Danny Webster and Quataye Smyre are suspended indefinitely with Cory Hunter's right knee injury keeping him out the rest of the season.
Jimmy Williams has a fractured foot and Cooper is still recovering from his concussion.
Losing both of your slot receivers is a good thing for the Tulane defense. Tulane's top two cover guys (Batiste and Doss) have earned C-USA defensive player of the week honors for the last two weeks. The big issue for Tulane is depth after those two - CJ hasn't been here long enough to fill those holes in recruiting... ...yet.
Those slot receivers were going to be HUGE in this game. ECU's victory will now hinge on them beating the crap out Montana with their good pass rush - but that may very well still happen...
(10-09-2013 10:26 AM)PurpleReigns2012 Wrote: [ -> ]Danny Webster and Quataye Smyre are suspended indefinitely with Cory Hunter's right knee injury keeping him out the rest of the season.
Jimmy Williams has a fractured foot and Cooper is still recovering from his concussion.
Lets put a little perspective on this post and keep in mind all teams have injuries and player issues this time of year.
Cory Hunter was injured weeks ago and only has a few carries on the season.
Smyre did not see much if any action until the UNC game and at that they just run him on sweeps because he can not catch the ball consistently.
Jimmy Williams is a loss, he was just starting to get consistent snaps and was starting to make some plays.
Hearing that Cooper will play, so we will just have to wait and see how that plays out this weekend.
Webster is the one that really hurts us...While he has not had a lot of production this year he has been a beast from a blocking perspective.
So while on the surface this post makes it appear as if the sky is falling things are not quite as dire as you portray them. With that said, I am worried about this weekend. Tulane is playing well and we are on our 3rd road game in three weeks. We have the distraction of the suspensions along with a crappy weather this week that could hurt our preparation. I do not bet on ECU games but if I did I would take Tulane and the points and I would be tempted to take them for the straight up win....This game just is not setting up well for us, hopefully we can find a way to make it home with a win. Tulane and their staff are taking this game very seriously and will have a great game plan along with some new wrinkles ready. Their players are coming off a big win and are gaining confidence every week. They also have a solid defense with a pretty stout secondary...I think it will end up being a bit of defensive game and be fairly low scoring. I look for both defenses to show up and play well.
Don't forget it also hurts us in the depth department. If we keep losing 2 WRs here and there we won't have any WRs left no matter how many we have, you know?
(10-09-2013 10:58 AM)PurpleReigns2012 Wrote: [ -> ]Don't forget it also hurts us in the depth department. If we keep losing 2 WRs here and there we won't have any WRs left no matter how many we have, you know?
Well that is a given but as we speak right now we are still ok from a depth standpoint...Pretty easy fix, just move I. Jones back inside as they moved him outside to get him more reps. I actually think I. Jones could give us more production at the inside than Webster but I. Jones is not quite as good at down field blocking at this point.
(10-09-2013 10:47 AM)oliveandblue Wrote: [ -> ]Losing both of your slot receivers is a good thing for the Tulane defense. Tulane's top two cover guys (Batiste and Doss) have earned C-USA defensive player of the week honors for the last two weeks. The big issue for Tulane is depth after those two - CJ hasn't been here long enough to fill those holes in recruiting... ...yet.
Those slot receivers were going to be HUGE in this game. ECU's victory will now hinge on them beating the crap out Montana with their good pass rush - but that may very well still happen...
We did not lose both of starting inside receivers...Hardy is still playing and the guy taking Webster's spot is probably a better route runner and receiver. Webster is a physical blocker but is very undersized and sometimes seems to get lost out there from time to time. Give and take here but I think I. Jones benefits us more from a receiving perspective.
Didn't ECU suspend a couple of WRs before the season started?
(10-09-2013 11:16 AM)Native Georgian Wrote: [ -> ]Didn't ECU suspend a couple of WRs before the season started?
Yup, two guys that would have been fighting for starting jobs....They were academic casualties. But with the way our young receivers have stepped up this has been a non-issue. Going into spring ball receiver was our deepest spot on the team and it is a good thing as it seems to be our cursed area this season. Don't get too excited about it the situation as we will still be playing guys with game experience, just have to move some guys around.
My respect and admiration for Coach Ruff just grows.
(10-09-2013 11:16 AM)Native Georgian Wrote: [ -> ]Didn't ECU suspend a couple of WRs before the season started?
Yes.
We are down 5 or 6, depending on how you look at it.
Justin Jones and Jabril Soloman were academically ineligible (Jones, a senior, is done, Soloman, a rising sophomore, should be back (next year?) if he can get his grades up).
Antonio Cannon was suspended over the summer, don't know his status.
Smyre and Webster are now suspended, and who knows when they'll be reinstated. 2nd suspension for Webster.
So, that's 5. Then there's Jimmy Williams, who wasn't on the radar before the first three were out, and then proved to be a quick little guy with good hands... that's 6.
I'd guess Isaiah Jones will move inside and Zico Pasut (a running back) will be his backup, but I don't really know.... Zico had some catches in that role the last 2 weeks actually.
(10-09-2013 11:24 AM)EagleRockCafe Wrote: [ -> ]My respect and admiration for Coach Ruff just grows.
He does not play around that is for sure....Some of our fans are actually starting to complain that he is being too tough. In the long run I think his approach really benefits the program but it is frustrating at times. The players know the expectations and should, by now, understand the consequences.
(10-09-2013 11:24 AM)Chappy Wrote: [ -> ] (10-09-2013 11:16 AM)Native Georgian Wrote: [ -> ]Didn't ECU suspend a couple of WRs before the season started?
Yes.
We are down 5 or 6, depending on how you look at it.
Justin Jones and Jabril Soloman were academically ineligible (Jones, a senior, is done, Soloman, a rising sophomore, should be back (next year?) if he can get his grades up).
