Goal Line Stand: ECU should be higher than 14

The headlines were designed to have the appropriate dramatic appeal: East Carolina had entered the top 25 for the first time since 1999 and was ranked among the best 15 for the first time since ’91. It was a momentous occasion and no doubt a source of great pride for every Pirate on the Greenville campus. The euphoria was tempered by one little problem: Why was ECU ranked so low?

That’s right, so low. Putting ECU behind the likes of Texas Tech and Kansas, just because those two teams began the season ranked, is asinine. The Pirates have perhaps the best resume of any team in the country to date, having beaten one of the ACC favorites and trashing the cream of the (ridiculously poor) Small East. Saturday’s win over West Virginia — okay, you can make the argument ECU was playing a “directional” school — was a complete domination. Perhaps the pollsters think the Pirates would be thrilled to be included in the conversation, but as we have learned with non-BCS schools, fair doesn’t usually enter the discussion.

Before the season, while everybody was talking about BYU (more on the Cougars later) and Fresno State as “this year’s” Boise State/Utah/Hawaii/George Mason, ECU was quietly preparing for a big season. Even though East Carolina’s schedule looked daunting, the Pirates had been preparing for this season. Coach Skip Holtz and his staff realized the key to success in Conference USA and beyond was team speed, a lesson they learned in the 2006 Papajohns.com Bowl when South Florida blitzed them, 24-7. Though there have been only two recruiting cycles since then, Holtz has been certain to stress speed over size at nearly every turn. The result is a highly athletic team that can run with nearly everybody and has the ability to overwhelm teams without the necessary answers. Witness West Virginia, which lacked the diverse offense, talent on defense and coaching acumen to offer sufficient challenge to ECU.

Last Saturday’s win was a complete domination, and only one statistic is needed to prove that point: time of possession. ECU held the ball for 35:41, while WVU managed just 24:19 of offensive action. For a team which built its reputation on the ability to overwhelm teams with its offensive weapons, that was a tough way to lose. Perhaps Holtz was trying to show the West Virginia administrators exactly what they missed when they refused to interview him for the school’s vacant head coaching job last winter. Maybe he was auditioning for the several schools (Hello, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Tennessee and Washington) that will be looking for a new man in a few months. Or, maybe he was just doing his job, which he began three seasons ago and seems to get better at with each successive week.

It helps that his quarterback, Patrick Pinkney has completed an otherworldly 80.4 percent of his passes (41-of-51) for 447 yards, two TDs and no picks in the two victories. Were he playing for an ACC school, Pinkney would be in the All-America discussion right now. Instead, he’ll continue to labor in anonymity and must allow victories to serve as his reward.

Not that perfection is guaranteed. No, sir. The Pirates may have swashbuckled their way through the toughest two-game stretch on their slate, but more trouble looms. Only four of their final 10 games are at home. They must visit both NC State and Virginia, and though neither has proven to be any good so far, they are big-conference tests and offer the opportunity for trouble. There are also the usual pitfalls on the way to perfection, such as maintaining the right focus, trying to convince young players that heavy underdogs are still dangerous and the like. And don’t be mistaken; ECU must be perfect. Lose to anybody left on the schedule, and that’s that. The margin for error is dental-floss thin, just like it is for every non-BCS school. If Alabama stumbles in the next couple weeks, it can climb back into the top 10. A Pirate loss in the coming weeks would be devastating to its hopes of a high spot. Such is the ridiculous way of college football.

Not that Holtz cares all that much. He’s thrilled to be number 14, but he’s more concerned with Saturday’s game against Tulane. NC State’s right after it, and Houston looms on Sept. 27. So far, everything has been great, but 2-0 starts can turn into 6-6 finishes. It’s unlikely, but possible. For now, ECU is everybody’s darling. Even if the Pirates don’t stay perfect, there’s a lot to like about this team. Let’s hope people around college football are smart enough to stay tuned.

GAME OF THE WEEK
Ohio State at USC, September 13, 8 p.m. EDT, ABC

Duh. It will be hard to find a more compelling matchup than this one all season. Not only is it a dynamite intersectional matchup, but it pits two of the top five teams in the nation against one another. The Buckeyes expect to have running back Beanie Wells (toe) for the game, and that’s good news, because OSU looked shaky in last Saturday’s win over Ohio. The Trojans, meanwhile, counter with a star-studded defense and QB Matt Sanchez, who lit up Virginia two Saturdays ago. OSU will win the Big Ten, but it won’t handle Pete Carroll’s team
USC 24, Ohio State 16

BUMPS AND RUNS

Urban Meyer’s decision to kick a late field goal against Miami that pushed the margin of victory from 20 to 23 points lacked class and was cowardly. Yes, Florida had lost six straight to the Hurricanes, but there was no need to rub it in like that. And since the teams don’t play again for six years, he doesn’t have to worry about this current crop of ‘Canes exacting revenge. Way to teach your players, coach.

I don’t care what the letter of the law says, the decision to flag Washington QB Jake Locker for excessive celebration after he scored on a daring run with 0:02 remaining to bring UW within a point of Brigham Young was unconscionable. Locker was not calling attention to himself, did not preen for the cameras and had nothing choreographed. He merely displayed unbridled joy after one of the biggest plays in recent school history. For the referee not to recognize that was criminal. He shouldn’t be allowed to ref a game until he understands the context of players’ actions.

Memo to Syracuse AD Daryl Gross: Get that short list ready. That is, if you survive the season yourself.

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