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CHESS MATCH |
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The outcome of
Saturday's clash between East Carolina and Virginia
Tech may hinge on how the Pirates' volcanic offense
fares against the Hokies' stifling defense.
Execution will factor into the battle of wits
between ECU offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley
(left) and VPI defensive boss Bud Foster (right). |
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(Riley
photo by W.A. Myatt; Foster photo from
Wikipedia.) |
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FOOTBALL |
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Pirates seek to break Bud's
shackles |
East Carolina averaged 40.2
points per game in 2013. The
potent Pirates exceeded 50
points five times. Against
this week's opponent,
Virginia Tech, ECU was on
the short end of a 15-10
score last season. After a
22-yard scoring pass from
Shane Carden to Bryce
Williams in the first two
minutes, the end zones were
off limits to the Pirates. ...
More from Al Myatt... |
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FOOTBALL RECRUITING |
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Florida talent pool still
producing |
 C.J.
Maybin has always like to
hit people on the football
field, even when it wasn�t
appropriate. �When I was
younger my Dad started me
off by signing me up for
flag football,�� Maybin
recalled recently. �But it
wasn�t fun to me just
grabbing somebody�s flag. I
wanted to hit. So I
immediately started tackling
the other players. �The
other parents did not like
it. So they moved me up to
the tackle league.�� ...
More from Sammy Batten... |
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FOOTBALL SPECIAL
FEATURE |
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Fifteen Questions
for Cam Worthy |
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 Cam
Worthy (6-3, 220)
provides the 2014
East Carolina
football offense
with a big, physical
weapon at the
outside wide
receiver position.
The Blair, SC,
native caught 19
passes for 295 yards
and two touchdowns
in the 2013 Pirate
campaign. Thus far
in his senior
season, Worthy has
five receptions for
78 yards including a
17-yard touchdown
catch last week at
South Carolina. ...
More from W.A.
Myatt... |
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Pictured: ECU
receiver Cam Worthy
has carved out a
role as a key
starter since
joining the program
as a walk-on from
Yuba (CA) Community
College. The Lower
Richland (SC) High
School product is a
senior
communications
major. (ECU Media
Relations photo) |
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MULTIMEDIA |
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Audio: Coach Ruff Weekly
Presser... |
  At
his weekly press conference,
ECU coach Ruffin McNeill
touched on his team's loss
at South Carolina and
discussed the Pirates'
planning and approach to
Saturday's game at Virginia
Tech (courtesy of Pirate
Radio 1250 via Brian Bailey):
Replay
show... |
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FOOTBALL |
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Hokies ripe for the plucking |
I am a firm
believer in the psychology
of sports. How a team is
thinking goes a long way
toward how that team
performs each week. With
that in mind, I thought
South Carolina played with a
hint of desperation in its
33-23 victory over East
Carolina in Columbia on
Saturday night.
...
More from Brian Bailey... |
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MULTIMEDIA |
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Audio: The
Brian Bailey Show |
  The
Brian Bailey Show
airs on Pirate Radio
1250 on Mondays at
6:30 p.m. Brian's
guest this week was
East Carolina
outside linebackers
coach Duane Price
(right) and Mike
Steele:
Replay
show... |
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Audio: Coach Ruff
Presser |
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East
Carolina
coach Ruffin McNeill
addressed the media
at his weekly press
conference on
Monday (courtesy of
Pirate Radio 1250
via Brian Bailey):
Select
clip... |
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Pirates move ball in loss |
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COLUMBIA, SC �
COLUMBIA, SC � Regardless of the
venue and caliber of opponent, East Carolina's goal was to
win a football game at Williams-Brice Stadium on Saturday
night. The fact that the Pirates topped No. 21 South
Carolina 453-441 in total yardage was little consolation in
a 33-23 ECU loss. ...
More from Al Myatt... |
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ECU coach
Ruffin
McNeill
discusses a
clock issue
with the
referee late
in the
fourth
quarter of
the Pirates'
loss to
South
Carolina
Saturday
night.
Photo by W.A.
Myatt. �Bonesville.net.
View W.A.
