When looking back at the ECU and South Carolina game that saw the Pirates fall 33-23, the words of the great Dennis Green come to mind.
“They are who we thought they were, and we let them off the hook!”
ECU started the game fast and furious and had 13-7 lead early in the second quarter. That might seem too farfetched to think that the Pirates could have pulled off the upset with so much time left in the game, but they did not adjust to what was coming at them, and that is why they lost.
On that stat sheet, Shane Carden looked like he had a great game and did all he could to try for an upset. Carden would finish with 321 yards, completing of 32-of-46 passes with one touchdown and a pair of interceptions. At times, Carden looked like the impact player that I have come to expect, making the right throws and being deadly accurate.
However, as the game progressed and the South Carolina defense settled, it found the weakness in the offense and flustered Carden. Many times the offensive line missed its blocking assignments, making Carden to be quick on his feet. When Carden was flushed out of the pocket, he looked like he rushed through his reads and pushed his passes. A perfect example of this happened to be both of his interceptions.
There was an all-out rush on the offensive line, a linebacker instantly in Carden’s face, and he rolls out of the pocket. While rolling out, Carden was running for his life and looked like he was going to throw the ball away. He did not try to throw the ball away, but tried to force the ball into a small window and it was picked off.
The next interception from Carden, he tried to go deep to Justin Hardy, but under-threw the ball and it was easily picked off by T.J. Gurley, as they trailed 27-16 with 6:57 left in the third quarter. It was little mistakes like these that made it so the ECU offense could not operate at a constant level. The offense was too streaky and couldn’t find consistency in its effort to upset the Gamecocks.
These turnovers gave South Carolina way too much momentum at crucial points in the game, as it scored 13 unanswered points to take the lead, and never give it up.
The road doesn’t get easier for ECU as it hits the road to take on the No. 17 Virginia Tech Hokies, who just came off a huge win at Ohio State. If the Pirates are looking for an upset, they need to more consistent on the offensive side of the ball because that is where their bread is buttered.
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