all very
impressive.
"They're much more wide
open on offense and
throwing the ball all
over the field. They're
scoring an awful lot of
points. It's almost like
two totally different
leagues. It's definitely
more pass-happy in the
West."
It’s like bar-b-cue. The
gourmet treat that we
get in Greenville is
much different than that
stuff out west. Still,
it’s all bar-b-cue,
isn’t it?
It’s the same way with
football. It’s the same
game, but it’s certainly
a different way to play
it. There are certainly
different styles, but
Conference USA is the
only conference in the
nation where the
football is so different
in the respective
divisions.
This week, the Pirates
get a big taste of the
West Division of
Conference USA with the
trip to Southern
Methodist.
The Mustangs are coached
by June Jones, who
turned the University of
Hawaii into a
high-scoring football
power.
Jones is off to a good
start in his second year
at SMU. His club has
already doubled its win
total of a year ago. At
2-2, Jones and the
Ponies will throw the
football all over the
corral.
"It's going to be a
challenge for our
defense this week,” said
Holtz. “SMU is going to
be totally different
from anything we've
played so far this
season. The difference
is the space SMU,
Houston or UTEP puts you
in. They make you defend
the entire field,
sideline to sideline.
They're going to score a
lot of points.”
It comes down to East
vs. West. Will it be a
vinegar sauce or a red
sauce for the bar-b-cue?
"It's going to be about
which team's will is
going to be forced,"
said Holtz. "They have
been a very active
defense; we have been a
very stagnant defense.
We have to keep the ball
in front of us.
"That's one of the neat
match-ups when the East
Division teams play the
West Division teams.
It's about who is going
to step up. Is it going
to be the West's offense
or the East's defense?"
It’s a Saturday night
rodeo at the SMU Corral
for the Pirates. It
should be a night full
of fireworks as East
meets West in Conference
USA.
BB
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Brian Bailey.
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