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ECU focused on rejuvenating
defense
By DAVID DROSCHAK, AP Sports Writer
Tim Rose, entering entering
his fourth year as defensive coordinator at East Carolina, says
the Pirates have "...taken a hard look at our problems" from last
season and have taken steps to shore up a defense that was
vulnerable to airborne assaults.
Photo: ECU SID |
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GREENVILLE (AP) — It was
probably fitting East Carolina gave up 64 points in a season-ending bowl
loss to Marshall.
The defeat capped one of the worst defensive seasons in school history and
led to an offseason of soul-searching by coach Steve Logan and defensive
coordinator Tim Rose.
It didn't take long to pinpoint what went wrong. A lack of speed on that
side of the ball was the main culprit, along with inexperience and a rash of
injuries.
The Pirates watched a potential Conference USA championship season fall by
the wayside, allowing a combined 131 points in their final three losses to
finish 6-6.
"We've taken a hard look at our
problems," Rose said Thursday at East Carolina's preseason media day. "We
aren't going to play anything we haven't played before, but there's going to
be an emphasis on other things like getting more speed on the field."
Rose takes offense to critics who pin the team's late-season collapse on the
defense.
"You want to study things in a vacuum, well it ain't a vacuum," Rose said.
"Our offense and our defense and our special teams were good enough to win
six games last year — end of story. One wasn't good enough to win nine and
the other one lost six. That's bogus, that's not the way this game operates.
Whatever our part is we accept it and want to get things done.
"Strong people take responsibility for victories as they take responsibility
for defeats," he said. "In my mind, we were good enough on our side of the
ball to win six last year and we were bad enough to lose six."
East Carolina's defense had made significant progress since Logan lured Rose
here from Boston College after the 1998 season. However, the 2001 defense
turned into a nightmare for Rose, a respected defensive coach.
The Pirates allowed 4,499 total yards — the most since giving up 5,024 in
1992. The 222 completions allowed and 16 takeaways were the worst in school
history.
What made matters worse was the inability of the defense to hold leads. The
Pirates outscored opponents 112-25 in the first quarter of games.
In the GMAC Bowl, East Carolina led the Thundering Herd 38-8 at the half,
but allowed 28 third-quarter points in a 64-61 double-overtime loss.
That was Dec. 19. A week later, Rose was in the film room studying his
defense, breaking down every pass completion of the season.
"It took me a long damn time," Rose said. "I'm not sure I made it to New
Year's Eve. I studied everything from how our players played and how our
opponents attacked us to draw some conclusions."
While Logan and Rose insist they'll stay with a 3-4 alignment on defense,
they will switch more often to using five and even six defensive backs.
Logan has moved Antwane Yelverton from linebacker to the secondary and the
linebacking corps at times may consist of three redshirt freshmen as Josh
Chilsom, Richard Koonce and Chris Moore should give the Pirates more speed
in the middle of the field and on pass rushing situations.
"These guys have unbelievable quickness for their size," senior linebacker
John Williamson said. "Give them one game under their belts and they'll
become some favorites around here."
 Logan
can't wait long for the development of his defense. He plans to rely on that
side of the ball and a solid running game to help along sophomore
quarterback Paul Troth, who will be making his first collegiate start Aug.
31 at Duke.
"I saw a faster defense on the field in the spring," Logan said. "We moved a
lot of people around because we had to get faster on defense and I believe
we've done that."
Copyright 2002
Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
02/23/2007 10:51:21 AM
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