|
Launch pad to the
future
East Carolina will
make its seventh
bowl appearance in
the last eight years
when it faces off
against Mid-American
Conference member
Ohio in the Beef �O�
Brady�s Bowl.
A battle of two
underrated
quarterbacks is
coming to Tropicana
Field. Shane Carden,
the No. 6 passer in
FBS with 3,866 yards
and 32 TDs, is the
key cog in ECU's
offensive machine. Ohio
brings Tyler Tettleton (2,623
yards, 20 TDs) and a
7-5 team to St.
Petersburg, FL.
The Pirates, who
will try to maintain
their momentum after
closing the regular
season with five wins in
their last six
games, are in search
of their first bowl
victory since
defeating No. 22
Boise State 41-38 in
the 2007 Sheraton
Hawaii Bowl.
Unlike ECU, Ohio
has experienced
recent success in
the postseason,
winning its last two
bowl games � 45-14
over
Louisiana-Monroe in
last season�s
Independence Bowl
and 24-23 over Utah
State in the 2011
Famous Idaho Potato
Bowl.
But heading down
the stretch, the
regular season
fortunes of the Pirates
(9-3) and Bobcats have been
polar opposites.
ECU
lost 59-28 to
Marshall in its
Conference USA
finale, but won five
of its last six,
while Ohio avoided a
four-game
end-of-season losing
streak by finishing
the regular season
with a 51-23 romp
over Massachusetts.
"It's going to be
good to get another
shot. We've had some
up and downs this
season," said Ohio
senior RB Beau
Blankenship on the
opportunity to end
the season with a
win. "But it feels
like kind of a fresh
start and a way to
end it the way we
want to. That's
the way we need to
approach it, to
start fresh and
finish the season
off right."
Ohio senior QB Tettleton
figures a logical
goal for the
Bobcats offense is
to
match East
Carolina's passing
attack.
"I hope so," he
said. "That's
the plan. ... But
hopefully we'll have
a chance to score a
lot of points and
see what happens.
We've done a good
job the past couple
years of putting a
good game plan
together and
executing and having
a good showing.
We'll see."
ECU coach Ruffin McNeill
notes some familiar
traits when he sizes
up the Bobcats. "I
think offensively,
they play an
up-beat, `NASCAR'
offense like we do,
so defensively,
we've faced that
before," he said. "They
have a quarterback
with a lot of snaps
under his belt, so
we have to be ready
to change looks. You
can't stay in the
same thing versus
him." But
for the Pirates to have
success, McNeill
believes the focus
is more about his
own team.
"It's
all about what we
do," he said. "We have to work
hard on execution
and keeping clear
minds, so we have
fast legs and we can
play fast on
Monday."
Central Florida's
victory in last
year's Beef 'O'
Brady's Bowl set the
stage for a breakout
2013 season
culminating with a
BCS bowl bid. A
strong finish by ECU
in St. Petersburg
could jumpstart a
special 2014
campaign as the
Pirates enter their
inaugural season in
the American
Athletic Conference.
|