Myatt's
complete
gallery... |
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Audio: Coach Ruff Post-game... |
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East
Carolina coach Ruffin
McNeill spoke
with the press after the
Pirates' loss at South
Carolina Saturday night
(recorded by W.A. Myatt;
file photo):
Select audio clip... |
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By
Brett Friedlander
�2014 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
View ECU's
2014 football schedule
The crawl at the bottom of the screen on ESPN Saturday
will note that the football game being played at noon in Blacksburg, VA,
will be between East Carolina and Virginia Tech.
But that�s only true in the strictest sense of the word.
In reality, the outcome of the key nonconference contest
will actually be decided by the matchup between the Pirates� offensive
coordinator Lincoln Riley and his defensive counterpart with the Hokies,
Bud Foster.
Based on previous results, it�s a chess match that
doesn�t favor ECU. Though it would be unfair to suggest that Foster has
Riley�s number, since the sample size is still quite small, history is
clearly working against the Pirates� boy wonder and his high-octane
attack.
And not just because Tech is coming off an impressive
upset of Ohio State in Columbus.
Consider that in three previous meetings since 2010, all
Hokie victories, ECU has averaged only 15.7 points and 225.7 yards per
game. Compare that to the much-more-productive 33.8 points and 428 yards
Riley�s offenses averaged in the other 48 games the Pirates played
during his first four seasons in Greenville with head coach Ruffin
McNeill.
Some of that dominance can be attributed to the abundance
of talent Foster and head coach Frank Beamer have been able to recruit
to Blacksburg. Tech�s defensive units have long featured some of the
quickest, strongest and smartest players in college football � including
current stars Luther Maddy, Deon Clarke, Kendall Fuller and Brandon
Facyson.
Having talent, however, is only half the battle.
As Beamer pointed out earlier this week, another major
element to the Hokies� winning equation has been Foster�s ability to
adjust and adapt defensive game plans specific to each week�s opponent.
�He really has a great understanding, a great mind for
football,� Beamer said of the man who has been his defensive coordinator
since 1995. �He's very good at the game, what are they trying to do to
us and he has enough experience where he can get an adjustment going
very quickly.
�There's nothing better. I think if you asked across the
country, number one or top defensive coordinators, Bud would be in every
single one of them. To me he's the best defensive coordinator in the
country.�
Beamer won�t get any argument from Ohio State coach Urban
Meyer, whose Buckeyes got Fostered to the tune of seven sacks and three
interceptions last week. Unlike the strategy that used constant pressure
to rattle young quarterback J.T. Barrett, Tech figures to take a more
cerebral approach against ECU�s more experienced Shane Carden.
The Hokies
were successful in disrupting the rhythm of the
Pirates� timing-based offense a year ago at Dowdy-Ficklen
Stadium while holding a unit that set school records in both scoring and
total offense to just 10 points and 204 total yards.
But as the familiar disclaimer on those late-night
infomercials reminds us, past results do not always guarantee future
performance � a fact ECU proved in Chapel Hill against another ACC rival
a week after last season�s disappointing 15-10 loss to Tech.
�People forget that before North Carolina last year, we
hadn�t played worth a damn versus them either,� Riley said of
his team�s 55-31 demolition of the Tar Heels.
Using that game as an example, the Pirates� play caller
aggressively dismissed his head-to-head matchup with Foster as nothing
more than a narrative to keep the fans and media talking until game
time. He contends that the key to beating teams like Tech has more to do
with execution than planning.
.�When we go play (well), I think the results will show,�
he said. �Hopefully we can do that Saturday.�
The Pirates had a chance to prove Riley�s point last week
at South Carolina. But despite running the ball effectively and not
allowing a sack while outgaining the Gamecocks 453-441, ECU still
came out on the wrong end of a 33-23 score
because of two interceptions, a blocked field goal and a pair of missed
early opportunities in the red zone.
Riley and his offensive staff have spent this week
working to eliminate those damaging, self-inflicted mistakes. Chances
are, he�s also been adding a few new wrinkles to an already diverse game
plan in an effort to outwit his better-known Hokie counterpart Foster.
�That's the beauty of being a play caller,� Pirate head
man McNeill said. �Lincoln and Bud both play to their strengths.�
Those strengths are what makes each among the best in the
business at what they do and what makes the cat-and-mouse game they�re
about to play all the more interesting to watch � no matter how hard
Riley tries to downplay its importance on the outcome of Saturday�s game.
