By Denny O'Brien
©2012 Bonesville.net
All Rights Reserved.

GREENVILLE — Maybe a stadium-clearing storm is just what the East Carolina offense needed.

Or maybe it was the presence of a Conference USA defense.

Whatever the catalyst, the ECU offense finally found its ignition switch, piecing together productive drives and piling up yardage by 10- and 20-yard chunks in a 28-18 win over Texas-El Paso.

After weeks of idling in neutral, the Pirates were in need of finding an offensive pulse, something to kick-start an otherwise dormant bunch.

And with the thick of the conference slate on deck, they couldn’t have picked a better time. Especially after last week’s offensive dud against North Carolina.

Though the final score hardly indicated an explosive offensive output, the relative progress of a unit that struggled through its first four games couldn’t be overlooked.

“It was very important,” Pirates Coach Ruffin McNeill said about the offensive productivity. “I think you’ll see Shane (Carden) get more comfortable and get faster with everything as he goes. One of the biggest things this week was no hesitation.

"We’ll continue to see guys developing around him. I thought we did a good job of running the football. It was good to get the offense going.”

No doubt, much of the Pirates’ offensive surge can be attributed to the establishment of a dependable running game. Vintavious Cooper provided much of that, gaining 154 yards on 23 carries, including a 24-yard jolt that that pushed the Pirates' lead to 28-10 with under five minutes remaining.

The nimble feet of quarterback Shane Carden delivered 63 more yards and two scores. Combined with 258 passing yards, Carden contributed 321 yards of total offense in only his third start for ECU.

At times Carden even approached his position as if he were a tailback in persistent search of the century mark.

“I want to fight for this team,” Carden said. “I feel like when I fight for those extra yards and the line sees that, they respect that. I think the rest of the team does. too.

“A lot of my running is coming off of other guys playing well. Cooper was running hard, which opens it up for me.”

While Carden is deflecting some of the credit, he might as well aim some of it at Lincoln Riley. East Carolina's offensive coordinator demonstrated more versatility in the playbook than we’ve witnessed in recent weeks, and his calls seemed to keep UTEP off balance.

The Pirates hardly resembled the exclusive Air Raid operation that was ushered into the program with the current coaching regime. At times Saturday night, ECU could have been more appropriately labeled the Run Raid, a dynamic rushing attack that amassed 217 yards and three scores against the Miners.

The Pirates did much of their work on a slippery field, amid a driving rainstorm, and after enduring a 90-minute weather delay. They did it with a healthy variety of plays, often turning to pages in the playbook that haven’t seen much light this year.

There were zone reads. Screens. Roll outs. Long passes.

The offensive line protected. Receivers got open. And Carden didn’t seem to hesitate as much as he did last week in Chapel Hill.

The end result was 475 yards and 28 points, an all-out explosion when compared to the Pirates’ first four games. It could have been much more had Carden not thrown two red zone interceptions.

If there is one criticism of the ECU offense, it is the trio of interceptions Carden threw in the course of the game. Perhaps some of that can be attributed to a slippery football and instructions from the staff to not hesitate on throws.

Even so, that’s an area of the ECU offense that needs cleaning up. A duplicate statistic next Thursday night at Central Florida could deliver a major setback in the Pirates’ Conference USA title quest.

For now, East Carolina can take satisfaction in its 2-0 C-USA start and the fact that it is in firm control of its postseason destiny. That’s a good position for ECU, and it wouldn’t be there without a resurgence from the offense.