East Carolina 11/11 8:00 ESPN2

[fmirzamd]

QB play was not up to the standard of top 25 teams. He missed open receiver with TD potential, he missed wide open Trey on the last drive with 2nd and 5 which should have finished the game then. This is not a top 25 team I am sorry to say.

[Lobot]

I thought the targeting call was terrible. He has to hit him hard to jar the ball loose. Led with shoulder with helmet down. Also mystery to me why tight ends are not targeted more often. We did have two short passes to for touchdowns due to team speed but only two. Tight ends and slot across the middle would have consistently moved the ball. Defense had some trouble tackling all night but stepped up big at end of the game, unlike UCF. Maybe we heal things against Temple before a must win big game against Tulane (two years ago who would have thought we would have seen this phrase?).

Holton Ahlers has accused Threats of a dirty play on the targeting hit. He seemed to think we're known for playing dirty and that was an intentional attempt to take out Mitchell.

[Lobot]

Holton Ahlers has accused Threats of a dirty play on the targeting hit. He seemed to think we're known for playing dirty and that was an intentional attempt to take out Mitchell.

And now Mike Houston has doubled down on that opinion.

[bearcatbret]

My biggest disappointment of the game was the fans leaving at the end of the third quarter/beginning of the 4th quarter. We needed the noise all of the 4th quarter to help the defense. I understand that it was late but what is another half hour?

[Oldtimer_UC_fan]

And now Mike Houston has doubled down on that opinion.

That targeting call was borderline at best. I think Threats led with his shoulder and the speed caused it.

[coach]

That targeting call was borderline at best. I think Threats led with his shoulder and the speed caused it.

Agree. His helmet was clearly in front of the wr as he came from the side and his hit was under the pads with his shoulder. The announcers even conceded it was not a targeting call, but again default to this "defenseless wr concept". It's ridiculous a guy misses the next game first half for something like this, and it was definitely not a dirty hit if you watch it in slow motion. He hit him right as the ball got there and broke it up, and honestly much of where and how a guy gets hit is in the hands of the wr and how he moves in the last second. Coincidentally, the wr hopped up right after the review was announced. The other bogus moment was the unsportsmen like call on Justin. #5's own man #1 gave him a shove, not our guy. #5 is a punk who was talking the entire night both to our players and the fans. He flopped flat out, and his teammates celebrated it on the sidelines. Terrible call. I've not seen Fickell that animated, but it was right in front of him as #5 would not leave our defensive sideline meeting. He fell because his teammate was pushing him to their sideline. They won the Oscar contest, but lost the game. Even the qb was taunting the student section after a td. Ecu fans are always screaming the Cats are dirty etc, but they should look in the mirror. They talk and act as much as anyone we play all year. Good riddance.

[Lobot]

Post game from Justin Williams: ($)

https://theathletic.com/3835343/2022...-football-ecu/

[longtimefan]

Agree. His helmet was clearly in front of the wr as he came from the side and his hit was under the pads with his shoulder. The announcers even conceded it was not a targeting call, but again default to this "defenseless wr concept". It's ridiculous a guy misses the next game first half for something like this, and it was definitely not a dirty hit if you watch it in slow motion. He hit him right as the ball got there and broke it up, and honestly much of where and how a guy gets hit is in the hands of the wr and how he moves in the last second. Coincidentally, the wr hopped up right after the review was announced. The other bogus moment was the unsportsmen like call on Justin. #5's own man #1 gave him a shove, not our guy. #5 is a punk who was talking the entire night both to our players and the fans. He flopped flat out, and his teammates celebrated it on the sidelines. Terrible call. I've not seen Fickell that animated, but it was right in front of him as #5 would not leave our defensive sideline meeting. He fell because his teammate was pushing him to their sideline. They won the Oscar contest, but lost the game. Even the qb was taunting the student section after a td. Ecu fans are always screaming the Cats are dirty etc, but they should look in the mirror. They talk and act as much as anyone we play all year. Good riddance.

#5 is CJ Johnson, the guy who was hurt on the last play, and got an ambulance ride to the hospital. Glad he seems OK after that, but also glad he’ll have to live with the loss after being such a jerk during the game.

