Posted: 11/29/2009 by Denny O'Brien
You often hear quarterbacks recall their childhood dreams of engineering a game-winning drive that delivers a championship.
But it’s pretty rare for a defensive player to reminisce about visions of withstanding one final flurry from an offense bent on stealing a victory.
That’s exactly when the East Carolina defense seems to flourish most. Perhaps much of it can be attributed to the fact that Pirates defenders embrace the challenge of making that last stand during the two-minute drill.
“That’s the moment you dream of,” said Pirates cornerback Emanuel Davis, who registered eight tackles while breaking up four passes. “Being the last man on the field.”
“If they score, it’s on us. But everybody was up for the challenge. We did a really good job of stopping them when we needed to.”
Just like the ECU defense has done throughout the season.
In Conference USA victories over Central Florida and Marshall, the Pirates were tasked with keeping the the opposition out of the end zone while nursing narrow leads. On both occasions they generated turnovers to ice the game.
Saturday ECU was challenged to withstand two possessions by nemesis Southern Miss during the final four minutes and kept the Golden Eagles at bay. Much of that can be attributed to the fact that the ECU secondary made sure that USM quarterback Martevious Young couldn’t deliver the ball to standout receiver DeAndre Brown at crunch time.
If nothing else, this seems like a mental comfort zone for the ECU defense. When most teams panic, defensive coordinator Greg Hudson’s unit presents a calming presence.
There is a good chance the C-USA championship could hinge one more final stand by the ECU defense. And there might not be a better QB in the nation at orchestrating game-winning drives than Houston’s Case Keenum.
Fall cleaning
For East Carolina to beat high-powered Houston next week, the defense will need plenty of assistance from the offense. That means it must tidy up some areas of its execution, and not let scoring opportunities get derailed by yellow laundry.
Against Southern Miss, the ECU had two touchdowns nullified by holding calls. The Pirates also were forced to settle for field goals when their momentum was derailed by penalties that put them five and ten yards behind the chains.
“We had a couple of plays called back,” Pirates Coach Skip Holtz said. “Offensively this really could have been a special day.”
“When you look at the one (touchdown) run that went four about 30 yards early in the game, and Freeney’s 60-yarder, you could have added about 100 yards of offense to that performance. I thought it was a couple of plays away from being a really special day.”
ECU can’t afford to a couple of plays away from special and expect to beat an explosive Houston team on Saturday.
Getting his kicks
East Carolina kicker Ben Hartmen endured a mid-season slump early in the season that saw his starting job shift temporarily to Ben Ryan. But ever since seizing his job back against Rice, Hartman has been the model of consistency.
Against Southern Miss, Hartman was the unsung hero, hitting all three of his field goal attempts. Two of his kicks came from long distance, 47 and 49 yards respectively.
On the season, Hartman is a solid 18-23, including 3-5 from 40-plus yards. The only thing missing from Hartman’s ensemble this year is that trademark game-winning kick.
The last time he produced that was in the 2008 C-USA Championship game.
Denny O'Brien is a columnist for Bonesville.net and Pirates' Chest Magazine. You can read more of his work at http://www.bonesville.net. If you have a question or comment, you can e-mail him at denny.obrien@bonesville.net. You can also follow him on twitter at http://www.twitter.com/thedob.