Antonio Cannon was suspended over the summer, don't know his status.
Smyre and Webster are now suspended, and who knows when they'll be reinstated. 2nd suspension for Webster.
So, that's 5. Then there's Jimmy Williams, who wasn't on the radar before the first three were out, and then proved to be a quick little guy with good hands... that's 6.
I'd guess Isaiah Jones will move inside and Zico Pasut (a running back) will be his backup, but I don't really know.... Zico had some catches in that role the last 2 weeks actually.
Wow... that's a lot of drama in one area (pass-receiving) of the team.
I feel like the physical status of Vintavious Cooper -- which was already important to begin with -- is suddenly going to be
Very Important.
I didn't phrase the part about Zico very well; he doesn't line up as an IR, he takes that position's place when used in a 2 back formation.
(10-09-2013 11:24 AM)EagleRockCafe Wrote: [ -> ]My respect and admiration for Coach Ruff just grows.
We appreciate that! Hang in there... USM football will be back...
I'm not worried about Smyre at all. Webster, on the other hand, is a great blocker and the kind of physical receiver that I love. He's been a handfull but he works hard; both players will probably make it back soon.
I'm really, really glad that we've built the depth that we've now got. I don't think that we can handle too many more casualties but for now, we're fine.
(10-09-2013 11:24 AM)Chappy Wrote: [ -> ] (10-09-2013 11:16 AM)Native Georgian Wrote: [ -> ]Didn't ECU suspend a couple of WRs before the season started?
Yes.
We are down 5 or 6, depending on how you look at it.
Justin Jones and Jabril Soloman were academically ineligible (Jones, a senior, is done, Soloman, a rising sophomore, should be back (next year?) if he can get his grades up).
Antonio Cannon was suspended over the summer, don't know his status.
Smyre and Webster are now suspended, and who knows when they'll be reinstated. 2nd suspension for Webster.
So, that's 5. Then there's Jimmy Williams, who wasn't on the radar before the first three were out, and then proved to be a quick little guy with good hands... that's 6.
I'd guess Isaiah Jones will move inside and Zico Pasut (a running back) will be his backup, but I don't really know.... Zico had some catches in that role the last 2 weeks actually.
Yup, looks like Isaiah Jones will be moved back inside....I think at this point we are ok but fingers crossed the guys stay healthy because we are starting to get thin at receivers.
(10-09-2013 11:30 AM)Native Georgian Wrote: [ -> ] (10-09-2013 11:24 AM)Chappy Wrote: [ -> ] (10-09-2013 11:16 AM)Native Georgian Wrote: [ -> ]Didn't ECU suspend a couple of WRs before the season started?
Yes.
We are down 5 or 6, depending on how you look at it.
Justin Jones and Jabril Soloman were academically ineligible (Jones, a senior, is done, Soloman, a rising sophomore, should be back (next year?) if he can get his grades up).
Antonio Cannon was suspended over the summer, don't know his status.
Smyre and Webster are now suspended, and who knows when they'll be reinstated. 2nd suspension for Webster.
So, that's 5. Then there's Jimmy Williams, who wasn't on the radar before the first three were out, and then proved to be a quick little guy with good hands... that's 6.
I'd guess Isaiah Jones will move inside and Zico Pasut (a running back) will be his backup, but I don't really know.... Zico had some catches in that role the last 2 weeks actually.
Wow... that's a lot of drama in one area (pass-receiving) of the team.
I feel like the physical status of Vintavious Cooper -- which was already important to begin with -- is suddenly going to be Very Important.
The amount of newbies could also play into Tulane's hands... y'all appear to be TO-generating machines.
This game scares me. How well we play down there will tell me a lot about this staff and this team.
We also have an IR named Cedric Thompson on the depth chart, but I know nothing about him.
(10-09-2013 11:30 AM)Native Georgian Wrote: [ -> ] (10-09-2013 11:24 AM)Chappy Wrote: [ -> ] (10-09-2013 11:16 AM)Native Georgian Wrote: [ -> ]Didn't ECU suspend a couple of WRs before the season started?
Yes.
We are down 5 or 6, depending on how you look at it.
Justin Jones and Jabril Soloman were academically ineligible (Jones, a senior, is done, Soloman, a rising sophomore, should be back (next year?) if he can get his grades up).
Antonio Cannon was suspended over the summer, don't know his status.
Smyre and Webster are now suspended, and who knows when they'll be reinstated. 2nd suspension for Webster.
So, that's 5. Then there's Jimmy Williams, who wasn't on the radar before the first three were out, and then proved to be a quick little guy with good hands... that's 6.
I'd guess Isaiah Jones will move inside and Zico Pasut (a running back) will be his backup, but I don't really know.... Zico had some catches in that role the last 2 weeks actually.
Wow... that's a lot of drama in one area (pass-receiving) of the team.
I feel like the physical status of Vintavious Cooper -- which was already important to begin with -- is suddenly going to be Very Important.
To be honest I really do not think the receiver suspensions will cause many issues...Webster is the only one we will truly miss and that was getting considerable reps. I. Jones was already playing the inside this year but they moved him outside to try and get him more reps because he was too talented to not play more...So him moving back inside will not be a big deal. Also, in my opinion the two backs behind Copper are probably better athletes and more polished backs than Cooper...No doubt they have more speed and can hit the holes quicker. Cooper is just one of those "gamer" type players and he is an excellent receiver out of the back field...He also breaks a lot of tackles.
(10-09-2013 11:16 AM)Native Georgian Wrote: [ -> ]Didn't ECU suspend a couple of WRs before the season started?
Yes. So that is 5 receivers who are out at this point. The crazy part to this though is that ECU has something like 20 wide receivers, so this still may not matter.