1. Let's go ahead and get the obvious out of the way. What is going to happen with the Quarterback situation? Without any real deep knowledge, I'd have to say I would be stunned if Connor Shaw starts this week. I think the plan will be to use him in an emergency role and let Dylan Thompson start his on field development. This is a tricky situation because the East Carolina defense is suppose to be one of the better units they have fielded in a long time (according to some of their fans), BUT they did give up 400+ yards to App State. I didn't get to watch the game but the score and scoring summaries indicate that it wasn't all against ECU's scrubs. App State bombed away for 300 yards so I'm feeling pretty comfortable that Dylan can get something going out there.
Coach Spurrier says the gameplan isn't going to change but I can't imagine there isn't either some scaling back of the offense (at least early on) or some plays to get the ball out of Dylan's hands early (quick screens, slip screens, slants). If Coach can get Dylan a few simple throws and completions early, I think we'll be doing OK. Worse thing that can happen is the first series ends up with him running for his life or making a poor decision and throw. I would like to see Coach Spurrier keep it really simple early on. Hand the ball to Lattimore, slip screens to Sanders/Ellington/Byrd/Roland, quick screens to Sanders/Roland, a bunch of curl flat or high low combination routes .. Nothing too extreme that makes Dylan hold onto the ball for more than 3-4 seconds.
This game also presents a great opportunity to get Bruce Ellington involved whether it is in the Wildcat or deep down the field. I also expect Shaq Roland to finally see the field. He gets 2 non-SEC games to get his feet wet before jumping in against Missouri in 2 weeks and I expect him to get a ton of snaps. As an aside, if he plays well, it is going to be awesome seeing he and Dorial Green-Beckham going at it.
It would be great to see a Jerell Adams and Buster Anderson sighting this weekend.
It would also be great if someone like Nick Jones, DL Moore, and KJ Brent stepped up and had nice outings at the B receiver.
One more thing, a little birdie hinted to me there could be a shakeup coming on the offensive line.
2. East Carolina has some weapons which really shouldn't come to a surprise to anyone because of their offense but with our depth issues in the secondary and a few miscues we had against Vanderbilt, this isn't exactly a cakewalk to contain these guys. What is really frustrating is that bringing the blitz against these guys is almost impossible because the ball gets out so fast. Coach Ward and his staff have to find creative ways to get the Pirates into 3rd and long situations so it forces them into calling plays with deeper patterns and allows Clowney/Taylor/Quarles/Sutton to do their thing. It'll probably be more important for Clowney and Taylor to just get their hands up as much as possible. I don't think Rio Johnson is anything special like Dominique Davis was and if we can make his life hard by batting down some passes early, it could make it a long afternoon.
Justin Hardy, Reese Wiggins, and Michael Dobson seem to be their main playmakers. But a guy everyone might want to keep an eye on is Justin Jones. This dude is a 6'8" TE with good hands and good athleticism for a guy his size. He didn't play against us last year so not many people know about him but he is a guy that could potentially cause some problems for us. Devonte Holloman will have his hands full.
This will be a great opponent to get us ready for Missouri in 2 weeks. It will be a challenge to make plays and tackle well in open space which is what the Tigers are going to make us do as well. Missouri has a better QB and better overall playmakers so if we struggle with the Pirates, that could be a bad omen for later on. Our number one complaint with Coach Johnson was against these teams that run unconventional offenses. We will see what Coach Ward and his staff comes up with but this is a different animal that they will be going against 2 of the next 3 games.
3. I am absolutely jazzed up to see these new improvements to Williams-Brice Stadium and the surrounding areas. I was able to grab season tickets this year for a good price so I'll be at most home games in Section 2 and I'll be right by the new video board. I can't imagine what the first SEC night game is going to be like. I'm wondering if the board will actually help hold in the noise? If it does, man, it is going to be absolutely deafening in there. I expect there to be a pretty good turnout for this game even with the early kickoff and I think there will be a huge purple & gold contingent. Hopefully the weather cooperates.
I expect this ECU Game to be a challenge for our team and I think the game has potential to go into the 4th quarter. Should be a lot of fun!
Coach Spurrier says the gameplan isn't going to change but I can't imagine there isn't either some scaling back of the offense (at least early on) or some plays to get the ball out of Dylan's hands early (quick screens, slip screens, slants). If Coach can get Dylan a few simple throws and completions early, I think we'll be doing OK. Worse thing that can happen is the first series ends up with him running for his life or making a poor decision and throw. I would like to see Coach Spurrier keep it really simple early on. Hand the ball to Lattimore, slip screens to Sanders/Ellington/Byrd/Roland, quick screens to Sanders/Roland, a bunch of curl flat or high low combination routes .. Nothing too extreme that makes Dylan hold onto the ball for more than 3-4 seconds.
This game also presents a great opportunity to get Bruce Ellington involved whether it is in the Wildcat or deep down the field. I also expect Shaq Roland to finally see the field. He gets 2 non-SEC games to get his feet wet before jumping in against Missouri in 2 weeks and I expect him to get a ton of snaps. As an aside, if he plays well, it is going to be awesome seeing he and Dorial Green-Beckham going at it.
It would be great to see a Jerell Adams and Buster Anderson sighting this weekend.
It would also be great if someone like Nick Jones, DL Moore, and KJ Brent stepped up and had nice outings at the B receiver.
One more thing, a little birdie hinted to me there could be a shakeup coming on the offensive line.
2. East Carolina has some weapons which really shouldn't come to a surprise to anyone because of their offense but with our depth issues in the secondary and a few miscues we had against Vanderbilt, this isn't exactly a cakewalk to contain these guys. What is really frustrating is that bringing the blitz against these guys is almost impossible because the ball gets out so fast. Coach Ward and his staff have to find creative ways to get the Pirates into 3rd and long situations so it forces them into calling plays with deeper patterns and allows Clowney/Taylor/Quarles/Sutton to do their thing. It'll probably be more important for Clowney and Taylor to just get their hands up as much as possible. I don't think Rio Johnson is anything special like Dominique Davis was and if we can make his life hard by batting down some passes early, it could make it a long afternoon.
Justin Hardy, Reese Wiggins, and Michael Dobson seem to be their main playmakers. But a guy everyone might want to keep an eye on is Justin Jones. This dude is a 6'8" TE with good hands and good athleticism for a guy his size. He didn't play against us last year so not many people know about him but he is a guy that could potentially cause some problems for us. Devonte Holloman will have his hands full.
This will be a great opponent to get us ready for Missouri in 2 weeks. It will be a challenge to make plays and tackle well in open space which is what the Tigers are going to make us do as well. Missouri has a better QB and better overall playmakers so if we struggle with the Pirates, that could be a bad omen for later on. Our number one complaint with Coach Johnson was against these teams that run unconventional offenses. We will see what Coach Ward and his staff comes up with but this is a different animal that they will be going against 2 of the next 3 games.
3. I am absolutely jazzed up to see these new improvements to Williams-Brice Stadium and the surrounding areas. I was able to grab season tickets this year for a good price so I'll be at most home games in Section 2 and I'll be right by the new video board. I can't imagine what the first SEC night game is going to be like. I'm wondering if the board will actually help hold in the noise? If it does, man, it is going to be absolutely deafening in there. I expect there to be a pretty good turnout for this game even with the early kickoff and I think there will be a huge purple & gold contingent. Hopefully the weather cooperates.
I expect this ECU Game to be a challenge for our team and I think the game has potential to go into the 4th quarter. Should be a lot of fun!