Conference USA Report (Sept. 25)
By Jamie Lay (Posted 9-24-08)

Forte Starts His First NFL Game
Did you see Matt Forte this Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers? He ran all over Monte Kiffin Jon Gruden’s defense and his appearance marked a milestone for the Bears. He was the first Chicago rookie running back to start a game since Walter Payton in 1975. That’s remarkable considering Payton’s hall-of-fame career. So far, Forte leads all rookie running backs with 73 carries for 304 yards – while his quarterback Kyle Orton is slowly drowning in sea of ineptitude. Not to worry Bears fans, he is used to being the only offensive weapon on the field, Forte played four years at Tulane. There he was clearly a once-a-decade running back, rushing for over 4,000 yards and 39 touchdowns. To the surprise of many coaches and players in the C-USA that he often sped by, Forte slipped to the 2nd round. NFL scouts thought he played against an inferior competition in C-USA. If you talk to his former coach Bob Toledo, he’ll tell you they’re wrong.

"I’ve said it from day one, if he was at USC or UCLA, where I’ve been before, he would have probably been a Heisman trophy candidate,” Toledo said. “He’s big. He’s strong. He’s fast. He’s quick. He’s durable. He can catch the ball. And he’s a great person. He understands football. Not only can he run the football, but he knows protections. That’s a hard thing to teach particularly at the college level. Then when you get up to the pros if you haven’t done it. He’s had a lot of exposure and I think he’s a great player and I told people coming out that he was a great player and people didn’t want to believe me. He rushed for over 2,000 yards and there haven’t been many of those in the past 100 years of college football. I think he’s doing a great job with the Bears right now.”

Ring the Bell for ECU
East Carolina finally lost. It was bound to happen eventually. The Pirates luck ran out in overtime when Patrick Pinkney fumbled the ball on the third play in overtime and N.C. State scored on the next drive for the sudden death win. Many were shocked it was N.C. State, a team as hapless as any in the ACC for the last few years, who William & Mary played tight earlier in the season, that ended the Pirates streak. The truth is, it could have been Tulane last week or any team in the C-USA. The loss, however disappointing to the program (and you guys out there that root for the underdog) is rather meaningless when you look at the bigger picture. The amount of exposure Skip Holtz’s team garnered in the first three weeks of the season was enough to solidify that program for years and years. When your team upsets two-ranked squads named Virginia Tech and West Virginia to start the season and enters the Top 25 for the first time in just under a decade, the recruits are waiting at the door saying, ‘Where do I sign?’ You can’t tell Holtz it wasn’t difficult to lose. The usually upbeat coach was still bitter about it all on Monday.

“We felt like it was a game we should have won,” Holtz said.

The offense, like the cliché says, usually gets all attention and is showered with all praise. But you have to say ECU’s defense and offense are pretty well balanced. There is Pinkey and his talented receivers Dwyane Harris and Jamar Bryant, but also defensive end C.J. Wilson and linebacker Pierre Bell on the other side of the ball. Bell, a senior who came to ECU as a running back, is the cornerstone of Holtz’s defense, a unit that held Virginia Tech and West Virginia to only 25 points. Holtz is thrilled by Bell’s performance in the first three games.

“He’s one of those heart beats,” Holtz said about Bell. “Even more since Clinton Cotton has gone out. Those two being the two seniors there that have run the defense. Playing linebacker is like playing the quarterback position. You are the leader whether you want to be or not. Clinton Cotton and Pierre Bell were our two seniors there. Clinton went out with a knee injury Pierre is the only senior left standing at that linebacker group and there is Pierre, Nick, and Jeremy and then a lot of young guys. I think Pierre is obviously playing well on the field but elected a captain by his teammates and he’s very vocal and he’s doing a nice job in the middle of the field there.”

Battle of the Defamed Coaches
The match up – UCF vs. UTEP – is, at best, mediocre. UCF is 1-2 and third in the east. UTEP is winless and fourth in the west. For both teams it is the first conference game. More than anything, it is remarkable the two coaches, Mike Price and George O’ Leary, are still on the sidelines, after making what many would say are career ending follies just a few years ago. If you remember, they paid dearly for their sins, were defamed in the media, slipped suddenly down the coaching ladder but landed on their feet at UCF and UTEP. Each was near the pinnacle of his coaching career, ready to take the head jobs at two traditional powerhouses (Alabama and Notre Dame) before a tragic flaw caused them to lose it all.

Since taking on the new positions at UCF and UTEP, Price and O’Leary have been very success. Price has transformed UTEP into a winning program and O’Leary pulled the fourth best turn around in college football history, following a winless first season with 8-5 and a spot in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl. In 2007 he won the C-USA title and made the AutoZone Liberty Bowl.