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Game 9: ECU 19, Marshall 16 OT |
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Game
Slants
Sunday, November 9, 2008
By Denny O'Brien |
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Rivalry moves up a notch
By
Denny O'Brien
©2008 Bonesville.net
All Rights Reserved.
GREENVILLE — Natural rivalries are few and
far between in Conference USA. But in a league that is geographically and
philosophically diverse, East Carolina vs. Marshall is as close as you will
find in C-Time Zone.
There are other series that contain more
history and a closer proximity, but their games hardly register on the radar
in their own cities.
Not the case with ECU and Marshall. Each
represents a culture with a football-first mentality marked by a large
contingent of fans who would travel to Antarctica to see their team play.
That was evident Saturday by the sold-out crowd and the respectable
smattering of green that occupied the section closest to the west end zone
of Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
The rivalry took a significant step forward
Saturday as the two met facing similar stakes for the first time since the
2001 GMAC Bowl. Since
that epic score-fest, ECU and
Marshall have faced each other either on opposite ends of the competitive
spectrum or with very little on the line.
This time, the pole position in C-USA’s
East Division was the prize, with the winner firmly in the driver’s seat to
play for the league title. But unlike the fireworks in Mobile, neither
offense performed with the proficiency to keep the scoreboard operator from
snoozing.
East Carolina won this battle of kickers
19-16, and it took an extra stanza to finally decide it. And when kicker Ben
Hartman calmly nailed the 27-yard game winner, the celebration was worthy of
a rivalry win.
“Geographically, they’re the closest one,”
Pirates coach Skip Holtz said. “And I think that these two schools are tied
together because of history. I think we’re very tied together because of the
relationships and the respect that we have for each other.
"Without a doubt, I have a lot of respect
for (Marshall coach) Mark Snyder. I know that they have a good football team
and a good program. I would very much consider it a rivalry game.”
As long as heated isn’t used to describe
it... yet.
At this stage in the series history, there
is no hint of the bitterness that you often find between traditional rivals.
About the only rift ever between the two programs played out in
Jacksonville, FL, where a longtime quarterback controversy was finally
settled with former Pirate David Garrard claiming the NFL Jaguars' starting
job and former Herdsman Byron Leftwich hitting the road.
The emotion packaged with Saturday’s
setting had everything to do with the divisional stakes and little to do
with the opponent. Though some element of revenge surely fueled ECU’s focus
— Marshall
derailed the Pirates’ title drive
last season — it paled in comparison to the drive to finish the current
championship quest.
“This game means a lot to me and my
offensive linemen,” running back Norman Whitley said. “I text (messaged) a
couple of my offensive linemen before the game and I told them that out of
all of the games this year, this one means the most to me.
“This game, with being in the driver’s
seat, this meant the most to me. I was going to do what I could do to get
the job done.”
Not to say that the mood Saturday didn’t
smack of rivalry. In some ways it did. There was no shortage of emotion,
penalties, or momentum swings, and there was even a nice touch of
controversy.
That ECU was largely on the short end of
the controversial calls only served to stoke the emotional embers.
To a certain degree, ECU’s victory over
Marshall bore resemblance to
a game earlier this season against
one of the Pirates’ more traditional rivals, N.C. State. Only this time the
outcome was different. Unlike the Wolfpack, Marshall was unable to cash in
on ECU’s inability to slam the door in a game that it otherwise dominated.
The Pirates out-gained the Herd by nearly
100, looked the superior team, and controlled most of the game. There was
even a late drive in which ECU discharged a bullet into its own foot.
Unlike the Wolfpack, though, the Herd has
little chance of becoming a forget-the-records type of opponent. It’s hard
to imagine these two meeting with little on the line and ECU fans
approaching it like a blood rivalry.
But if the Pirates and Herd continue
meeting on the competitive turf on which they played Saturday, this series
could become a rivalry of real magnitude. In the tenuous reality of C-USA
rivalries, East Carolina and Marshall battling for the divisional lead is as
good as it gets.
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11/09/2008 04:00:12 AM |
