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TCB
in Tennessee East Carolina
travels to
Murfreesboro, TN, to
battle new Conference USA
East Division member
Middle Tennessee.
The division standings
have MTSU and ECU
tied
at the top,
each with a
1-0 record. A near
sellout is expected
in Johnny "Red"
Floyd Stadium as the Blue
Raiders are hosting
the Pirates for
Homecoming.
Elvis Presley
adopted "Takin' Care
of Business" (TCB)
as a motto for himself
and
his band. Heading
back into league play, the Pirates
should approach the
game with that
motto and a
business-like
attitude if
they expect to stay
on course for a
C-USA championship
run.
The
arrival of new
defensive
coordinator Rick
Smith appears to
have made an early
impact on that side
of the ball for the
Pirates. After
surrendering a
combined 185.3
rushing yards per
game over the last
three campaigns, the
Pirates seemingly
have addressed the
matter by allowing
less than 100 ground
yards in three of
their first four
contests this season
(90 vs. ODU, 53 vs.
VPI and 67 vs. UNC).
The Pirates
currently possess
Conference USA�s top
rush defense, which
should provide a
good matchup against
the Blue Raiders, who
like to run the
football (averaging
a healthy 184.2
yards per game).
MTSU's ground attack
features Jordan
Parker, CUSA�s
leading rusher
(480
net yds on 101
attempts, 4.8 yd avg).
The
Blue Raiders lead
the nation in
takeaways and their
16 takeaways have
directly kept
opponents from
scoring. �We�re
doing a very good
job of creating
turnovers,� MTSU
head coach Rick
Stockstill said.
�We�re No. 1 in the
country, and there
are a lot of good
football teams out
there. Our defensive
players have done a
great job of
attacking the ball,
and (co-defensive
coordiator) Coach
(Tyrone) Nix and
his staff have done
a great job of
emphasizing that.�
Turnovers are an
effective deterrent
to touchdowns. But
when the opposing
offense has not
given the ball away,
the
Blue Raiders have
been vulnerable at
times. ECU
quarterback Shane Carden credits
MTSU�s attacking
style of defensive
pursuit as the major
reason for the high
number of takeaways.
�The last few days
I�ve watched film on
them, and they are
very physical on
defense and they fly
around everywhere,�
said Carden. �That�s
how they cause so
many turnovers. They
fly to the ball and
hit you, and then
when there is a
fumble they have
other guys right
there to scoop it
up. That�s why I
think whoever wins
the turnover margin
on Saturday will win
the game.�
This
week for the
Pirates, maybe the
�TCB� motto should
stand for "Takin'
Care of the Ball".
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