East Carolina Pirates vs South Florida Bulls Preview
The East Carolina Pirates are trying to turn things around again this season. They have dropped their last two conference games to Temple and UConn. While the Temple game was no crime, the Huskies game was a head scratcher of some proportion.
So now East Carolina has get back on track with a game against the South Florida Bulls. The Bulls are in year two of a rebuilding process that started last year under new coach Willie Taggart. Taggart is a Jim Harbaugh disciple who was part of Harbaugh’s Stanford staffs before taking over Western Kentucky. It was Western Kentucky where Taggart had his last success.
Opponent: South Florida Bulls (4-4, 2-2)
Date: November 7
Time: 7:30 PM
TV: CBSSN
Venue: Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium
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South Florida is being built to run a pro-style system to match Taggart’s background from Stanford. As a result they are a run first team and their success has been overwhelming had to do with the run element.
In other words it is a bad matchup for a team that had trouble stopping the Huskies running game.
South Florida will try to control the game on the ground. They will give the ball to Marlon Mack and other running backs to run clock and keep the defense fresh. They beat UConn and held SMU to only fourteen points.
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The Pirates need to make a decision on what they want to do at the quarterback position. James Summers was given the start last week and things did not go well. ECU can either try to play a shootout game or try to match the Bulls in ball control. Blake Kemp is the guy for the first, Summers is the guy for the second. Pick a guy and stick with him.
One advantage the Pirates will have in this matchup is the home crowd. To come back from this latest rut they will need them more than ever. Good thing the Bulls are not world beaters.
Prediction: 28-24 East Carolina