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Game No. 8: UCF 49, East Carolina 35 |
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Game
Slants
Saturday, October 30, 2010
By Denny O'Brien |
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UCF takes skirmish, bigger
battle rages on
By
Denny O'Brien
©2010 Bonesville.net
All Rights Reserved.
ORLANDO Maybe one day East
Carolina and Central Florida will find refuge in a BCS Automatic qualifier
conference. Perhaps they will even find it together.
That's one way to ensure the
longevity of this unfriendly rivalry while also increasing the stakes
between the two. At some point in the future, battles like UCF's 49-35 victory on Saturday
could help determine who represents their
league in Miami instead of Memphis.
Until then, a trip to the
Conference USA championship game and Liberty Bowl stands as the best
destination that either can realistically reach. And until that date
providing it ever comes ECU and UCF must settle for one-upping each other
in C-USA.
That essentially is the tone
that underscores this unique rivalry, one that extends far beyond the
scoreboard and C-USA standings. The relationship between ECU and UCF has
become an exercise in comparing the BCS qualifications found on each
school's resume.
About the only thing the
Knights seemed interested in comparing on Saturday was the number of visits
each would make to the end zone. That much was obvious from their first two
possessions, which resulted in two touchdowns and a 14-0 lead barely six
minutes into the game.
It set a physical tone and dug
a deep hole from which the Pirates did not emerge.
I thought their offense did a
great job up front on our defense, ECU coach Ruffin McNeill said. We
tried. It wasn't anything fancy that they were doing. It was just a matter
of us not getting off of blocks and making plays.
I told (defensive
coordinator) Brian (Mitchell), it's not the calls. It's the physical thing.
You can do anything you want to, but it comes down to, in coaches' language,
somebody has got to whip somebody on each play.
On a sunny afternoon in Bright
House Networks Stadium, UCF running back Ronnie Weaver sure did his share of
the whooping. He ran around, through, and over trampled Pirates en route to
a 180-yard, two-touchdown day.
Weaver was the featured
workhorse in an offensive game plan that was designed to consume clock and
limit ECU's possessions. At one point the Knights were so incredibly
balanced and efficient that their first four drives resulted in 122 yards
rushing, 122 passing, and four touchdowns.
The normally mediocre Knights
offense looked like one of the nation's most proficient against the Pirates.
UCF's brawny offensive line bullied the Pirates' smaller defensive front for
the bulk of this humbling afternoon.
We just didn't execute, ECU
linebacker Dustin Lineback said. It's plain and simple. The defense as a
whole, all 11 of us out there didn't execute the plays that were called.
I give a lot of credit to UCF.
They are a great football team and are well-coached and athletic. They
challenged us by running the ball down our throats.
As a result, the Knights
firmly control their own destiny and are now the clear favorites in C-USA.
In the bigger picture, the war
between East Carolina and Central Florida will extend beyond Saturday and
perhaps into board rooms and onto Internet message boards. There it will be
conducted by men in suits and fans with keyboards.
School and athletics
administrators will focus mostly on the reasons why their program is the
most qualified for BCS-AQ inclusion. The technology-armored fans will
concentrate on how the other is not.
In both cases, historical
success, geography, TV market size, stadium structure, and attendance will
be the topics of discussion. It's the type of verbal tug-of-war that has
added flare to this series.
UCF's offense added some
competitive flare as the Knights notched their second win ever over the
Pirates. In a game billed as the most significant in stadium history
though you wouldn't have known it from the actual attendance the Knights
shrunk the Pirates' commanding series lead to 8-2.
Despite the Knights win, you
have to wonder if their overall lack of success will continue to be a
punchline during sparring matches between fans. My guess is probably so.
That's what's so interesting
about the ECU-UCF rivalry. Historically, it has seemed much more competitive
off the field than on.
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10/31/2010 02:13:21 AM |
