PRE-GAME ANALYSIS
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Keys to the
Game
Friday,
October 22, 2010
By Kevin Monroe |
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East Carolina vs. Marshall
Saturday, Oct. 23, 2010, 4:15 p.m.; TV:
WITN/CSS
Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, Greenville, NC
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For the fifth
straight year, Kevin Monroe, color analyst for the Pirate ISP Sports
Radio Network, provides “Kevin’s Keys to The Game,”
his weekly breakdown of what East Carolina must do to beat its
upcoming opponent.
Monroe brings a unique perspective to the task as a
member of the broadcast team and as a former star defensive
back for the Pirates (1995-99). |
©2010 Bonesville.net
All Rights Reserved.
East
Carolina can defeat Marshall if it prevails in these key areas
of the game:
Be on Upset Alert
East
Carolina
survived a tough battle last Saturday against N.C. State. The Wolfpack was
favored and maybe even more talented, but the Pirates played harder and
wanted it more. The amount of energy expensed on that game was immense, but
the game's measure of importance as it pertains to Conference USA was zero.
Here we sit a week later with a conference game ready to be kicked off, and
Marshall wants nothing more than to knock off the reigning back-to-back
conference champs. This game is the
ultimate trap game. The Thundering
Herd is 1-5 and has struggled this season. None of that matters if the
Pirates don’t come out with sustained intensity and play for four quarters
and 60 minutes as they did the last two weeks
against State and
Southern Miss. The Herd had West
Virginia on the ropes and was one turnover and two minutes from their first
ever win against the Mountaineers. Marshall has the talent to beat East
Carolina if it executes well and the Pirates underachieve.
Protect
the Football
I know
this key seems to get overused, but its importance can't be ignored. For the
life of me, I can’t understand how the Pirates beat a team as talented as
North Carolina State after fumbling the ball away four times. Prior to the
Southern Miss game, quarterback Dominique Davis had been struggling to make
the right throws in certain situations and those incorrect choices led to a
number of interceptions in the
North Carolina and
Virginia Tech games. Taking care of
the football needs to become routine for ECU if its wants to keep alive its
drive for a third straight C-USA championship. The Thundering Herd is
negative three in the turnover battle this season.
Clean Up the Basics
The
Pirates were better last week versus N.C. State, but penalties and mistakes
have been critical in each game. Just last week, East Carolina had two
interceptions overturned because of penalties. One was for pass interference
and the other for roughing the passer. Those are mistakes that keep drives
alive for the other team. So far this season the Pirates have 55 penalties
for 477 yards — through six games, that’s about 9 penalties and 80 penalty
yards per game. Coach Ruffin McNeill is always talking about getting back to
the basics and playing disciplined football. Mental mistakes have come in
the form of blown blocking assignments and missed coverages in the secondary.
THE
BOTTOM LINE
East Carolina, at 4-2 overall and 3-0 in the conference, is the more talented team in this game, but Marshall will be
hungry. It has its back against the wall. The Herd (1-5, 0-2) can either give
up or come out fighting. Each time ECU commits a mental mistake or gives up
a turnover, Marshall will get a surge of adrenalin and a confidence boost. The Pirate defense grew
up in the Southern Miss game and played well versus N.C. State. That trend
needs to continue on Saturday. The ECU running game has been spotty over the
last two weeks — both Jonathan Williams and Giavanni Ruffin gave up fumbles
to the Wolfpack. An efficient running game really opens things up for the
passing attach, so the Pirates need to get it going on Saturday.
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Kevin Monroe.
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10/22/2010 06:43:07 AM
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