Inside the game: Why East Carolina's offense is clicking

Lincoln Riley is a Mike Leach disciple, having spent the better part of a decade at Texas Tech under Leach's tutelage, first as a player and eventually as an assistant coach.

Now, considered one of the game's brightest young minds, Riley is making a name for himself as East Carolina's offensive coordinator. In his fifth season in Greenville, Riley, 31, and his up-tempo spread offense are putting up mind-boggling numbers as the Pirates chalk up key victory after key victory, the latest being a 70-41 thrashing of in-state rival North Carolina.

"The biggest thing I took from Mike was just the mentality that I think you have to have if you want to be really good on offense," Riley told USA TODAY Sports. "That kind of fearless, always in attack mode, always believing in what we're doing mode. … I took from Mike that you've got to stick to your guns. If we have a bad game, we're not changing anything. We have a lot of confidence in our system, what we're doing. This is a group that believes we're going to score every time we touch the ball, regardless of who we're playing. It's not cocky — our kids just believe in themselves."

That kind of steadfast — bordering on stubborn — commitment to the system has been quite effective for Riley and Co. at ECU, particularly this season. The Pirates are 3-1 with wins against UNC and then-No. 19 Virginia Tech. Their lone loss came by 10 points at then-No. 21 South Carolina in Week 2.

Together, those three games have put ECU on the national radar — the Pirates are ranked No. 24 in this week's Amway Coaches Poll — and turned quarterback Shane Carden into a dark horse Heisman candidate.

All of that makes a great deal of sense not just because of the games' outcomes, but because of the way ECU has performed when the lights were brightest. Coming off the upset of Virginia Tech, after a week of hype and buzz unlike anything else Carden says he's experienced in Greenville, the Pirates routed UNC, posting 789 total yards of offense in the process. The Tar Heels have never given up more points or yards in a single game.

What's remarkable, though, is how little ECU's offensive game plan changes depending on its opponent. Riley estimates that the Pirates prepare and focus on what they already do 90-95% of each week, and the remaining 5-10% of their prep are tweaks and adjustments for the specific opponent.

"More often than not, it's within what we do — for example, if it's a play we already like, but running it out of a different formation or doing it out of tempo," Riley said. "This group's been around long enough that we're able to branch out a little bit more.

"But yeah, it's probably, going into the game plan — there are probably two or three things we had not shown before that we did. A different route here or there, one different run concept. Nothing earth-shattering, but it's definitely something like 90-10, 95-5 as far as what we take into a game."

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Against UNC, and even without leading receiver Cam Worthy (suspended two games for a violation of the school's student code of conduct), the ECU offense stuck to what's worked all season.

That meant a heavy dose of Carden and the passing game, complemented by an improved rushing attack and, of course, that fast tempo.

"That's our offense," fifth-year senior center Taylor Hudson said. "We're going to put up a lot of points, a lot of yards. We didn't change anything for them. We just wanted to come out, play hard and do what we do."

Though the final score and stats make it seem like ECU cruised through Saturday's game, the Pirates did struggle early. They trailed the Tar Heels into the second quarter, with one early drive ending in a Carden interception, and another with a blocked field goal attempt. Carden says UNC blitzed more and played more man-to-man coverage than he'd seen on film, which forced ECU to make in-game adjustments.

After falling behind 20-14, the Pirates scored 28 unanswered points to take complete control of the game. Their run game clicked, and as Riley says, "everything started from there." Led by Breon Allen's 18 carries for 211 yards and two touchdowns, ECU rushers averaged 7.5 yards per carry on Saturday. Perhaps the best example of how back-breaking the ECU rushing attack was for the UNC defense: Allen scored on a 44-yard touchdown run in the second quarter — on third and 28. "An effort play, really," Carden said.

"We started Day 1 in camp, that we were going to run the ball, mix it up more (this season)," Hudson says. "It's more of a passing offense, obviously, but we spent pretty much the entire camp working as on offensive line on the run game."

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The linemen also spent parts of camp trying to jell as a unit, with new blood — two junior college transfers in left guard Quincy McKinney and right tackle Dontae Levingston — added to the group. Riley says this year's offensive line is "a little more talented" than in the past, which has helped when facing strong defensive fronts like Virginia Tech's. Riley also credits Hudson and his leadership for the group's success. "He's probably the smartest center in the country," Riley said. "If there's one smarter, I'd like to see him."

Carden says he has felt a noticeable effect from the line's play; he's more comfortable in the pocket and confident in his protection this year. Carden threw for more than 400 yards in back-to-back games against Virginia Tech and UNC, and against the Tar Heels, he tossed four touchdowns and ran for two more. Three different Pirates players caught at least one touchdown pass, and the depth and versatility of ECU's receiving corps more than made up for Worthy's absence.

The Pirates are idle this weekend before opening up conference play against SMU at home on Oct. 4. ECU is in its first season as a member of the American conference, and, quite suddenly, it is among the favorites to contend for a league title — and perhaps that Group of Five spot in an access bowl.

"We've put a lot of time into what we do, a lot of effort," Carden said. "So far, it's paid off. But we can't look at this like it could be a special season, or what could happen in December or January. If you start doing that, you're going to lose the next one."​