PRE-GAME ANALYSIS
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Keys to the
Game
Friday,
November 18, 2011
By Kevin Monroe |
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East Carolina vs. Central Florida
Saturday, Nov. 19, 2011 • 7 p.m.
Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium (50,000), Greenville, NC
Television: Fox SportsNet
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For the sixth
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). |
©2011 Bonesville.net
All Rights Reserved.
East
Carolina can defeat Central Florida Saturday night if it achieves these key objectives:
DITCH
THE MISTAKES
|
C-USA Standings |
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(Through games of 11.17.11) |
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|
East
Division |
|
SCHOOL |
C-USA |
ALL |
|
USM
Marshall
ECU
UAB
UCF
Memphis |
5-2
4-3
3-3
3-5
2-4
1-6 |
9-2
5-6
4-6
3-8
4-6
2-9 |
|
|
West
Division |
|
SCHOOL |
C-USA |
ALL |
|
Houston
Tulsa
SMU
UTEP
Rice
Tulane |
6-0
6-0
4-2
2-4
2-4
1-6 |
10-0
7-3
6-4
5-5
3-7
2-9 |
|
|
|
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The Pirates will face a solid team in Central Florida. The thing that has
really hurt East Carolina lately is untimely mistakes. Those miscues include
poor decisions from the quarterback position that lead to interceptions, or
poor ball security that leads to fumbles. There have also been errors in the
kicking game.
Against Southern Miss, a low punt
was returned for a touchdown and a breakdown in punt protection led to a
blocked punt. Those types of mistakes have been the difference between
losing and winning a few times this season. It’s a lot to ask for a team to
be mistake free, but it’s not too much to ask that mental mistakes be
eliminated.
CONTAIN THE
QUARTERBACKS
Central Florida's two young quarterbacks can both run and throw. They are
completing about 70 percent of their passes. Sophomore QB Jeff Godfrey is
the starter and is extremely talented. Godfrey was the best freshman in the
conference last season. He can beat you with his arm, averaging 175 yards
per game, but he is also the second leading rusher on the team, averaging 39
yards rushing and 4.1 per carry. Freshman QB Blake Bortles is not as big a
threat to run but is more accurate with his arm than Godfrey and took the
team down the field late in the game last week against Southern Miss and
almost picked up the victory. These quarterbacks will be two of the better
quarterbacks that ECU will have faced this year. Assignment and alignment
football will be very important to get this victory.
EXECUTE
UP FRONT
East
Carolina hasn't
started the same offensive line in two straight games this season. Right
guard Will Simmons is the only lineman to start every game. Every other
lineman has missed a game because of injury and/or had to move to a
different position because of injury. Because of the attrition and
shuffling, there has been very little consistency in offensive line play.
Quarterback Dominique Davis has suffered because of it, not having as much
time as he would like to make his reads and complete passes. The running
backs have also experienced negative effects because the holes that were
there in week one aren’t as easy to come by in recent weeks. Central Florida
has one of the best defensive front fours in the conference. The game will
be won or lost based on how the Pirates' offensive line plays.
BOTTOM LINE
The
Pirates have gone to five straight bowl games. They have to win both of
their last two games in order to take the streak to six. Central Florida is
in the same boat, sitting at 4-6 with two games remaining, so the Knights
will will be very hungry to win this game on ECU's home turf. It will take a
total team effort by East Carolina on offense, defense and special teams to
prevail. The Pirates will also need to be positive in the turnover margin,
getting a couple of takeaways while minimizing their own mistakes.
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11/18/2011 05:34:02 AM
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