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Game No. 1: South Carolina 56, ECU 37 |
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Game
Slants
Saturday, September 3, 2011
By Denny O'Brien |
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ECU 'D' shows promise
By
Denny O'Brien
©2011 Bonesville.net
All Rights Reserved.
CHARLOTTE — Moments following
East Carolina’s loss to Maryland in the Military Bowl last December, Pirates
coach Ruffin McNeill said he needed time to digest his team’s late-season
collapse.
That evaluation eventually led
to major schematic adjustments on defense as ECU shifted from a 4-3 to 3-4
alignment during the offseason. It was a move that McNeill believed best fit
the Pirates’ current personnel, and one that would enable defensive
coordinator Brian Mitchell to be more aggressive with his calls.
ECU officially unveiled its
defense in Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium Saturday against No. 12 South
Carolina and bruising running back Marcus Lattimore.
And if it hadn't been for five
East Carolina turnovers — four of them in the second half — the storyline
today might have been how the defense propelled the Pirates to another major
upset. Instead, the conversation is about the multitude of miscues that
morphed an early 17-0 lead into a 56-37 loss.
“I thought (the defense) was
put in a tough position,” McNeill said after the game. “(Offensive
coordinator) Lincoln (Riley) is addressing it with the offense right now.
“Turnover ratio… we’ve
emphasized that since the spring — the offense taking care of the ball and
not giving the defense an extra possession. Against a great team like that,
there’s not much margin for error, but I thought our defense did some really
positive things tonight.”
Like pressure the quarterback,
which the Pirates did well in the early going. The ECU defense attacked from
the middle and the outside, keeping starting quarterback Connor Shaw
guessing for the entire quarter that he was under center.
By the time Steve Spurrier
pulled him for Stephen Garcia, he had completed only two of his eight
passing attempts for 11 yards while suffering a sack.
The Pirates also demonstrated
significant improvement against the big play. Despite several attempts to
beat the East Carolina defense over the top, the Gamecocks were unable to
hit star receiver Alshon Jeffery deep, thanks largely to the air-tight
coverage of starting cornerback Derek Blacknall.
There is no question that much
of the Pirates improvement can be attributed to the addition of new talent
and the overall improvement of returning players. But you also have to
credit Mitchell for sending blitzes from every angle and not allowing either
quarterback to find too much comfort in the pocket.
The ECU defense kept South
Carolina guessing early with multiple formations, an assortment of personnel
groupings, and an edge that was missing most of last season.
It wasn’t until the Pirates
started turning the ball over — which they did on three straight occasions
to open the second half — that South Carolina discovered any type of
offensive flow. It isn’t too hard to get into a rhythm when your drives
begin in the red zone.
That’s not to say that there
still aren’t concerns about the defense, or that we can firmly proclaim that
the unit has made a complete turnaround. The Pirates still have noticeable
issues against the run when misdirection is a featured part of the package.
What we can conclude, however,
is that Mitchell is more than capable of designing an effective defensive
scheme.
“We blitzed a lot and got a
lot of pressure on the quarterback,” said freshman linebacker Jeremy Grove,
who was credited with 12 stops. “It put us in some good situations like 3rd
and long.
“Overall, I think our scheme
worked well. We’ll have to go back tomorrow and watch film to see what
happened.”
What Grove and his teammates
view will be much easier to digest than some of the film sessions in 2010.
Barring a rash of critical
injuries, this has the look of a defense that can hold its own if the
offense tightens up. If that occurs, the Pirates should be a contender in
Conference USA.
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09/04/2011 06:39:39 PM |
