Ohio vs. East Carolina
December 23, 2013
Tropicana Field/ St. Petersburg, FL
Season Review: Ohio
The Bobcats started off the season rough, opening 2013 with a 49-7 loss to Teddy Bridgewater and Louisville. From there though, Ohio pulled out 4 straight wins, including a tight 34-31 victory over Marshall, who, later in the season, took Virginia Tech to triple-overtime. Their win streak stopped at 4 after they allowed a last second touchdown to Central Michigan. They then won a couple “gimme” games against Eastern Michigan and Miami University, but then suffered a three-game losing streak. They won their season finale against UMass to pull their season record to 7-5.
The Bobcats were 88th in total offense and 57th in total defense, so they were not exemplary by any means. They have some talented offensive players though, in quarterback Tyler Tettleton and running back Beau Blankenship. Tettleton led the Bobcats with 2,623 yards passing and 20 touchdowns, while Blankenship with 844 yards and five touchdowns.
Season Review: East Carolina
ECU had a phenomenal season for a Conference-USA team. They finished the regular season 9-3, including wins over ACC-opponents: North Carolina State and a 55-31 blowout of North Carolina. The Pirates finished the season 11th in the country in points per game (40.4) and 10th in passing yards per game (331.5).
The offense was led by quarterback Shane Carden, who threw for 3,866 yards and 32 touchdowns. Carden played great all season, and received a lot of help from receiver Justin Hardy, who caught 105 passes for 1,218 yards and eight touchdowns.
Game Matchup
This game projects to be fairly one-sided. Ohio had a very up-and-down season without any victories against significant teams. Meanwhile, the Pirates have one of the best offenses in the country, led by Carden and Hardy, and have played and won games against BCS-conference teams.
The key game matchup will be the passing offense of ECU against the OU secondary. They will have to find a way to lockdown Hardy, and force the Pirates to use their ground game. Even then though, ECU has Vintavious Cooper, who rushed for 995 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Predicted Winner: ECU
Draft Impact
Justin Hardy (WR, ECU)- As mentioned earlier, Hardy has had a great season, and it certainly would not be surprising if he were to declare after the season. Hardy is athletic with a good ability to track the ball and good hands. However, with how deep this receiver class is, he may be better off returning to school.
Justin Jones (TE, ECU)- Jones is an incredibly intriguing player. ECU’s offense doesn’t really use a tight end, so Jones didn’t see that much action, not catching a single pass. However, at 6’8” and 277 pounds and with good athletic ability, he could be a project that a team takes a late round flier on and tries to develop him.