Pirates looking to corral the Thundering Herd

Coming on the heels of a 19-14 victory over Central Florida in its Conference USA opener last Saturday, ECU is set to travel to Huntington, W.Va., to take on the Thundering Herd of Marshall.

The Pirates are 2-2 overall and 1-0 in the conference with their losses coming against West Virginia and UNC.

Marshall is 3-1 overall and 1-0 in the conference with their only loss coming at the hands of Virginia Tech.

The two teams have built up a bit of a rivalry over the years and there is certainly history between them.

In 2001, the two foes squared off in the GMAC Bowl with future NFL quarterbacks Byron Leftwich and David Garrard producing a scoreboard-shattering 125 combined points and an astounding 1,141 combined yards of total offense in a 64-61 Thundering Herd double-overtime win.

There is also the tragic 1970 plane crash, which occurred following a game between the two in Greenville and was recently the basis of the film "We Are Marshall."

The Herd is a team in search of a resurgence of sorts.

A once-proud football program, Marshall has seen its success fall off in the past couple of years. This year's Marshall team possesses the talent to turn that around. They were impressive in their victory over Memphis last weekend and came into the game with some momentum.

"They're playing with an awful lot of confidence," ECU head coach Skip Holtz said.

A lot of that confidence comes in the form of junior running back Darius Marshall, a talented and speedy back that is averaging 7.9 yards per carry and 166 yards a game.

He has also managed to reel off a 60-plus yard run in every game he has played in this season.

Containing Darius Marshall will be the most crucial key to the Pirates getting a victory on Saturday.

"We can't let him get a home run," ECU defensive coordinator Greg Hudson said. "He's a lot like (West Virginia running back) Noel Devine in his ability to take it to the house."

The Marshall offense also features a versatile and talented tight end in Cody Slate. Slate has taken some snaps out of the wildcat formation and is a dangerous threat in the red zone.

The Herd's offensive line possesses great size and does a good job creating holes for the rushing attack.

Their weakness at this point is at the quarterback and receiving positions.

The Pirate defense, which had been getting some heat for their inability to prevent big plays and bring the quarterback down, seemed to get back on track against Central Florida last Saturday.

ECU returned to the ball-hawking ways that brought them so much success last season, forcing four interceptions.

The Pirate defensive line has the talent to contain Marshall but will have to get solid tackling performances from the linebackers and secondary.

Both have had trouble wrapping up in the open field this season.

ECU will also have to continue to create turnovers and contain the receivers as the Pirates are at its best when the secondary is locking down the receivers and the line is able to pin their ears back and get to the quarterback.

After much scrutiny over their second-half offense this season, the Pirates finally notched that elusive second half touchdown that has been evading them this season on a touchdown pass from Patrick Pinkney to Dwayne Harris in the third quarter of last week's contest against the Knights.

With that being said, the Pirates will have to continue to get better in the red zone, an area they have struggled mightily in this season.

"That is the thing we have to shore up right now," Holtz said of the red zone offense. For the offense to be successful, they will continue to get the ball to versatile receiver Harris in a variety of ways.

"He's (Harris) a special player," said Holtz. "You put the ball in his hands and he's going to make some things happen."

Harris, a former high school quarterback, has been used in a Wildcat package that has produced two rushing touchdowns in the last two games.

He is also the team's top receiving threat, producing 121 yards receiving last week. The Pirates will also continue to get the ball to Brandon Jackson in the running game.

Jackson has shown the potential to be a key playmaker out of the backfield for the Pirates.

The Herd's defense features one of the better defensive ends in the country, Albert McClellan, a former C-USA Defensive Player of the Year.

They also have a very good middle linebacker in Mario Harvey who is a solid hitter and sure tackler.

The Herd's secondary is not spectacular but it is solid.

The Pirates will have to get better in red zone situations and get production out of their receivers to have success in this game.

"Our confidence level is high right now," Harris said. "We have a lot of playmakers we can get the ball to."

With both teams coming off wins in their conference openers, there is no reason not to think that this will be a close game that could come down to which team turns the ball over the least.

Expect another good game in this budding rivalry come noon on Saturday.

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