Fresh off impressive back-to-back victories over ranked squads from Virginia Tech and West Virginia, the Pirates have played the underdog role extremely well.  But now we’re going to see if ECU can handle the added pressure that comes with those victories.

The Pirates will likely be favored in each of their remaining games, including road contests against the Atlantic Coast Conference’s NC State (Sept. 20) and Virginia (Oct. 11).  In Conference USA play, East Carolina will encounter a pair of road games that are tougher than they appear on paper — at Central Florida and Southern Miss.  It’s not an easy stretch by any means, but it pales in comparison to the task this team has already accomplished.

In dismantling a team (West Virginia) expected to win the Big East title, the Pirates looked overpowering, particularly on defense in the 24-3 win.  ECU hounded Mountaineers quarterback Pat White all day Saturday, limiting him to a lackluster 72 yards passing and 97 yards rushing.  More importantly, White failed to reach the end zone a single time.  That’s a downright awful day for a Heisman favorite.

Now things turn interesting for East Carolina.  With the two heavyweights on the schedule already out of the way, how will ECU respond?  In a lot of ways, this ECU team is resembling the 2001 Fresno State team led by David Carr that looked hell bent on reaching not only a BCS bowl, but the national championship game.  That Bulldogs team began the ’01 season by beating three consecutive ranked teams (Colorado, Oregon State and Wisconsin) and was already up to #8 in the Associated Press poll in early October.  That’s when everything went thud.

A young upstart team named Boise State was about to storm onto the national scene in its first season as a member of the Western Athletic Conference.  The Broncos busted the Bulldogs’ chops 35-30, and Fresno State would not only lose its unbeaten season but would fall again the following week at Hawaii 38-34.  It was demoralizing for a team that began the year so impressively, including that road win over the eventual Big 12 champion Buffaloes.

East Carolina needs to be careful not to get caught up in the press clippings or to start believing the hype — yet.  No team — especially one of the non-BCS variety — can overlook anyone anymore.  Ohio State fans know this as well as anyone after last weekend.

And while ECU needs to stop believing the hype, so does the mainstream media.  The ESPN analysts were falling all over themselves after the Pirates’ victory over West Virginia.  ECU was unbeatable, they said.  ECU will roll through the season unbeaten because no remaining opponent is as good as Virginia Tech or West Virginia, they said.  Wait a second.  When you’re talking about mostly 18- to 22-year-olds, anything can happen.  A bad referee’s call here, a botched snap there, a disastrous fumble at the goal line… ECU’s magical season could come to a screeching halt at any moment.  (See Stanford winning at USC last year, for example.)

The bullseye is now squarely on East Carolina.  Suddenly a win over the Pirates becomes a big deal to every opponent on the slate.  And you know one of those ACC teams wants to end the run of the C-USA upstart.

For Pirates fans, college football fans in general, and fans of non-BCS teams in particular, enjoy this ride.  It’s much more of a rarity than the norm.  ECU could go all the way… or not.  And the way things are going this season, there are a few other teams like BYU, Fresno State, Boise State and Utah from non-BCS conferences waiting in the wings to pick up the flag for the Little Guys of the World if East Carolina should fall.

Share on Facebook

1.  Southern California (1-0) The Trojans spent a week on the sidelines prepping for their biggest non-conference, regular-season home game in years.  Ohio State visits the Coliseum to face a fresh and invigorated USC team.  Coach Pete Carroll had to be licking his chops watching OSU’s game Saturday against Ohio University.

2.  Georgia (2-0) The Dawgs got a 56-17 win over Central Michigan Saturday, which may sound ho-hum to some because the opponent was from the MAC.  That’s actually not a bad win because the Chippewas have an excellent QB (by the way, have you caught LeFevour yet?) and a decent shot at winning their league.  Next, UGA faces its toughest test so far at South Carolina.

3.  Oklahoma (2-0) The Sooners struggled at times against Cincinnati, but still put 52 points on the board.  OU travels to Seattle this week to take on a reeling group of Washington Huskies, who’ve got to be licking their wounds following one of the worst calls in the history of college football officiating.  My guess is that Washington won’t have much left in the tank, and the Sooners will roll.

4.  Florida (2-0) Why must we always have a sideline reporter talking about how Tim Tebow “helps” children in impoverished nations by spreading his religious message?  I wonder if Sarah Palin considers Tebow part of the offensive and awful group of community activists and organizers she condemned Wednesday.  The Gators beat a listless Miami squad and now get a bye before meeting Tennessee in Knoxville Sept. 20.

5.  Missouri (2-0) The Tigers have scored 52 points in consecutive games to begin the season.  With upcoming home games against Nevada and Buffalo, can we possibly see 52 points four straight weeks?

6.  LSU (1-0) Hurricane Gustav’s appearance meant the game between Troy and LSU had to be postponed until later in the season.  The Tigers get another bye of sorts this week, facing lowly North Texas, which has allowed 101 points in two games so far this season.  You can’t spell PUNT without UNT, and punting is just about all UNT will be able to do this week against LSU.

7.  East Carolina (2-0) If life was fair, East Carolina would be the #1 team in the nation this week in all of the polls.  The Pirates won their third straight (dating back to last season) game against a Top 25 opponent Saturday, humiliating West Virginia in the process.  ECU didn’t squeak by.  It was an old-fashioned whipping.  Beating Virginia Tech and West Virginia on consecutive weekends has set the tone for what could be a BCS-busting season.  Skip Holtz has quickly moved to the top of every school’s short list of coaches should a vacancy open up.

8.  Wisconsin (2-0) Things looked dicey early against Marshall Saturday as Wisconsin was staring at a 14-0 deficit early in the second quarter.  No worries.  The Badgers put up 51 points in a row in the rout, thanks to the play of QB Allan Evridge, who threw for 308 yards.  A huge matchup takes place Saturday in Fresno when Wisconsin becomes the first Big Ten team to ever play at Bulldog Stadium.  Fresno State beating Wisconsin is my upset pick of the week.

9.  Texas (2-0) The Longhorns are one of those teams that looks a little better than predicted.  The first two opponents haven’t been the greatest, but they haven’t exactly been pushovers either.  Florida Atlantic and UTEP have been destroyed 94-23 by UT.  Look for Texas to continue its winning ways against one of the worst 2-0 teams in the country — Arkansas — this week.  The Razorbacks have struggled mightily before squeaking out narrow wins over Western Illinois and Louisiana-Monroe.

10.  Ohio State (2-0) I’m not so sure the close call against Ohio University was a case of the Buckeyes looking ahead.  The MAC’s Bobcats exposed a lot of areas of concern for coach Jim Tressel.  And those are not exactly the types of things a coach needs heading into a monster game at USC this week.  Ohio State definitely needs Beanie Wells to play against the Trojans or it could get ugly.

11.  Auburn (2-0) The Tigers jumped to a 24-0 lead against Southern Miss and then kind of just held on for a lackluster 27-13 win.  A better performance will be needed on the road against Mississippi State Saturday, though the Bulldogs may not be as good as I earlier thought.

12.  Oregon (2-0) The Ducks are averaging 55 points a game after a pair of wins.  The eye-opener for me was in week one when Oregon dismantled Washington 44-10 despite learning starting QB Nate Costa had been lost for the season with an injury.  Blowing out the Huskies the way the Ducks did is even more impressive now after seeing Washington hold its own against BYU.  This Ducks team is for real, and the Pac-10 is looking great right now.

Just missed – Alabama, Penn State, California, Fresno State, BYU, Wake Forest

Share on Facebook

Share on Facebook