Ladies and gentlemen, we give you the Group of 5 representative for the New Year’s Eve bowls: the ECU Pirates.
For a week.
In this age of quick reaction and overreaction, we continue to ignore the reality that the foundation of college football is more about players learning to deal with success than dealing with adversity.
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As good as it looks one week, it could be completely different a week later. Case in point: Virginia Tech.
The Hokies blew out Ohio State in Columbus last week, then returned home to play ECU in a prove-it game — and were down 21-0 before the first quarter ended. Is it really surprising that, after coming all the way back and tying the game at 21 with less than two minutes to play, VT would lose in the last series of the game?
This is the way it works in college football, and those who adjust are those who persevere in this demolition derby of a beauty pageant. Next up: ECU.
The Pirates played well enough last week to beat South Carolina, but blew multiple opportunities to score (just like they did against VT) and fell apart in the second half. So ECU plays the following week with emotion and something to prove; Virginia Tech plays like it was still celebrating last week’s victory.
Guess who has a prove-it game next week, at home no less? ECU plays host to North Carolina — its third straight game against a Power 5 opponent — in a game that could go a long way in strengthening the Pirates’ resume for the College Football Playoff committee. The highest-ranked Group of 5 conference champion gets an at-large spot in a New Year’s Eve bowl.
That, of course, is assuming ECU wins the American Athletic Conference.
Let’s just stick with next week against UNC, shall we?