DENNY O'BRIEN | Riley’s evolution salvaged season [fb-122412]

NEW ORLEANS — The retention of quality assistants is a critical element to any program’s long-term success. Retaining Lincoln Riley as its offensive coordinator is looking paramount for East Carolina’s near future.

If you had to select one individual within the program who improved the most during the course of 2012, it would have to be the Pirates’ offensive boss. He has successfully evolved the offense beyond his Texas Tech Air Raid roots, thanks to a strong commitment to the run.

In Saturday’s R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, Riley demonstrated more playbook creativity with a multitude of formations. The diamond backfield introduced a new wrinkle to the ECU offense, and it also helped get the Pirates back on track after a slow start Saturday.

When Pirates head coach Ruffin McNeill announced that Riley would be his offensive coordinator, it was a fairly big gamble for numerous reasons. His age, inexperience as a program’s chief play caller, and exposure to only one offensive system were fairly big risks on which to pin a program’s future.

After many ups and downs over the past three years, the decision is looking to be a shrewd one. Much of that can be attributed to Riley’s willingness to expand the playbook to best utilize his personnel’s strengths.

Tight ends, for example, had a very limited, if any, role within Mike Leach’s pass-heavy operation in Lubbock. And about the only time you saw a quarterback tuck and run was amid heavy pressure.

Not only does Riley leverage the tight ends he inherited, he’ll utilize two of them for max protection sets. The read option and quarterback draw also have become a critical piece of an offensive system that is much less predictable than when Riley and his offensive lieutenants arrived.

Has some of East Carolina’s offensive success been the product of the mostly miserable defenses it faced during the second half of the season? Absolutely. But dismissing the Pirates’ offensive strides because of the opponents they faced is short-sighted.

If Riley hadn’t adjusted the offensive approach to include new formations, more play-action, and to utilize quarterback Shane Carden’s legs, chances are ECU would have lost one or more of the games it narrowly won.

After the first third of the season, Riley faced mounting criticism after his offense struggled to get off the ground. His response is one of the reasons ECU finished with eight wins this fall.

Spark plug

The value of having at least two capable running backs can’t be overstated. East Carolina demonstrated that Saturday.

With starter Vintavious Cooper struggling to find holes early, Riley turned to backup Reggie Bullock, who responded with 104 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries. He provided the Pirates with a needed spark that helped them close an early 28-7 gap.

“I thought Reggie was back in form,” McNeill said. “He’s missed some games because of injuries the last two years, but whenever he’s played, he’s been productive. He got on a roll tonight, and I think that’s why Lincoln (Riley) was staying with ‘Reg’.

"He earned the reps and did a good job. He took the ball all night long and ran well and blocked well. He really had a good night.”

Though he ended his ECU career on a personal high note, it’s unfortunate that his career was shortened by injury. Bullock proved again Saturday that, when healthy, he added an explosive dimension to the Pirates’ running game.

Costly drops

There’s no debating that East Carolina’s defense had a hand in Saturday’s bowl loss. A really big one.

But perhaps the Pirates would have overcome their defensive shortcomings if their receivers had been a little more sure-handed. Two drops in particular proved critical to the game’s outcome.

The first came when Reese Wiggins dropped a sure touchdown deep over the middle with no defender in site. The second occurred when Jabril Soloman dropped a potential one in single coverage in the red zone.

Several other bobbles derailed drives and extinguished the Pirates’ offensive momentum.

“Our guys generally make routine catches,” McNeill said. “Shane did a great job of delivering the football. A lot of things may have been off given the timing of the game. It was a pretty exciting game, but those drops were unusual for our receiving corps.”

Though the Pirates were successful moving the ball against the Cajuns’ defense, they were unable to sustain any consistent rhythm. Dropped passes were a huge reason why.