One of the more successful aspects of ECU's football team this season has been the emergence of the Pirate defense.
Ranked near or at the bottom of the pack last season, the Pirate D has made an about face so far this year. They hope to add on to that success and give their team an ample opportunity to pick up their first conference win of the season.
It will be a high noon shootout at Lincoln Financial Field when ECU takes on Temple in AAC action this Saturday in Philadelphia..
The 2-3 Owls run the football well and have the ability to win games with the pass as well. To be successful this week, the Pirates have to be sound up front, an aspect that has improved on a every week.
Limiting senior Ryquell Armstead at running back will play a big part in that effort for ECU. Armstead has already rushed for 578 yards in five games this season and 5.2 yards per carry. He is averaging 107 yards a game.
"What we need to do up front is stop the run game. We need to stop number 7 and stop him from running downhill," nose guard Alex Turner told PirateIllustrated.com, "We go about doing that by playing the combos well and playing the double teams well and just getting them knocked back and getting in the backfield and stopping them there."
Last week, ECU limited ODU to just 21 net yards on the ground. If the Pirates get an effort that is anywhere in that same neighborhood on Saturday, the chances for a victory go up exponentially.
That success has the ECU team gaining more and more confidence. The Pirates enter this week's contest with a 2-2 record after last week's 37-35 win over ODU and 0-1 in AAC play with a close loss at USF 20-13 on September 22.
""We just need to stay on an even keel and keep grinding every day, basically," Turner said, "The guys are feeling great. We're all excited for this conference game coming up and just excited to get out there and show the conference what we're made of."
A lot of ECU's success comes at the hands of new defensive coordinator David Blackwell who has organized an ever improving defense that gives the Pirates a chance to win every week. He along with his staff on that side of the football have now built one of the better defenses in the conference.
"He's an excellent coach and he's a great man. He knows what he's doing and he teaches us all of the fundamentals and just teaches us to work hard every day," said Turner, "It's really a brotherhood out there actually playing ball and working hard. We'll be dead tired but just loving it and working hard every single second of it."
Turner and his unit come in fired up to show the nation what they can do.
"This is going to be really kind of a showing week for us on where we're at as a defensive line as we continue to grow and get better each and every day," Turner told PI.
This isn't the 6-2, 294 pound junior from Houston's first look at Temple and Turner gave his general feeling about this week's game at Temple after a week of preparation and getting a good look at them on video in the classroom.
"I think it's a good matchup. I think again we need to stop number 7 from running the ball and stop the run game. That way we can convert to pass and get some sacks."
Game time is at 12 noon on Saturday from Lincoln Financial Field for ECU - Temple on ESPNews and the Pirate IMG Sports Network.
