Thanksgiving is now over and with the food, football and family all over with, we again look to the upcoming closing weeks of the season and try and predict the craziness that is college sports.
I will be the first to admit that my predictions last week were a bit off and I may have gotten a little excited at the fact that East Carolina was playing a team that it should have beaten easily, but over exuberance aside, the Pirates did just that, finishing with a strong team performance in a 34-6 win over Tulane.
For the second week in a row, ECU will face an opponent that it should take behind the ‘ol whooping shed: Tulsa. And this presents another fun question mark: Who will be the Pirates’ X-Factor this week?
The easy answer would be to pick Shane Carden and be done with it. I don’t want to end my thoughts there, so I will not go with Carden (he always plays great and will here too). If not Carden, then who? Justin Hardy? Isaiah Jones? Montese Overton?
No, no and a big fat nope.
Are you ready for this? Are you hanging on the edge of your seat?
Breon Allen is going to have a monster game against a weak Tulsa defense.
Each game I have watched Allen play and I really have wanted to see him get more touches. Without a doubt, Allen has had a productive season with 808 yards (6.97 yards per carry) and eight touchdowns. Maybe I am just being selfish, but finishing with a career-best performance in one of his final collegiate appearances would be an awesome thing to see.
Tulsa is that team that he can do it against.
It seems that the Golden Hurricane defense hasn’t been able to stop opposing offenses even if they knew where the play was going; they have allowed an average of 38.4 points per game, which includes 218.7 rushing yards. That is what gives me hope that Allen will have a game for the ages.
Allen enters Friday night’s contest boasting 80.8 yards per game. He has had great performances against North Carolina (211) and Cincinnati (121), his two best games this year. With a defense that can’t stop the run, I see no reason that Allen can’t make this his best performance as a Pirate and get well over 200 to go over 1,000 for the season.
I know that Allen will prove me right this week for this bold(ish) prediction. More importantly, I hope that his offensive line can come together and get him the yardage he deserves. Allen has been a stud all year and he will run all over the Tulsa defense in a big win for East Carolina.
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