PRE-GAME ANALYSIS
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Keys to the
Game
Friday,
October 12, 2012
By Kevin Monroe |
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For the seventh
straight year,
Kevin Monroe, color analyst for the Pirate
ISP Sports Radio Network, provides �Kevin�s
Keys to The Game.� In 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).
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ECU vs. Memphis
Saturday, Oct. 13, 2012 � 4:30 pm
Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium (cap. 50,000)
TV: WITN / CSS
By
Kevin Monroe
�2012 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
View the Mobile Alpha version of this page.
East
Carolina can defeat Memphis on Saturday if it performs well in these
key aspects of the game:
ATTACK,
ATTACK, ATTACK
The Pirates came out fighting last Thursday against Central
Florida, taking the opening drive of the game and marching right down field
for a touchdown. They had a very good mix of run and pass and kept the UCF
defense off balance. Defensively, on UCF's subsequent possession, ECU held
the Knights to 4 plays and a punt. The Pirates then scored on a 76-yard TD
Pass from Shane Carden to Justin Hardy. After that touchdown, the Knights
struck back as Quincy McDuffie
returned the
kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown that changed the momentum. Everything
started to go downhill from there. ECU attacked early, then relented early.
The Pirates need to start the same way against Memphis but continue coming
at the Tigers all game long. Memphis is giving up 30 points per game to its
opponents with over half of those points coming in the first half.
CONTROL THAT LINE
This game will be won up front. The Pirates need to impose their will upon
the offensive and defensive lines of Memphis. The Tigers are giving up 188
yards rushing per game. ECU needs to go right at the Tigers in the trenches
and establish the run early. On the defensive line, Memphis runs a 3-4 that
averages only about 270 pounds across that front. The Tigers have been moved
around some through the early part of the season. Memphis has a veteran
offensive line of mostly juniors and seniors and is averaging 130 yards
rushing per game. The Pirates have been good against the run this season,
but took a step back last week in Orlando. ECU has had nine days to fix
those problems and should be ready to perform on Saturday against the
committee of running backs used by the Tigers.
GAIN
THE TURNOVER ADVANTAGE
The
Pirates have to take care of the football Saturday and also take the ball
away. The Memphis quarterbacks have only thrown one interception in 125 pass
attempts through the first five games, but they have fumbled 16 times,
losing 8 of them. ECU needs to go aggressively after the ball against this
Memphis team that is putting it on the ground more than 3 times per game. In
a game like this, the team that wins the turnover battle will usually come
away with the win.
BOTTOM LINE
This is a
big game for East Carolina. Coming off
last week's tough Conference USA loss,
the Pirates can�t afford to lose anymore league games if they want to stay
in the hunt for the C-USA championship. Memphis is 1-0 in the conference
after its win over Rice last week and will be hungry to improve that mark to
2-0. ECU needs to come out firing on all cylinders early, continue to attack
the Tigers all game long and control the offensive and defensive lines of
scrimmage. If the Pirates can win the battles up front and take care of the
football, they should should win this football game.
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10/12/2012 01:45:18 AM
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