East Carolina @ Houston Football Preview

Pirates face defending C-USA Champions on Saturday

Date: Saturday, September 29th

Injury/Personnel Report:

East Carolina

DT Khalif Mitchell, ankle; out

FS J.J. Millbrook, hamstring; probable

CB Darryl Reynolds, hamstring; probable

OT Willie Barton, ankle; doubtful

DE Marcus Hands, shoulder; out

TE J.R. Kraemer, thumb; questionable

RB Jonathan Williams, ankle; doubtful

 

Houston

N/A

ECU vs. Houston General Overview

The Pirates and Cougars will meet for the first time since the end of the 2004 season and the first since Skip Holtz assumed command of the East Carolina program.

East Carolina holds a 4-3 edge in the all-time series, but Houston has won the last two. ECU’s last victory versus UH came back in Steve Logan’s final season in Greenville when the Pirates pulled out a thrilling 54-48 triple overtime victory at Robertson Stadium.

Former Houston wideout Art Briles is in his fifth season at the helm of the Cougars’ program. Since assuming the reigns at UH, Briles has taken the Cougars to three bowls in five seasons. Last season, the Cougars overcame a minor mid-season slump—when they lost three games by eight points—to win their last six en route to the CUSA title. After notching their tenth win of the year at home against Southern Miss in the title game, the Cougars dropped a hard fought game to SEC foe South Carolina in the Liberty Bowl.

During Briles’ stay in Houston, his teams have featured a very exciting brand of football and that has continued this season.

Following a season-opening loss at currently undefeated PAC-10 foe Oregon, the Coogs have responded by winning back-to-back games in impressive fashion. They first notched a 34-10 win in their conference opener at Tulane. Last week, they fell behind Colorado State 17-3 in their home debut. However, they would respond by outscoring the Rams 35-10 after the break to post an eye opening 38-27 comeback win.

On the other hand, East Carolina limps into this important CUSA contest after suffering a 48-7 beating at the hands of fifth-ranked West Virginia last weekend in Morgantown. The Pirates, who were playing their toughest opponent yet in the Holtz era, did very little right in what was likely their worst performance in the past three campaigns.

However, the Pirates—who have started 1-3 in each of Holtz’ three seasons—will look to rebound in a game that is critical to their CUSA title hopes after losing their opener two weeks ago to Southern Miss.

Houston Offense vs. East Carolina Defense

Advantage: Houston

For the first time since Art Briles took over the Houston program in 2003, the Cougars have a starting quarterback not named Kolb. During Kolb’s time under center, UH developed itself into one of the nation’s most potent offensive attacks. It has featured 3,000-yard passers, 1,000-yard rushers and 1,000-yard receivers.

This year, sophomore Blake Joseph and redshirt freshman Case Keenum have taken over the reins of Houston’s high-octane offense. After replacing Joseph, Keenum provided the Cougars with a spark against CSU. Keenum, who finished the game 18-of-22 for 197 yards and two scores through the air, will start against the Pirates. He possesses good mobility and can make plays with his feet as well, as he also rushed for two touchdowns against the Rams.

The Pirates will meet the Cougars in a key CUSA battle this weekend at Robertson Stadium in Houston. PHOTO: Kevin Hightower

Although UH uses the pass to set-up the run, it runs the ball very effectively as well. The Cougars, who average 33 points and 483 yards per game, are producing 223 yards of that total on the ground. After exploding onto the scene last season, Anthony “Quick Six” Alridge is living up to the high standard he set. Alridge, who has the luxury of running behind a huge and talented offensive line, has 354 yards (6.4 ypc) on the ground. He is also a threat in the passing game, as he has six receptions for 138 yards and two scores.

Donnie Avery and Jeron Harvey are the top two targets in the passing game. Avery leads the team with 20 catches for 245 yards while Harvey has 14 for 126. However, neither is yet to record a touchdown reception.

The Houston offense has to be licking its chops when it has seen the film of how poor East Carolina’s defense has been at defending the pass. West Virginia shredded the Pirates’ defense for 599 yards and 48 points while Mountaineer quarterbacks completed 22-of-25 attempts for 202 yards. ECU is allowing 31 points and 421 yards per contest.

The Pirates are beat up along the defensive front, as they’ve sustained injuries to starters Khalif Mitchell and Marcus Hands. Their absence could really hurt ECU’s pass rush, which has been significantly improved up to this point in the season.

In the secondary, the Pirates’ tackling has dropped off. Thus, Leon Best is moving from corner to safety to help shore up those concerns.

Another area in which ECU needs to improve is on third down, as it is allowing opponents to convert on 51% of their attempts.

