East Carolina tames Mustangs in conference opener
Going into Saturday’s East Carolina-SMU game, many (including myself) thought we were in for a blowout.
Boy, weren’t we surprised.
Despite the Pirates getting the 45-24 win on Homecoming, the Mustangs put up a much more formidable fight considering they were 41-point underdogs.
ECU’s Shane Carden finished his day with another over 400-yard passing day along with 4 touchdowns, including this one to Justin Hardy in the first quarter.
Hardy caught three of those touchdown passes, gobbling up 120 yards receiving, second only to Isiah Jones’s 130.
The real story of this one was the valiant effort of the Mustangs, who were down by as much as small as 11 heading into the fourth quarter.
The visitors got momentum earlier in the game by going for it on fourth down, a tactic that seemed to catch the Pirates off guard. So much so that the attempts couldn’t be stopped until the fourth quarter, as they went 5-6 on fourth down.
Those conversions helped SMU score twice as many points in today’s game as they had all season coming in (12).
Mustangs quarterback Garrett Krstich was also impressive in his first start, passing for over 300 yards in the Poines’ most offensively efficient game to date this season.
Oct 4, 2014; Greenville, NC, USA; Southern Methodist Mustangs quarterback Garrett Krstich (14) throws the ball during the first quarter against the East Carolina Pirates at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports
One thing that didn’t change for SMU was the lack of a run game, but ECU’s totaled up 171 on the legs of Chris Hairston and Breon Allen.
From today’s game, we know now that the Pirates are going to have to tighten up on defense, but we also know that anything can happen in The American.
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With games against Temple and Cincinnati on the horizon, the road in this new conference is only going to get tougher as the season goes on.
To win this conference, it looks the No. 22 Pirates (4-1, 1-0 AAC) will have to give new meaning to the term “no quarter.”