Saturday Blitz
Fansided

East Carolina Football: 2015 Season Preview

By William Murphy

facebooktwitterreddit

Ruffin McNeill’s Pirates seek to improve upon last year’s run despite the loss of several key pieces, particularly on offense.

East Carolina conducted a relatively well-run campaign in the first year in their new conference, finishing off 4th in the AAC. Their 8-5 record got them a bowl invite, a close lose to Florida in the Birmingham Bowl.

More from College Football News

The height of last season was definitely their play toward the halfway point. After beating a #17 Virginia Tech team that had upset Ohio State the week before, the Pirates went on to gain four more wins in a row, even managing to break into the first College Football Playoff Rankings at the No. 23 spot.

However, they eventually slipped up a bit near the end, dropping three of the last five games, including one to a subpar Temple team. They were able to stick with Florida in the bowl game, but ended up losing

With several key players from last year’s crew now graduated, the ability of McNeill and his Pirates to improve or just maintain on last year’s record has come into serious question.

Offensive Outlook

The Pirates will be without a very significant chunk of their offensive prowess next season. Following last years pass-heavy offensive power, ECU lost record-breaking quarterback Shane Carden, offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley, leading running back Breon Allen, and their top two wide receivers, including record-breaking Justin Hardy. This could cause serious trouble, but their replacements have enough potential that they may be able to pick up some of the slack.

The biggest piece they’ll need to replace is AAC Player of the Year Shane Carden by far. Combined with a strong receiving core, Carden was able to lead East Carolina to third in the FBS in average passing yards a game. Backup Kurt Benkert will have some big shoes to fill, but new OC Dave Nichol, who has been on McNeill’s staff since 2012, believes that Benkert will be able to take on these new responsibilities.

Luckily, he will have a solid receiving core at his disposal. Despite losing top receivers Hardy and Cam Worthy, ECU has a lot of depth at receiver that can make up for it, with five returning receivers who gained 200+ receiving yards and averaged 10+ yard per reception last season.

Tops in this group features Junior Isaiah Jones with 830 receiving yards, and Sophomore Trevon Brown lead the team in yards per reception with 18.86 on 14 receptions. In addition to solid depth, incoming freshman Deondre Farrier will also add his talents. Some people, including his high school coach, Anthony Paradiso of Lake Nona High School, say that he can even fill Hardy’s workload.

Defensive Outlook

The Pirates’ defense specializes in stopping the run, and with a decent returning backfield, they hope to continue to do so. ECU will be playing without some of last year’s pieces, including DB Lamar Ivey and LB Brandon Williams.

However, Zeek Bigger, who’s 140 total tackles led the team last year, will be returning, and will be rejoining Senior Montese Overton, who has the potential to do big things. They will also be accompanied by a slew of backs in freshman, and junior college transfer ILB Darius Wright.

The backs will need to step up to support the line. With the exception of defensive end Johnathon White, East Carolina has lost all of its starting DL’s, which will make it difficult if they want to keep stopping the run like they did last season. ECU will need to see improvement from a young line. Luckily, like the backs, the line will also see support from new recruits, with the additions of tackles Justin Brown and JUCO Transfer Darius Commissiong.

Prediction

It is a struggle to really know how well East Carolina’s offense will recover from all the parts they’ve lost. They’re strong receiving core will definitely come in handy, but success hinges on sophomore Kurt Benkert, who is relatively untested.

If he is able to really take a hold of the challenge head on, then the Pirates will have another successful campaign in terms of offense. It’s doubtful if they’ll be able to have the same amount of production as last season’s squad, however, until at least until 2016, given the growth of Benkert and the new tools.

With the defense, it will most likely be more of the same, albeit a possible drop in their ability to stop the run without most of their starting line returning. The backs should be able to take to the task, with their new additions and returning top players. Basically, we should see more of the same from the Pirates the fall.

Next: Top 30 College Mascots of All-Time

More from Saturday Blitz

Home/College Football News