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The Slants of the Game
Sunday, November 19, 2006
By Denny O'Brien |
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Poor execution trips Bucs
©2006 Bonesville.net
All Rights Reserved.
HOUSTON East Carolina will eventually win
a Conference USA title. That's my official prediction following the Pirates'
heartbreaking 18-17 loss at Rice on Saturday.
Though it seems unlikely the Pirates will
reach that milestone in 2006, the prospects for doing so in the near future
have improved significantly. That much was established well before ECU's
showdown at Rice, and the loss does nothing to diminish that.
If anything, Saturday's storylines
emphasize that rationale because ECU now has reached the point where
losses can't be directly traced to a lack of preparation, the overwhelming
theme of the program prior to Skip Holtz's arrival.
Holtz's gameplan against Rice was as
soundly written as a Robert Frost poem. The Pirates made a concerted effort
to exploit the Owls' soft run defense, and were successful until starting
left tackle Eric Graham hobbled to the sideline early in the game.
From that point forward the Pirates
struggled to piece together productive drives and found paydirt only once
more. And most of the bullets left in ECU's pistol were fired squarely into
its own foot.
"It hurts," Holtz said. "These guys have
worked hard for this. They know that we came out here today and this wasn't
one of our better efforts.
"We had our opportunities. Like I said, I
give Rice a lot of credit. They made the plays they had to make down the
stretch, and we didn't."
That statement can be neatly summarized by
the game's final two minutes.
Despite recovering an onside kick, the
Pirates were unable to move the chains after Chris Johnson dropped a pass
that would have slammed the door. And when ECU surrendered the ball, its
secondary was unwilling to open a pair of gifts that would have guaranteed a
return trip to Houston.
The first has to rank as the most
disheartening play of the Pirates' season to date, a sure interception
dropped by cornerback Travis Williams. The other was nothing less than a
Hail Mary on 4th and 10 that should have been swatted to the turf.
"We are really upset," Johnson said. "We
had a lot riding here. We came out here and had a lot of chances with the
ball to put the game away.
"We could have won real easily. We just
kept letting them back in the game. You can't let a team do that."
The Pirates did because their defense at
times performed more like the units that were directed by former coach John
Thompson. Rice quarterback Chase Clement spent part of his afternoon looking
more like former Owls quarterback and Minnesota Vikings great Tommy Kramer.
He was precise and poised, keeping the
Pirates off balance with his ability to tuck and run. And when he delivered
the ball to Owl receivers in the open field, ECU's normally solid open-field
tackling went on strike.
Meanwhile, East Carolina's offense proved
to be Rice's best defense, surrendering a safety, two interceptions, and an
early missed field goal. That could have proven lethal had Rice actually
taken advantage of the Pirates' miscues, but their inability to do so gave
ECU an opportunity to earn a championship berth.
But the Pirates simply stumbled when given
a clear path to a title showdown.
"It's devastating, really devastating,"
running back Brandon Fractious said. "We had it, but we didn't capitalize.
It's devastating."
Since he arrived in Greenville, Holtz
wisely has been quick to credit players for the program's improvement and
sings high praise each time the Pirates notch a 'W.' And though he refused
to throw his charges under the bus, he certainly must realize the primary
reason for ECU's disappointing loss to Rice.
And anyone who observed it should recognize
that ECU's players were well-positioned to make the necessary plays. Their
inability to execute has the Pirates' postseason future looking muddy at
best.
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02/23/2007 02:03:51 AM |
