By
Denny O'Brien
©2009 Bonesville.net
All Rights Reserved.
Terry Holland has pulled
off his share of scheduling coups during his tenure as East Carolina’s
athletics CEO. Appalachian State doesn’t rank among of them.
In the high stakes sport
of college football, facing the cross-state Mountaineers is at best a
break-even bet. That, of course, is providing the Pirates soundly
throttle Appalachian the way a major college program should when it
faces a Football Championship Subdivision (I-AA) foe.
Any other scenario and ECU
doesn’t leave the table with even money.
When Holland struck the
deal with Appalachian AD Charlie Cobb, many – including me – questioned
the decision. Of all schools in the two subdivisions that comprise
Division I, the Mountaineers likely ranked among the lowest on the list
of opponents fans were clamoring to see in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
Much of that can be
attributed to the programs fans have grown accustomed to seeing on ECU’s
regular season schedule. During the Skip Holtz era, that has almost
exclusively included opponents from conferences that have automatic ties
to the Bowl Championship Series.
Navy stands as the lone
exception.
There is no denying that
there is some logic for scheduling App. With an opening on the schedule
– and the need to fill another home slot – the number of available
opponents to fill that slot almost exclusively included FCS foes in
search of a handsome paycheck.
And with Appalachian’s
expressed desire to play major in-state schools, the Mountaineers at the
very least had to be considered a candidate to include on the 2009
schedule.
By scheduling the
Mountaineers, Holland no doubt scored points with the North Carolina
politicos who several years ago assisted the Pirates with their own
quest to play in-state rivals. Holland also remained true to his
rhetoric that non-conference games between in-state foes make more
economic sense than entertaining random outposts from the Sun Belt
Conference or other lower-tier leagues.
Had Holland scheduled,
say, William & Mary, you can probably imagine the public outcry from
Boone. At the very least, Mountaineers faithful would have suggested
that East Carolina feared facing what they insist is actually the best
program in North Carolina.
Give Holland credit for
avoiding that annoying PR spin.
Even so, you have to admit
there is a side that makes you wonder if a little negative press would
have been a safer bet than playing App. Not that App should win – East
Carolina has serious problems if the Mountaineers do – but the Pirates
aren’t exactly in a position in which they can afford many high
risk-little reward scenarios.
ECU also isn’t quite yet
situated where it is ready to help fortify other in-state programs,
which is exactly what the season opener will do for Appalachian. It is
no stretch to think the ASU administration is using this game as the
ultimate litmus test for the Mountaineers’ readiness to make a major
jump in classification.
Forget beating Michigan.
While winning in the Big House made Appalachian visible on the football
map, a game against East Carolina represents even more opportunity with
potentially longer range benefits.
Play a competitive game
with the Pirates and who’s to say that Appalachian, not too far removed
from its FCS three-peat, won’t make the FBS leap and further flood the
market of in-state suitors seeking North Carolina’s major college
prospects?
Naturally it would be easy
to suggest that this is the same argument the North Carolina and N.C.
State camps used when debating the pros and cons of playing ECU. While I
firmly agree that neither school should be forced to play the Pirates,
comparing that debate with a game between ECU and App is like sizing up
a left tackle with a kicker.
For starters, neither the
Tar Heels nor the Wolfpack has nearly as much to lose in those games as
their fans suggest. For most of the past two decades, the Pirates, at
worst, have hovered around the same competitive plateau as their western
rivals and have done so without the same financial advantages.
The Pirates have been
favored in each of the past four games against either State or UNC-Chapel
Hill, and have had by far the most to lose in each of the last three
outings with State – two of which were upset wins by the Pack that few
saw coming.
Even so, had ECU pulled
off the clean sweep like it should have, you could argue that the
overall impact would have been marginal. It’s highly unlikely that those
games alone would have bumped the Pirates up to a BCS conference or
detoured throngs of recruits away from Chapel Hill or Raleigh.
When Appalachian rolls
into Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium next fall, it will do so with 22 fewer
scholarships, considerably less talent, but with full confidence that it
will depart Greenville with a victory. If East Carolina doesn’t take the
challenge seriously, there are a couple of scenarios in which that could
actually happen.
If it pulls off the upset,
it would mark one of the brightest days in ASU football history and one
of the darkest for ECU. Just imagine the punch line the Pirates could
become in the aftermath of such an outcome.
Despite what a thorough
evaluation of the pros and cons of scheduling App might reveal, it’s
certainly understandable why Holland invited the Mountaineers Down East.
It was a neighborly gesture that can’t hurt the ECU AD if he seeks
future games with N.C. State and North Carolina.
But there is absolutely no
immediate reward awaiting the Pirates when they host Appalachian. Only a
mountain-sized risk.