East Carolina has been an offensive juggernaut this year, but their defense is horrendous. Marshall should put up points with their passing game, so go Over.
The scoreboard should be lit up frequently when the East Carolina Pirates and Marshall Thundering Herd get together this afternoon.
[articleBanner]who2beton[/articleBanner]Conference USA has been a fun conference to watch this year, because there isn’t a single team in the league with a good enough defense to stop the better offenses that they face. That’s why we’ve seen wild shootout after wild shootout in this conference, week after week. The betting marketplace has been rather slow to react to the lack of quality defenses in C-USA, giving us continued value when we bet projected high scoring games over the total.
East Carolina has been an offensive juggernaut under Skip Holtz this season. Last year, the Pirates earned their first bowl bid since 2001 despite a sluggish offense that produced only 21 points per game. Their season high in points scored was 38 in a victory over SMU. In 2007, with a completely rebuilt attack following the graduation losses of all of their best skill position weapons, East Carolina is going nuts! In their last five conference games, the Pirates have scored 37, 52, 45, 41 and 56 points.
The quarterback combination of Rob Kass and Patrick Pinkney keeps opposing defenses off balance. Senior running back Chris Johnson gained 301 yards on the ground last week against Memphis. Star receivers Dwayne Harris and Jamar Bryant have picked up the slack left by Aundrae Allison’s offseason departure to the NFL. Facing a bad Marshall defense allowing more than 36 points per game, we can expect the Pirates offensive onslaught to continue.
However, East Carolina also has all kinds of defensive weaknesses, particularly against the pass. The Pirates allowed 416 net passing yards and 40 points to Memphis last week. The Pirates allowed 42 in their previous road game at UTEP, and 35 and 48 points respectively in the two road tilts prior to that. Their defensive weakness against the pass is a very bad fit against the Thundering Herd’s one man attack.
Marshall is a very bad football team, but senior quarterback Bernie Morris has been a one man wrecking crew for opposing defenders, with a big arm and the ability to scramble out of trouble in the pocket. Big play receivers Cody Slate and the appropriately named Darius Passmore have the speed to give the Pirate secondary trouble all afternoon.
Expect yet another C-USA shootout that flies well Over the total.
Free Pick: East Carolina, Marshall Over 65½