East Carolina Offense vs. Houston Defense

Advantage: Even

The Pirates struggled mightily in their blowout loss to WVU, as they turned in what was easily their worst outing of the season. The offensive line didn’t open many holes in the running game while also struggling to protect the passer, as evidenced by Patrick Pinkney being sacked four times. When Pinkney did have time to throw, he was off target more often than not.

The East Carolina defense will be forced to contain dual threat running back Anthony "Quick-Six" Alridge, who is a threat to take it the distance essentially every time he touches the football. PHOTO: Kevin Hightower

ECU should be able to move the ball with some success against UH, as the Cougars have allowed 28.3 points and 376 yards per game—including 180 on the ground. They have a tendency to make and give up big plays. Against Colorado State, the three touchdowns the Cougars gave up all came on passing plays of 20-plus yards.

Hard-hitting linebackers Rocky Schwartz—who leads the team with 22 tackles—and Brendan Pahulu (17 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss) headline the unit.

Defensive tackle Tate Stewart, who is space eater in the middle, has been in on 14 tackles on the season. He is second on the team with 1.5 sacks and has also recorded 4.5 stops behind the line.

In the secondary, strong safety Kenneth Fontenette earned CUSA Co-Defensive Player of the Week honors with his solid game against Colorado State in which he notched five tackles and returned a fumble 37 yards for a score.

The Pirates will likely play both Patrick Pinkney and Rob Kass at quarterback this week while attempting to capitalize off what each brings to the table. Kass’ presence could allow offensive coordinator Todd Fitch to call more passing plays that will attack the defense vertically. Expect shots to be taken down the field to Jamar Bryant and Dwayne Harris.

Chris Johnson and Dominique Lindsay could have their best days running the football to date as they face a UH defense that has been suspect—at best—against the run. John Williams and perhaps Norman Whitley may not be available due to injuries. Johnson has only rushed for 168 yards, but he does have 11 receptions for 178 yards and three touchdowns.

Special Teams

Advantage: Houston

Give the Cougars a slight nod in the all-important kicking game.

UH placekicker T.J. Lawrence was last week’s CUSA Special Teams’ Player of the Week after knocking home a 46-yard field goal and averaging 67.1 yards per kickoff versus Colorado State. He is now 5-of-6 on the year with his lone miss coming from 52 yards.

Lawrence ’s counterpart Ben Hartman has struggled, going 2-of-6 on field goals thus far. Last week, he made his only conversion attempt against WVU.

Pirate punter Matt Dodge was unfortunately one of the few bright spots against the Mountaineers. He is now averaging 43.1 yards per boot on 28 attempts.

Houston’s Chase Turner has averaged 37.7 through his first three games.

Teric Williams handles the kickoff and punt returns for the Cougars. Williams is averaging 21.2 yards on 9 kickoff returns and 10 yards per punt return.

WVU’s Vaughn Rivers averaged nearly 16 yards per return last Saturday; therefore, keep an eye on how the Pirates are able to contain Teric Williams.

Chris Johnson has lived up to his all-CUSA standard in the kickoff return game for ECU. The blazing Pirate is putting up over 26 yards per return. Dominique Lindsay will possibly be the other deep man since John Williams will likely miss the game.

Dwayne Harris gives the Pirates’ another threat in the return game, as he has shown tremendous elusiveness while bringing back the punts.

Intangibles

Advantage: Houston

Going back to last season, the Cougars have now won eight of their last ten ball games. They have developed a knack for the making the big plays when needed and doing the little things that are necessary to win games. Coach Briles really believes this team is finding its identity and that its confidence grew significantly as a result of the CSU win. They will be looking to seize the momentum while improving to 2-0 in the league and taking another step toward repeating as CUSA champs.

Conversely, the Pirates have made it a habit of shooting themselves in the foot with penalties. They have also struggled to finish drives once they’ve reached the red zone.

UH knows what it takes to win a CUSA title while this ECU team is still searching for its identity and what must be done to reach Memphis and the Liberty Bowl.

While the UH coaches and players commended the crowd for their support at last week’s CSU game, the crowd should not play that much of a role in this one. It will likely be only about a third or so of what the Pirates played in front of last weekend at West Virginia.

Final ECU @ Houston Prediction

There could be quite a few points scored in this one, as neither team has exactly made it a habit of shutting down the opposition to date. East Carolina should have its best offensive game since lighting up the scoreboard against North Carolina, but will the Pirates’ defense be able to slow down that explosive Cougar “O” enough to defeat last year’s league champion on the road? ECU’s unforced penalties (e.g. false starts) and their injuries along the defensive front could play a key factor in deciding this one. The pass rush will need to be there to aid a struggling secondary.

Houston 34 - East Carolina 24