By Denny O'Brien
©2010 Bonesville.net
All Rights Reserved.

With East Carolina trailing Navy 62-28 and 11:16 remaining, it was a good opportunity for head coach Ruffin McNeill to get some reps for backup quarterback Brad Wornick. Ditto for a few others buried on the depth chart.

At least you would think.

But instead of wholesale subbing, East Carolina played its starters long after Saturday's game was out of reach. Starting quarterback Dominique Davis, who finished with a career best 413 yards passing and five touchdowns, even played until the final gun.

The reason? The ECU staff wanted to emphasize a don't-quit attitude regardless of the scoreboard.

“I tell them to keep fighting until the end,” McNeill said. “I didn't want to throw in the flag. I want to keep fighting.”

To some degree, you can certainly admire the sentiment. You never want your team to surrender, and an investment in competing for 60 minutes is a major commitment that you want to adopt.

But in this scenario, the decision to leave first team players on the field made little sense on many fronts.

For starters, the move carelessly risked the potential for injury. When you are trailing by five or six touchdowns in the final quarter — and showing no signs of stopping the opponent — there is no chance of mounting a comeback.

So why run the risk of derailing the season of a key contributor?

Had Dominique Davis or Dwayne Harris — who was already struggling to stay afoot after suffering a lower back contusion in the first half — needlessly taken a shot to the knee, it could have put the Pirates' season on life support. With three important Conference USA games remaining, there was a lot more for ECU to play for than salvaging some of its pride during the fourth quarter of a blowout.

Harris himself stated following the game that the injury was the worst pain he felt since breaking his foot against Southern Miss in 2008. So why make him suffer through a meaningless period (he caught a pass with under eight minutes to play) when he could have gotten a head start on his recovery?

That would have been valuable considering the Pirates tee it up again at UAB on Thursday. Given the quick turnaround, it also would have been valuable for the rest of ECU's starters, not to mention those subs who rarely play.

At some point, the Pirates might need Wornick to step in during the critical stage of a game. And so far, his only legitimate game experience occurred during the late stages of the win over Marshall.

It's difficult to criticize a coaching staff that has, for the most part, surpassed expectations to date. That statement is further magnified by the fact that Coach Ruff is so beloved by the Pirate Nation.

Even so, the rationale for keeping the Pirates' marquee players in the game Saturday seems flawed. Especially when you consider that it needlessly risked the potential for injury.

Turning point

Turnovers in each of the Pirates' first three possessions of the second half put the game away Saturday. But the turning point in momentum occurred just before intermission.

After the Pirates clawed their way back even at 21 apiece, Navy had the ball with under three minutes to play. On most occasions, that's not enough time for that type of offense to drive the length of the field.

But with a shade over two minutes remaining, the Midshipmen got the help they needed, a timeout by East Carolina on 3rd and short. That stopped the clock and also allowed Navy to collect itself and make the right call.

The immediate result was a fullback dive that covered 45 yards. That was soon followed by a Navy touchdown and a complete shift in momentum heading into the break.

ECU's thinking was to make a stop, get the ball, and score quickly before the half. In hindsight, perhaps the Pirates should have been content with a halftime deadlock.

Approaching history

Thursday could prove a special night for Davis. A good outing against UAB and he will surpass a couple of former ECU great Jeff Blake's single season passing records.

After nine games, Davis has thrown for 2,746 yards and 26 touchdowns. That puts him only 327 yards and two scores behind Blake.

Though Davis has yet to even complete a full season at ECU, he already ranks 9th on the Pirates' career passing list. Not bad for a quarterback who had only a month to learn the system.