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Though the timing was inappropriate, the question was
certainly valid. Where does East Carolina need to go to get a conference
championship banner?
The answer is simple. The Pirates need significant improvement on defense.
That was the main focus heading into spring camp last year, as defensive
coordinator Tim Rose shuffled through schemes and personnel in search of
solutions.
Judging by its first seven games, East Carolina must plan on
a return to the drawing board this coming February.
"Defensively, we're just not stable enough," head coach Steve Logan said.
"We've got to go out and put 35-40 points on the board."
That's a tall task for any offense, much less one with a greenhorn
quarterback, inconsistent receivers, and a feast-or-famine rushing attack.
Even a veteran unit led by NFL-bound David Garrard and
Leonard Henry struggled to keep pace last season, as the Pirates dropped
their final three games en route to a 6-6 finish.
Now, the same is being asked of a group not seasoned enough to shoulder the
load.
"We want to score every time we get the ball, anyway," quarterback Paul
Troth said Saturday. "It was just a matter of we had to.
"It was a typical Conference USA shootout and we didn't hold up our end of
the bargain. Dave Ragone he just picked us apart like a senior quarterback
should. That just showed how good he is."
Or, rather, how inept the Pirates' defense has become.
Take nothing away from Ragone's performance, as it wasn't short of
spectacular. Rarely will you witness a marksman exercise such ineffable
skills, firing 18-consecutive dead-aim strikes during one stretch of a
lopsided contest.
The Cardinals quarterback's final numbers 23-32-0, 352, 5 TDs fell in
line with a growing trend in Pirateland. East Carolina clippings have become
the centerpiece for many a quarterback's scrapbook, as the Pirates are
regulars on national highlight reels for the wrong reasons.
Add to that the fact that, statistically, this team's strength is actually
defending the pass the Pirates rank 53rd in pass defense, compared to
103rd against the run and it's no mystery why East Carolina has just two
wins in its last ten games.
Fixes on the far horizon
Whether its a lack of talent, ineffective schemes, or a combination of both,
mending the Pirates' broken defense won't happen overnight. Even though ECU
still has a mathematical shot at spending New Year's with Elvis, there is
also a legitimate chance the Bucs won't be favored in any of their remaining
games.
Houston and UAB suddenly look scary, even though both mirror East Carolina
with their own defensive woes. That translates into a couple of potential
shootouts in settings in which the Pirates have yet to win this season on
the road.
Logan's short-term solution to ECU's defensive struggles will likely pay its
biggest dividends in the future as in future years. A handful of true
freshmen have emerged as key contributors, learning the cold, hard lessons
of college ball on the fly.
More instinctive and athletic than the upperclassmen, how well freshmen
Reicko Jones, Jared Brogden and their defensive classmates progress, along
with how successful Logan and staff are on the recruiting trail, could
determine if and when East Carolina will hang a C-USA title banner.
"To win a championship you have to (play defense)," Louisville coach John L.
Smith said. "If you don't play defense, you're not going to win a
championship."
Smith ought to know. He has the hardware to prove it.
Long distance
One positive that could carry over into the rest of the season is Troth's
confidence in his long ball.
Touted highly by Logan throughout the preseason for his improvement in that
area, the Pirates quarterback had been struggling with his accuracy from
long distance until dialing Richard Alston's number for a 71-yard connection
early in the second half against Louisville.
"It's been there all along," Troth said. "I feel like I've been aiming the
ball too much I just need to let it rip. I was happy with that connection.
I've been waiting a long time."
A reliable vertical passing game would open other facets of the offense
which would help bring much-needed consistency to that side of the ball.
The man for the job?
Did Conference USA make the right choice in tabbing Britton Banowsky as its
second commissioner? That depends on who you ask.
Question administrators at Marquette, Charlotte and DePaul and the answer
would be a resounding yes. Ask the football-first schools around the league
and you might not receive the same enthusiasm.
Banowsky is a basketball guy who seems to sympathize with what Louisville
coach Rick Pitino referred to as a "watering-down" of the league's roundball
prestige. For that reason, football expansion likely won't be the immediate
posture of his administration. Instead, the focus may well shift to moving
C-USA basketball up the food chain towards a spot among the nation's top
four leagues.
Of particular note, the former Big XII and Southwestern Conference assistant
commissioner doesn't seem hurried to pursue BCS-inclusion for C-USA, hinting
that the league must take baby steps toward the big slice of football pie.
Memo to the Commish: Baby steps won't even return the league to the level at
which it was playing two seasons ago.
Conroy's Losing Season
If you're in the market for new reading material, Pat Conroy's My Losing
Season might be of interest.
The critically acclaimed author of fictional masterpieces The Lords of
Discipline, The Prince of Tides, and Beach Music has done
it again, this time with a memoir of his senior year as the point guard for
The Citadel.
Conroy intertwines his dysfunctional childhood with his love for the
hardwood and a turbulent senior season in this autobiographical tale, which
is written in his trademark, southern-educated vernacular.
One chapter of note, titled "East Carolina," spans six pages, chronicling
the Bulldogs' matchup against the Pirates that season. The Citadel
"manhandled and belittled" what Conroy described as a "fine East Carolina
team," but it wasn't so much the victory that remains implanted in the
southern author's mind.
"I carry the memory of that game against East Carolina because it came to
represent the randomness and unpredictability of the appearance of
perfection in human life," Conroy said. "I could not throw a pass that night
without it seeming brilliant and improvisational."
