O-line supporting ECU offense, Carden

It wasn’t always pretty, but ECU doesn’t care about covering Las Vegas spreads, so by that logic, the Pirates simply took care of business with the 45-24 home win over Southern Methodist. Saturday, head coach Ruffin McNeill and his team experienced that no matter the strength of the league, conference play is always a different animal. But before Pirate fans chalk up an inevitable loss somewhere on the schedule, consider the fact that ECU’s offense will give them a chance to win every week. And that can be attributed to the consistent play of the offensive line, as much as it can be to the prowess of quarterback Shane Carden.

Last year was different.

The Pirates had a great season, but they finished with three losses. In all three (Virginia Tech, at Tulane, at Marshall), the formula was the same: Get pressure on Carden with an athletic defensive line just quickly enough so the corners, who are playing press man-to-man, give ECU’s receivers no chance.

Coming into this season, the offensive line was somewhat of a concern because the Pirates lost the leadership of tackle Adhem Elsawi and guard Jordan Davis, along with current Pittsburgh Steeler guard Will Simmons.

But at this point, it’s clear that the Pirates have upgraded (at least barring injury) along the front with the additions of former junior college (JUCO) standouts Quincy McKinney (left guard) and Dontae Levingston (right tackle).

McNeill stated that before season workouts begin, newcomers are assigned “big brothers” to help with chemistry building. After learning who guided the two JUCO’s, it is unsurprising how quickly they’ve been able to succeed.

“Quincy’s big brother is Shane [Carden] and Dontae’s big brother is starting left tackle Ike [Harris] and starting center Taylor Hudson,” said McNeill. “Our defense also gave [the new guys] a lot of new looks in the offseason that prepared them — blitzes and stunts. But those kids are very coachable.”

At 6-4, 293, Levingston, in particular, isn’t huge, but he has the athleticism and quick feet at tackle that the offense lacked a season ago. ECU has already faced the two most talented defensive lines on their schedule with Virginia Tech and South Carolina. Not to mention, ECU escaped Blacksburg and Bud Foster with a win against one of the best defensive-line/press-corner combinations in the country. The Pirates have already overcome the matchup that gave them huge problems a season ago, so if they suffer setbacks in the remaining games, it will more likely be attributed to missed opportunities on offense (33-23 loss at South Carolina) than the play of the offensive line.

Thirty-one-year old offensive-line coach Brandon Jones has taken some heat in the recent past from ECU faithful, but the job Jones has done with his unit this season has been nothing short of outstanding. The talent he has to work with was never in doubt, but it’s been impressive to see how quickly he has gotten them to play as one unit.

Junior 6-7, 304-pound tackle Ike Harris has more than lived up to the expectations that come with his huge frame at left tackle, J.T. Boyd and Tre Robertson have been effective splitting time at right guard, and center is in the capable hands of long-time starter and senior Taylor Hudson.

“(Brandon Jones) was not just a good offensive lineman, but also an All-Big 12 offensive lineman (at Texas Tech),” said McNeill. “The moment he finished, he wanted to coach. I think he did a good job all summer of understanding what we lost and what needed to be replaced. The kids were very coachable. The old guys like Taylor (Hudson), Ike (Harris), J.T. (Boyd) and Tre (Robertson) made Dontae (Levingston) and Quincy (McKinney) comfortable.”

Through five games, the line has led the way to the nation’s 49th-ranked rushing attack at 186 yards per contest, an impressive statistic given the nature of the air-raid offense. And by the way, ECU is ranked fourth in passing with 396 per game, and the sack total of nine should climb at a slower pace as the line continues to gel; there were zero sacks Saturday against SMU.

The offensive line is only getting more cohesive, and with the conference’s best player slinging the ball around behind them, they just need to stick to what has gotten them this far. This unit will give ECU a shot to win every game on the schedule.