[GangstaTakester]

It would be crazy hard to be associated with athletics in the age of social media. As fans, we are never happy, and that is what makes forums like this so much fun. Last year, everyone was so happy that Gino was going to call plays and that Denbrock was gone. Now Gino is an idiot and we want Denbrock back. When Dez struggled we wanted Bryant to play. Now we want Prater to play. Someone is always going to be unhappy. All I can say is that have enjoyed the last 4 years incredibly. We are not going to win the AAC every year or get the NY6 bowl game. We are going to be relevant every year, though, and we are going to continue to get better and better talent. This team has some holes and the play calling seems suspect at times. That safety, yesterday was horrible lapse in judgement. The defense makes some dumb penalties. However, this defense hits, and the offense has made some huge plays. More importantly, we are still in it. We still have a chance to win the American and we still, while a long chance, have a chance to get into a NY6 bowl because this team more often than not, figures out how to win the games. We are a few plays from being undefeated and a few plays from being .500. I love UC football and the ups and downs associated with it because our ups are higher than I ever expected and the downs are greater than the ups were in the not too distant past. My prediction is that Ben is going to light it up these last 2 games and the running game is going to take off.

[UC4me]

It would be crazy hard to be associated with athletics in the age of social media. As fans, we are never happy, and that is what makes forums like this so much fun. Last year, everyone was so happy that Gino was going to call plays and that Denbrock was gone. Now Gino is an idiot and we want Denbrock back. When Dez struggled we wanted Bryant to play. Now we want Prater to play. Someone is always going to be unhappy. All I can say is that have enjoyed the last 4 years incredibly. We are not going to win the AAC every year or get the NY6 bowl game. We are going to be relevant every year, though, and we are going to continue to get better and better talent. This team has some holes and the play calling seems suspect at times. That safety, yesterday was horrible lapse in judgement. The defense makes some dumb penalties. However, this defense hits, and the offense has made some huge plays. More importantly, we are still in it. We still have a chance to win the American and we still, while a long chance, have a chance to get into a NY6 bowl because this team more often than not, figures out how to win the games. We are a few plays from being undefeated and a few plays from being .500. I love UC football and the ups and downs associated with it because our ups are higher than I ever expected and the downs are greater than the ups were in the not too distant past. My prediction is that Ben is going to light it up these last 2 games and the running game is going to take off.

This read is a breath of fresh air. Thank you.

[Rufus]

Someone else posted this earlier in another post game comment and it may have some truth to it, but I really wonder if the leagues' leaders are harboring ill feelings' for UC scooting to B12 pastures, even the refs. This may account for the inordinate number of penalties this year, although I have seen some players making some bone
headed mistakes this year.

[bearcatbret]

Someone else posted this earlier in another post game comment and it may have some truth to it, but I really wonder if the leagues' leaders are harboring ill feelings' for UC scooting to B12 pastures, even the refs. This may account for the inordinate number of penalties this year, although I have seen some players making some bone
headed mistakes this year.

It was an article written about "Targeting the Deserters". It primarily focused on TX, Oklahoma, and USC after a weekend that they all lost games that they were leading and looked like they would win. One particular game, the other team's last drive of the game was continuously extended by penalties. This was right after the SMU game and sounded very familiar. I am kind of starting to believe it. We have had too many close victories that looked like they were going to be blow-outs. All of those games, there were some suspect calls by the oficials.

[True Bearcat]

The East Carolina coaches tried to imitate the Central Florida defensive plan against Bryant and the offense. A lot of man with blitzes coming on every play. Once Gino adjusted and called the two quick passes that went for long td runs then ECU changed to a lot of cover 2 taking away the 10-15 yard outs, and in routes. Bryant really struggled with this as well because he either doesn't check off his first read or has pressure quickly because of the poor oline play. Central Florida proved if you can get close to Bryant he miss throws the ball. Everyone from that night on will try to duplicate that.

[Geaux Juan]

It was an article written about "Targeting the Deserters". It primarily focused on TX, Oklahoma, and USC after a weekend that they all lost games that they were leading and looked like they would win. One particular game, the other team's last drive of the game was continuously extended by penalties. This was right after the SMU game and sounded very familiar. I am kind of starting to believe it. We have had too many close victories that looked like they were going to be blow-outs. All of those games, there were some suspect calls by the oficials.

It "feels" this way to me from time to time, but I refuse to believe it really happens.

Officials are human, and sometimes they missed penalties that occur, sometimes the call penalties that didn't look like penalties, but most of the time they call it correctly.

One piece of evidence from Friday - the holding penalty called on ECU on their last (true) drive. It moved ECU from 4th and 2 yards to 4th and 12. If they were truly biased they would have ignored the penalty.