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SURVEYING THE LANDSCAPE
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Pirate Notebook No. 268
Friday, May 5, 2006
By Denny O'Brien |
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Run stoppage tops on
Hudson's agenda
©2006 Bonesville.net
Greg Hudson is keeping no secrets about his
agenda for 2006. The East Carolina defensive coordinator's top goal this
fall is to shore up the Pirates' rush defense, which for years has been
viewed as the program's primary weakness.
ECU made strides in 2005, but the
statistics were far from impressive. The Pirates surrendered 218 yards per
contest, which ranked them 112th nationally and worst in Conference USA.
Though hardly satisfied with the defense's
performance against the run, Hudson says the numbers are somewhat
misleading.
"The thing that killed us was the big
play," Hudson said. "You remember, DeAngelo Williams ran the ball 39 times
against us. He had a run of 63 yards and 28 yards. Outside of that, he
averaged 2.8 yards per carry.
"You go to the Central Florida game, they
had a 73-yard run. You take that out, we get our goal in rushing. The same
thing happened at Marshall. It's those single long runs of over 50 yards
that just broke our back."
The formula for East Carolina's success in
2005 was fairly simple. The Pirates went 1-4 when yielding 200-plus rushing
yards, with the lone win coming against C-USA cellar dweller Rice.
Limiting the number of big runs could go a
long way towards improving ECU's fortunes — and Hudson says it all starts
with the interior of ECU's defense.
"It's sort of like baseball," Hudson said.
"You're not going to have a good baseball team if you aren't good up the
middle.
"That's where you build a defense (in
football). We've got to be really strong up the middle, and (Brandon) Setzer
and Mark Robinson being two returning starters, give us that size and
ability inside."
At 6'6", 317-pounds, Setzer is as
impressive a physical specimen ever to set up in a three-point stance for
ECU. A former high school blue-chipper who originally signed with N.C.
State, Setzer's inaugural season in Greenville can best be describe as a
purple paradox.
At times, Setzer was a dominant force who
commanded double-teams from opposing offensive fronts. That was especially
evident towards the latter part of the season when the Pirates suffered
multiple injuries along the defensive line.
But there also were times when Setzer
performed at a lower gear and appeared to coast through the motions. But
Hudson expects little of that this fall and says that Setzer has made
significant strides in areas of attitude and determination.
"Brandon had flashes of greatness (last
year), but he's still young and he's got a long way to go," Hudson said. "He
can be a force once he gets his motor going.
"It's our job as coaches to accelerate that
motor. And he's done a much better job. He's opened up. He's a totally
different person than he was last year."
Hudson hopes that is one of the many
factors that leads to a dramatic improvement against the run in 2006. Other
areas in which the Pirates must improve include tackling and better
discipline to remain in gaps.
All three will be tested heavily in ECU's
opener at Navy. The Midshipmen's triple-option attack produced 319-yards per
game last season, tops in the nation.
"If there's an offense that you don't want
to play against as a defensive coordinator, quite frankly it's that
offense," Hudson said. "But if you're going to play them, I guess you play
them early. Hopefully they are out of synch and they put the ball on the
ground more than they normally do.
"We'll have a plan for it. We'll work all
summer on it. Playing Rice last year — and we played them as well as anybody
stopping the run — we'll have a plan in place, and our kids will step up to
the challenge."
Rebuild... or reload?
Much of the Pirates' success against the
run also will depend on the play of three new starters at linebacker.
The position historically has been one of
the strengths within ECU's defense, but this year it must compensate for the
losses of mainstays Chris Moore, Richard Koonce, and Josh Chilsom.
"Right now, we do have three holes at
linebacker," Hudson said. "Everybody is a non-starter. Pierre Bell was a
starter during the last two weeks of the season. We played some of our best
football, and he was very productive in those two games. He had 19 tackles
and two interceptions. He can stay in the game in nickel defense because he
an run.
"Pierre Bell has a chance to be a special
linebacker."
Bell was one of the heroes in ECU's victory
over UAB to close the season. He intercepted two Darrell Hackney passes, the
last of which sealed the win and knocked the Blazers out of a postseason
bowl.
"After that, it's open season," Hudson
said. "I don't care who starts. I don't care how much they play, as long as
they can help us win.
"Jarrett Wiggins, Quentin Cotton, Jeremy
Chambliss, and those junior college transfers — there are a lot of bodies
there that are tough. They are not going to take this field unless they are
tough. We will have a two-deep that is tough and plays hard."
Tough hands
How tough is Marcus Hands? Just ask Hudson.
"I couldn't have coached with a shoulder
like that," Hudson said about the shoulder injury that Hands suffered midway
through the season. "I would have stayed at the hotel.
"That guy went out there knowing that he
was going to get hurt and just laid it on the line. I tip my hat to him."
So did the C-USA media. Despite missing the
final three games of the season, Hands claimed a spot on the All-C-USA Third
Team after collecting six sacks and ten tackles for losses.
Hands did not participate in the Spring
Game, but was on the sideline with his arm in a sling. So, the question
remains — when will he return?
"Whenever the doctors take the sling off
and he can lift, and he's totally healthy," Hudson said. "It's our job as a
staff to make sure that he comes back when he's 100 percent healthy.
"With a guy with that ability, you probably
want to err on the side of caution and bring him back a day late instead of
a day early."
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02/23/2007 02:03:03 AM |
