If there was ever a gimme on East Carolina’s schedule, the game this week against Southern Methodist would have to be the biggest one on the schedule.
SMU is without a doubt the worst team in the conference, maybe in the entire nation. That is not a stretch of the imagination in the slightest degree, as its offense has put up a mere 12 points in four games this season.
That’s right, in four games the Mustangs offense has a last-second touchdown in garbage time and two field goals. And on the other side, SMU has allowed 202 points in total. This game couldn’t be more perfect for the explosive offense of the No. 22-ranked Pirates that are playing in their first ever American Conference game.
Let’s just look at the numbers of the teams and determine why ECU should walk away with a blowout win in this one, if the impressive points given up on the SMU defense weren’t convincing enough.
ECU’s offense is putting up yards and points as it pleases. So far this season, the Pirates are averaging 581.5 yards of total offense per game (392 passing with 189.5 on the ground). With all of those yards and marching up and down the field, ECU has had seemingly no problems scoring points, averaging 43.3 per contest.
SMU’s defense, as you could imagine, has terrible stats to show for its pitiful performance. The Mustangs’ defense is allowing opponents an average of 551 yards of total offense per game, 291.25 via the pass and 259.75 yards rushing, coughing up 50.5 points the first five weeks.
To add to the inability to stop the offenses from moving the ball, the Southern Methodist offense as previously mentioned, cannot score to save themselves. There are pee wee football teams that have a more fluent offense than that of SMU, which is averaging 3.0 measly points per game.
This could be a turning point for the ECU defense, that despite victories the last two games needs to step up its game in order to dominate in conference play.
ECU needs to blow the doors off of the visiting Mustangs—they are undoubtedly the worst team in the conference with a lot of issues on and off the field. Having your coach step down is never an easy task to come back from and make a season out of.
The Pirates need to validate the games they have won so far this year, and prove they deserve the ranking they have earned. However, there is no room for mistakes and ECU can’t walk in expecting a win while taking this game lightly. SMU could punch them in the mouth and upset them because they got arrogant, but that won’t happen.
ECU will handle its opponent and it should be a blowout from start to finish. This game is the beginning of good things to come for the Pirates in the AAC.
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