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Coming into the 2014 season, the East Carolina Pirates were unranked and barely thought of in the big college football picture. Now that they boast of the scariest offenses in the nation and have already almost knocked off a top SEC team on the road, the Pirates are quickly gaining national exposure and have jumped to No. 19 in the latest polls.
Quite the opposite of East Carolina, the South Florida Bulls have experienced little success this season and have beaten just one FBS team all year long. The Bulls have been lethargic this season on both sides of the ball and if there was ever a time to prove themselves and gain some confidence, it’s this week against the Pirates.
East Carolina, as previously stated, has one of the most potent offensive attacks in the country, ranking fourth in passing yards, 49th in rushing yards and ninth in points per game, nationally, this season. Shane Carden is one of the most underrated players in all of college football as the senior quarterback leads the strong pass game with 1,879 yards and 15 touchdowns while completing about 65 percent of his passes; he has also added three rushing touchdowns to his impressive stat line this season. Carden has developed two clear favorite targets this season — one being Justin Hardy and the other being Isaiah Jones. Hardy leads all wide outs with 479 yards and five touchdowns on 37 catches while Jones has a team-high 38 catches for 453 yards and four scores. Trevon Brown is another wide out to watch out for as he has 13 catches for 249 yards and four scores. Senior Breon Allen leads the solid run game with 380 yards and three touchdowns on 8.8 yards per touch — the team as a whole averages 6.1 yards per carry.
South Florida has been the exact opposite of East Carolina this season, struggling mightily on offense, ranking a lowly 117th in passing yards, 95th in rushing yards and 114th in points scored per game in the country. The mediocre passing game is led by sophomore quarterback Mike White who has completed a less than impressive 40 percent of his passes for 561 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. Three receivers have broken the 100-yard mark surprisingly, despite having such a struggling set of quarterbacks all season long. Rodney Adams is the only wide out with over 10 catches this season, leading the team with 12 snags for 204 yards and a score. The next two closest receivers are relatively far behind — Deonte Welch has nine catches for 109 yards and Mike McFarland has seven catches for 105 yards. Freshman running back Marlon Mack has easily been the most impressive and successful offensive player this season for the Bulls, rushing for 536 yards and five scores on 5.4 yards per carry.
Defensively, the Bulls have not been as impressive as they would have hoped to be in 2014. South Florida ranks just 87th in points allowed per game as well as ranking near the bottom half of the country in total yards allowed per contest with 391 — over 170 yards per game come on the ground. East Carolina ranks a big more impressive 68th in points allowed per game while ranking in the top half of the nation in total yards allowed with 366 per contest. The crowd at Raymond James Stadium will be hungry for an upset as the Bulls will look to pull one off at home.
East Carolina will travel to South Florida to take on the Bulls at 7 p.m. EST on Saturday, Oct. 11. The game will be broadcasted on ESPNU.
PREDICTION: East Carolina 44, South Florida 20
Want to see the Pirates take on the Bulls in week seven? Check out ScoreBig for tickets.
Connor Muldowney is a columnist for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @Connormuldowney, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google. You can also reach him at [email protected].
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