5 Biggest Takeaways: East Carolina Defense Overmatched in Loss to Cincinnati

East Carolina (6-3, 3-2) couldn’t capitalize on Cincinnati’s (6-3, 4-1) mistakes last night, and was also unable to overcome one of the worst defensive showings in the Ruffin McNeil era. With the 54-46 loss at Paul Brown Stadium in the rear view mirror, what did we learn about the Pirates?

• During the preseason, the unit that was circled as a weakness and a potential problem heading into the American was the secondary. Though it was never a huge issue through East Carolina’s first eight games—mostly because the Pirates were winning—it hadn’t seen a pass offense like Cincinnati. Gunner Kiel shredded the back four for 436 yards through the air (15.0 per completion) and if it weren’t for some bad drops from Bearcat wideouts that turned into interceptions, this game wouldn’t have been close.

“Like I said earlier in the week, we knew Cincinnati was dynamic, especially at the wide receiver position,” said coach McNeil following the game. “We also know how good Kiel is. It was a game where we showed a ton of fight among our guys.”

GIF Gunner Kiel pass complete to Chris Moore for 66 yds and the TD #ECUvsCIN Moore spins a tackler off him b4 scoring http://t.co/84wL2yAuVR

— FanSided GIF (@FanSidedGIF) November 14, 2014

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• The defensive line didn’t do anything to help, either. It was the first time I have been able to see East Carolina play in person, and when the defense took the field for the first time, I thought to myself, “Wow, these guys are huge.” Size wasn’t enough to make an impact in the game, because the Cincinnati offensive line won the battle in the trenches and it wasn’t even close. With little to no pressure on Kiel for much of the entire game, receivers were getting extra time to create space and get open on a back seven that was already struggling making plays.

“I’ve been in games like this, but you can’t sit there and hang your head on it,” said McNeil. “The season isn’t going to stop since we lost tonight so we just have to keep fighting.”

• I liked the tempo that East Carolina came out with; the Pirates got off 55 plays in the first half and were on their way to well over 100 for the game, compared to their usual 80.4 per contest. However, I didn’t like the Air Raid approach that was safe and conservative against a Cincinnati defense that had struggled so mightily against containing the big play in multiple games this season. Shane Carden was efficient, but rarely took shots downfield—even with the fact that Cincinnati was basically begging him to with press coverage outside the numbers. Don’t let the scoreboard fool you; ECU scored a lot of points, but 23 of them were off turnovers inside the Bearcats’ territory.

• Speaking of the red zone, the play-calling was suspect. You would expect a team that is Top 25 in red zone touchdown percentage to find pay dirt on more than six of 11 opportunities from the 35-yard line or closer. The infamous goal-line fade was a favorite call, and though it drew a vital pass interference, it wasn’t effective. This is an area where East Carolina should excel, between a senior quarterback and an arsenal of productive wide receivers.

“Both teams knew there was a lot on the line and it’s just hard to lose a game like this. It’s really tough, especially for our seniors,” said Shane Carden. “But we have to keep playing. The season’s not over.”

• One thing that I must commend East Carolina is that, despite the weather conditions, it didn’t break down and give in to many mental breakdowns as it had in previous games. (Hello, Temple!) Heading into the game, ECU was the second-most penalized team in the NCAA with over 90 yards sacrificed on average. On Thursday night, however, it was on the wrong side of the yellow flag five times for 38 yards. The Pirates also had two turnovers (compared to their five in Week 10), and one of those came in the final seconds on a desperation hot-potato play. It’s not much of a consolation, but they didn’t beat themselves.

“Turnovers were key for us. Also, we cut down on penalties tonight and we only had one (real) turnover,” said McNeil. “So the improvement on our penalties and also taking the ball away from them, I thought was key. But at the end of the day it comes down to if you win. There are no moral victories with us.”