Even by East Carolina standards, Shane Carden is setting a torrid
pace. At a school with a long legacy of prolific quarterbacks,
Carden is carving a path towards the top of the ECU record books.
And he’s doing it with surgeon-like precision.
Through seven games, the Pirates quarterback is completing nearly
75% of his passes, which ranks him tops nationally. He already has
2,325 yards passing – good for an average of 332 yards per game –
and has 16 touchdown tosses against only five interceptions.
If he maintains his current pace, he will finish the regular season
with nearly 4,000 yards and potentially have two games remaining.
Pretty impressive when you consider the number of receivers ECU has
cycled through this season.
But as impressive as Carden has been at slicing defenses, the
junior's best trait has been his evolution as a leader.
Following the Pirates'
loss last week at Tulane,
Carden deflected any criticism aimed towards Pirates kicker Warren
Harvey after missing three field goals. He followed it up this week
by igniting the locker room after a sluggish start to the week.
“A few of the seniors and I understand that we put a lot into this
over the last four, five years,” Carden said. “To have a loss like
(Tulane), we still have all of our goals in front of us after that
loss.
“You can’t let that beat you twice. Maybe the mentality wasn’t quite
right Sunday night when we first came out. A couple of us got it up
and got it going, and the rest of the week we had some great
practices.”
Pirates head coach Ruffin McNeill noted that Carden isn’t just
considered the captain of the ECU offense. He’s also the clear-cut
leader of the team.
Given his talent, drive, and competitive nature, you can’t help but
think Carden’s best games are still ahead. That’s a scary
proposition for ECU opponents.
You can hardly blame McNeill if he’s lost count of the number of
receivers who have disappeared from the ECU depth chart. Since the
Pirates exited spring practice, they’ve lost nine receivers to
either injuries or suspension.
One man’s absence from the lineup has meant another man’s
opportunity. Freshman receiver DaQuan Barnes is the latest to emerge
with a breakout game against Southern Miss.
Barnes, who is the fastest timed player on the Pirates’ roster,
caught three passes for 47 yards in the Pirates’ 55-14 win while
adding 12 yards on a reverse. Another in a growing line of walk-on
receivers for ECU, the ceiling appears to be high for Barnes.
As he grows more comfortable in the Pirates’ offense, Barnes could
become one of ECU’s better big-play threats.
The Pirates placed a lot of emphasis on red zone efficiency this
week, and it certainly paid off.
“We had some problems in the red zone and everyone knows that,”
Carden said. “We talked about it. We were very much focused on
finishing drives, getting touchdowns instead of field goals.
"We were able to do that. It was a
big emphasis for us this last week at practice.”
Much of the Pirates’ success
Saturday can be attributed to a variety of formations and calls. ECU
scored off a one-yard fade, play-action to the tight end, a draw on
third-and-long, and on a quarterback keeper.
The QB sneak occurred with Carden
setting up under center. Credit offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley
for demonstrating more red zone balance this week.