It was an ugly, 31-21 win for East Carolina against American Athletic Conference rival UConn on Thursday night. Ugly wins still count in the win column, so that’s something to be happy about, right? Wrong.
Sure, the Pirates put up 10 unanswered points down the stretch, but it shouldn’t have even been close during those late and crucial stages of the game. ECU should have blown the Huskies out of the water, especially when they saw a fast 14-point advantage in the first quarter.
If I were to just look at the box score and not even watched the game, things would have not added up. East Carolina dominated the game in every aspect of the game. Shane Carden went 38-of-64 for 445 yards, a pair of touchdowns and a pick. What went wrong? Why was this game finally decided in the fourth quarter?
To avoid sounding like a broken record, I will not address the offensive line performance or the secondary play because that did not change all that much, in my opinion. However, I think this team needs to match its physical play on the field with better mental play, take advantage of momentum and not rely too heavily on Carden to win convincingly.
ECU made a lot of mental errors that could have cost it the game. Too many times would a great play be called because of a penalty or a drive stall because of a penalty. Even if they could get a drive together penalty free something would happen and momentum would shut down.
It started at the end of the first quarter. East Carolina was driving and found itself confronted with a 4th-and-2. With that kind of yardage to make up, it decided to have Carden run for the first and failed, losing yards and turning the ball over. Luckily for the Pirates, they would capture the momentum back and intercept the ball three plays later.
On the ensuing drive, Carden and company were again driving and gaining Big ‘Ol Mo (momentum) on their side. It looked as if the Pirates were going to go up again by two touchdowns while taking the momentum further, but Carden threw a pick and the Huskies put an end to that hope.
ECU had another opportunity to go up by at least 10 points before the half had it not been for a missed field goal. Ten points left on the table, and UConn caught up to open the second half.
Carden was masterful on the next drive to go up again by a touchdown. I get that he is the best player on the team and that he is one of the better quarterbacks in college football. However, ECU doesn’t have to completely rely on him to get the victory.
I hope this doesn’t set off a craze of angry Pirates fans my way. Yes, 445 yards is a better than average night, but the man threw 64 times! That’s not even counting the plays that were drawn up as pass plays that broke down and forced him to scramble out of the pocket.
The Pirates need to be more balanced on the offensive side and getting the ball rolling on the ground to take the pressure off of Carden. The victories will come easier and the fans won’t have to sweat it out like they have the past few games.
If ECU can capitalize on momentum and ease the pressure off of Carden, there is no reason the conference title won’t belong to the Pirates.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
