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Game No. 2: ECU 49, Memphis 27 |
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Game
Slants
Saturday, September 11, 2010
By Denny O'Brien |
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Big gap between rivals for BCS
spot
By
Denny O'Brien
©2010 Bonesville.net
All Rights Reserved.
GREENVILLE — Perhaps Memphis
should abandon its quest to gain admission into a BCS automatic qualifier
conference. These days, the Tigers are better suited to compete with the
caliber of programs that comprise the Patriot League.
And that's not an exaggeration
given the ease with which East Carolina handled its Conference USA East
Division rival Saturday. Officially this one was recorded as a 49-27 victory
for the Pirates, but it just as easily could have ended with ECU hanging 63
or 70 on its flashy new scoreboard.
But regardless of whether the
Pirates scored 49 or 99, it was clear that the competitive gap between the
Pirates and Tigers has never been this wide or more evident. Even in a
transition year highlighted by unparalleled personnel turnover, East
Carolina beat Memphis by three scores while keeping its foot off the
throttle for nearly half of the game.
“I would give us a ‘B’
offensively,” Pirates offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley said. “I mean, we
had a lot of opportunities and we should have scored some more points.
“I think I did a poor job of
getting their intensity, their urgency up. Every time this year that our
guys have felt like they’ve had to score, we’ve scored. I think they felt
that, then they got a few there at the end. We felt like we needed to go
score then, and we did that on the last two drives.”
Seemingly at will.
On consecutive second half
drives, the Pirates methodically marched 80 and 71 yards while draining more
than ten minutes of valuable clock. Quarterback Dominique Davis carried much
of the load on the first drive, with running back Jonathan Williams taking
the lead role on the latter.
That, along with a furious
first quarter start for the Pirates, was more than enough to compensate for
the team's 3rd quarter hibernation.
“We were just trying to get a
fast jump,” Davis said. “We couldn’t make it a close game like we did last
week. Our main focus was tempo, and we had a great tempo in the first half.
“We got a little complacent.
We can’t do that when we play a team like Virginia Tech next week. We can’t
do that. If we’re up, we’ve got to stay up.”
If there is a lesson for East
Carolina to learn in this easy victory, that would be it. Though there are
several issues in need of ironing out, perhaps Davis nailed the biggest:
Despite the Pirates’ 2-0
record and impressive 50-points per game average, they haven’t quite reached
a level where they can afford to mentally shift into neutral.
It is clear, however, that ECU
has further separated itself from Memphis on the field, which was
accentuated by the ease with which it dismantled the Tigers Saturday.
Without even realizing they were doing so, the Pirates also sent a
resounding message about which program is better suited to compete in a BCS
AQ conference.
With conference realignment
still a hot topic — especially given the Big East’s reported invitation to
Villanova — the timing of the Pirates’ bludgeoning of Memphis certainly
didn’t hurt.
While there are certain
realignment factors outside of East Carolina’s control — namely the mythical
importance of television market size — there are many firmly within it. Most
notable is what the Pirates produce on the field, and you really like what
they have to sell.
The Pirates are the two-time
defending C-USA champions and, so far, are showing no signs of slowing down.
They have an exciting new offensive system that provided one of the more
memorable moments of the young season in a victory over Tulsa last week.
ECU has also improved what was
already an electric atmosphere at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium with a dramatic
makeover. It provides a true made-for-TV setting for an offensive philosophy
that is already a smash at the box office.
Memphis surely can’t claim
that. Neither can many of the schools fighting to get noticed by a BCS AQ
conference.
The general consensus among
many was that former ECU coach Skip Holtz’s exodus would initiate the
Pirates' descent back into the middle of pack in C-USA. Such a scenario
would almost guarantee declining ticket sales and perhaps make the Pirates
an afterthought in most realignment models.
Though we are only two games
into the Ruffin McNeill era, the Pirates are making it hard to ignore them.
If Big East officials have been watching, it should be plain to see that ECU
has plenty to offer.
And Memphis clearly doesn't.
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09/12/2010 06:00:26 AM |
