Opinion: Defense is the key to winning Conference USA

There is a saying in football that offense sells tickets and defense wins championships-and that is no truer than in Conference USA.

All you have to do is look at last year's champion to realize that.

Last fall, UCF showed the rest of C-USA the recipe for winning a championship in the league that has turned into the most offense-heavy and unpredictable in the nation, and believe it or not, they did it with defense.

Scoring points has been very easy for most in C-USA lately. Last year, the conference boasted the nation's top offense (Tulsa) and had two players from the same conference rush for more than 2,000 yards for only the second time in college football history.

But the defensive statistics weren't quite as pretty.

Last season, seven of C-USA's 12 teams ranked 100th or worse in the nation in total defense and pass defense. UCF wasn't one of them, and that had a lot to do with winning the conference. Every team in the league knew how to score points, but not many actually knew how to stop the opposition.

UCF was one of two C-USA schools to allow less points in 2007 than in 2006, and the Golden Knights were first in the league in total defense, pass defense and sacks against conference opponents. With nine returning starters on defense, UCF allowed 25 points or less in seven of its nine conference games--including the win over Tulsa in the C-USA championship game.

ECU has aspirations of winning its first conference championship since 1976 this season, and for that to happen, the defense must play better.

Playing with an inexperienced secondary last season, the Pirates finished 114th in the nation in pass defense and 95th in total defense. They were forced into shootouts and frequently bailed out by Chris Johnson and an explosive offense. Johnson will not be on the field this year, and Head Coach Skip Holtz and defensive coordinator Greg Hudson have both acknowledged that more pressure will be on the defense to win games.

"It's a high responsibility, but it is a fact," said Hudson. "In order for us to expect any type of championship, we're going to have to play great defense."

Hudson said that being a defensive coordinator in C-USA can be very challenging and frustrating at times, and that trend looks like it will continue. Former Hawaii coach June Jones will bring his high-powered run-and-shoot offense to SMU this season, and two successful offensive coordinators will have their first chances as head coaches in C-USA this fall. Southern Miss, which fired longtime defensive-minded coach Jeff Bower last fall, will be coached by Larry Fedora, who guided Oklahoma State's nationally ranked offense last season. Kevin Sumlin, who has been an offensive coordinator at Oklahoma and Florida, will also be the headman at Houston.

"Sometime you look around and say, 'why are things a little different in this league'," Hudson said. "The offensive creativity in our league is very high. I jokingly say that it's like every coach in the league is interviewing each Saturday, trying to see who can put the most points on the board.

"But it still comes down to tackling. Whether it's in space or in a small window, you have to be a fundamental team."

ECU does return a good amount of experience on defense this season. For the first time in the Holtz era, ECU returns nine starters on defense, which could be very valuable.

"It allows you to go back out on the field against those opponents with the understanding of how to defend things," Hudson said of the experience he has returning this fall. "The players know what to do and how to get ready for that opponent."

Free safety Van Eskridge, who is one of the Pirates' leaders on defense, said that eliminating long pass plays has been the main focus of the defense this preseason and last spring.

"By us having the core of our defense back and some good chemistry going, hopefully it will allow us to play better and smarter than last year," he said.

C-USA, which has had a different champion in each of the past six seasons, looks to be as wide open as ever this year. Tulsa is gaining the most preseason recognition, but the Golden Hurricane will be breaking in a new quarterback and only return five starters from a defense that all but cost it a conference championship one year ago. ECU, UCF and Marshall--the top-3 contenders in the East Division--all lost key players on offense, but return nine starters on defense.

This fall, the offenses of C-USA are likely to once again dominate the highlights and receive the most attention, but don't forget how valuable defense can be in this league--UCF sure figured it out last season.

This writer can be contacted at sports@theeastcarolinian.com.