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Game
Slants
Saturday, December 22, 2012
By Denny O'Brien |
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Defense needs overhaul
By
Denny O'Brien
©2012 Bonesville.net
All Rights Reserved.
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NEW ORLEANS — If East Carolina
coach Ruffin McNeill needed a reminder of his program’s most pressing need,
he got a sobering one Saturday.
It came in the form of a
Louisiana-Lafayette offense that thoroughly worked his defense over in
a 43-34 R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl loss,
much like many of the Pirates’ opponents did during the regular season.
Truthfully, any belief that
ECU would suddenly make a defensive about face in four weeks was
unrealistic. There were simply too many issues in need of patching to
possibly contain within a month.
And Ragin’ Cajuns Coach Mark
Hudspeth knew the scouting report.
“Obviously, when you watch
film, you always think there’s a couple of things that you can try to do
that you want to go to,” Hudspeth said. “We thought we could throw the deep
ball and get behind them.
“We felt like we could run the
football. We did get a good push. The zone read was working really (well)
with Terrance (Broadway). And then in the passing game we thought we could
get behind them for a play or two.”
It seemed like ten or 11. And
when you add all 77 offensive plays together, ULL finished with an
impressive — but not surprising — 591 yards.
Many of them came from Cajuns
quarterback Terrance Broadway, who threw for 316 yards and rushed for 108
more. He completed passes to nine different receivers, many of whom were
given five and six-yard cushions.
When the Cajuns ran the zone
read, it was often met with confusion by a Pirates defense that had
difficulty following the ball. That led to several long gains by Broadway
and by running back Alonzo Harris, who finished with 120 yards and two
scores.
You might say that ULL’s
balanced attack was the perfect poison for ECU. Then again, almost any
offense the Pirates faced this season was.
During the course of the 2012
season, there wasn’t an offensive style the Pirates didn’t face. Be it one
of the many variations of the spread or the triple option, there hasn’t been
much the Pirates’ 3-4 schemes have been able to stop.
“It’s always a work in
progress,” McNeill said. “I think you’ve seen the benefits to going to the
3-4. I think you see the kids really understanding their role within the
defense. I like the way the defense has installed and is advancing.
"It could be better and should
be better once the offseason begins. Because now they will have heard the
same calls and faced the same looks over again. I’m pleased with the way we
are heading. We’ll keep looking and evaluating and see how we can make it
better.”
When asked, McNeill was wise
to not directly address the status of defensive coordinator Brian Mitchell.
Emotions are never a good driving force for making decisions that
strategically affect the direction of your program.
But at the same time, McNeill
clearly needs to spend time in careful reflection of his defense’s
performance and seriously consider the changes that will drive improvement.
If there are better coordinators available who he confidently feels can
reverse the Pirates’ fortunes, that can’t be dismissed.
It certainly won’t be easy for
a head coach who has strong relationships with his staff and clearly values
loyalty. Though a good quality for a head coach to possess, it can’t
overshadow the willingness to make difficult personnel decisions that are
necessary to advance the program.
What’s clear is that East
Carolina needs a change in its defensive course. That needs to occur with an
upgrade to personnel — especially in the secondary — and revised schemes
that better position those players for success.
The pressing question for
McNeill is whether or not Mitchell is the right coach to coordinate those
improvements.
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12/22/2012 10:07:05 PM |
