Well, believe it. After a last-minute upset of Virginia Tech and a thorough beat down of then ranked No. 8 West Virginia, the Pirates proved that it wasn't a fluke.
So, how have they done it, you ask?
It all starts with the play of their quarterback, Patrick Pinkney. Only 10 of his passes have gone incomplete (41-for-51) and he has not throw a pick so far. Pinkney outplayed Sean Glennon and Pat White, neutralizing White's hopes for a Heisman trophy. He marched the Pirates down the field by controlling the ball and taking what the defense has given him, the formula for success. In the game against the Mountaineers, the Pirates had the ball for 35:41, while WVU only had it for 24:19.
The defense has also been punishing, holding White to only 72 yards of passing. The Pirates defense was able to hold the Hokies and Mountaineers under 250 yards of offense (Okay, West Virginia had 251 yards). What is perhaps most amazing is their play on third-down, stopping 16 of 24 tries.
Now, the only question remaining is: Can they run the table? Let's take a look at their remaining schedule.
at Tulane (0-1)
at NC State (1-1; win over William & Mary)
vs. Houston (1-1; win over Southern)
at Virginia (1-1; win over Richmond)
vs. Memphis (0-2)
at UCF (1-1; took South Florida to overtime)
vs. Marshall (1-1; win over Illinois State)
at Southern Miss (1-1; win over Louisiana-Lafayette)
at UAB (0-2)
vs. UTEP (0-2)
Looking at that schedule (Conference USA play), I do think that they can run the table. They are favored in all of their remaining games, and get to face teams like Memphis and UTEP at home. The only game that will be tough for the Pirates is UCF. Central Florida took South Florida to overtime, and shut out South Carolina State.
The one team I can compare ECU to is last years Kansas team. That team was a BCS buster, expect ECU to be one this year as well.
(At this time I would also like to admit that I was ridiculously wrong about ECU in the West Virginia game.)
2 comments:
Sorry, but Kansas can't be a BCS buster. They play in the Big 12 Conference, which last time I checked, was a member of the BCS.
Maybe you meant Utah, Boise State, or Hawaii. You know - a team from a conference not part of the BCS but still played in a BCS bowl game.
Anon-
You are right about Kansas. My mistake.
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