Opinion: C-USA West is clearly superior

By: Ronnie Woodward

Posted: 11/11/08

Field goals and defense don't win Conference USA championships. The teams in C-USA's West Division have figured that out. The teams in the East are a little behind the curve, which was evident at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium Saturday.

In a game that featured the East's two best teams, an aggressive defense and conservative offense carried ECU to a 19-16 overtime victory.

Ben Hartman kicked four field goals--including the game-winner in the extra period--and ECU's defense limited Marshall to 137 passing yards. It was the second-straight week that ECU won with defense and a clutch field goal, which is rare of most C-USA games.

The conference's East Division is starting to resemble a conference like the Big Ten, something ECU coach Skip Holtz has adjusted to.

"We've been going at this the Big Ten way the last couple of weeks. You run it, punt it away and count on your defense," Holtz said of his team's recent play. "We've been ready to win football games 13-10 with great special teams and great field position. With some of the injuries we've had [on offense], I don't feel like some of these younger players have been ready to be thrown at the wolves and go at it."

Saturday's game was a battle for East Division supremacy, as the two teams entered tied for first place in the division. Supremacy for the entire conference might already be decided, however. That title currently belongs to Tulsa, and it will be very tough for a C-USA East team to take that away.

Tulsa, which boasts the nation's top offense, has scored 45 points or more in four of its five conference games this season. ECU's highest point total of the season has been 30. The Pirates' low-scoring style has worked against teams like Marshall and UCF, but it's hard to win that way against teams from the West--which was evident in ECU's 41-24 loss to Houston earlier this season.

Despite the contrasting styles within C-USA, ECU's players believe they can win the conference with defense.

"Defense wins championships," said ECU safety Van Eskridge. "I don't think it's any different in Conference USA. If the defense continues to play the way we've been playing, we should be fine because we know we have guys on the other side of the ball who are going to make plays eventually."

If ECU is going to be crowned as C-USA's champion, it will have to find ways to score more points. Whatever team represents the West will be led by its offense and should be able to control the pace of the championship game, which will be played Dec. 6.

The difference in style is glaring when you break down the statistics of C-USA's teams. The top four scoring offenses in C-USA are all made up of teams from the West Division, with Tulsa leading the way at 52 points per game. In scoring defense, the East claims four of the first five spots, with ECU in first at 21.2 points per game.

The problem for the East teams is that the teams from the West have found more success with their style of play.

Defense does win championships, but C-USA is the exception to that rule. The records of C-USA's teams indicate that teams' offenses usually win games. In the West Division, four teams currently have conference records above .500. On the other side, only ECU and Marshall have winning conference records.

For some reason, the conference's best offenses reside in the West and the conference's best defenses reside in the East.

In a conference that has been defined by offense, I'll take the West.

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