GREENVILLE — Jake Verity kicked a 38-yard field goal with 46 seconds left to lift East Carolina to a 37-35 nonconference triumph Saturday over an Old Dominion team that was looking to follow up on last week’s stunning 49-35 home win over Virginia Tech.
“I don’t want anyone to think that this is my victory,” Verity said. “We won as a unit, as a team.”
The statement was as true as the decisive kick, which stayed inside the left upright in its trajectory toward the Murphy Center.
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The defense stepped up with a stop after fans at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium roundly booed the decision of ECU coach Scottie Montgomery to punt on a 4th-and-1 at the Pirates’ 28-yard line with under three minutes left and ECU on the short end of a 35-34 score.
Alex Turner had two tackles, including a sack, on the ensuing series and the Pirates got the ball back at their 33 with 2:02 to go.
Facing 4th-and-10 at the ECU 45, Reid Herring found Tahj Deans for a 16-yard gain.
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“We ran some deep routes to clear and Tahj was open underneath,” Herring said.
Pass interference moved the Pirates to the Monarchs’ 24.
The drama continued with a review of a possible ODU interception.
“We had a busted play right there,” Herring said. “The ball was in the air and I was like, ‘Dang man, I hope the game doesn’t end like that.’ I saw their safety running for the ball. It was like everything stopped and it was in slow motion. Thankfully, it was out of bounds and (Justice Davila) was bobbling it. They didn’t overturn it.”
Kendall Futrell had a game-ending sack at the ODU 3-yard line.
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The Pirates totaled nine sacks and had 15 tackles for loss, helping ECU (2-2) to a 492-271 lead in total yardage.
In 2016, the Pirates had just eight sacks for the season.
“We believe,” said senior linebacker Nate Harvey, who had three sacks Saturday. “When Coach (David) Blackwell (defensive coordinator) says, ‘Jump,” we say, ‘How high?'”
Turner and linebacker Aaron Ramseur were each in on seven tackles. Corey Seargent had an interception for ECU.
ODU (1-4) had taken a 27-21 lead on a 15-yard scoring run by Kesean Strong with 10:58 left in the third quarter. The Pirates answered on a 49-yard keeper for a touchdown by true freshman Holton Ahlers that produced a 28-27 ECU advantage with 9:18 to go in the third.
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Blake LaRussa hit Isaiah Harper for a 49-yard touchdown with 9:18 remaining. The 2-point conversion from LaRussa to Keion White put the Monarchs on top, 35-28.
Herring connected with Deans for a 4-yard TD with 5:22 to go to get the Pirates within 35-34. Verity’s conversion kick was blocked by Oshane Ximines to preserve ODU’s lead.
Herring completed 24 of 42 passes for 309 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. ECU averaged 4.7 yards on 38 rushes.
“Probably our most gratifying win as a program,” Montgomery said.
The Monarchs answered three first-half touchdowns by the Pirates with two TDs and two field goals to trail 21-20 at the break.
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A 4-yard run by Anthony Scott, a 49-yard pass from Herring to Trevon Brown and a 12-yard toss from Herring to Deondre Farrier accounted for the Pirates’ scores in the first half.
ECU returns to American Athletic Conference play on Saturday at noon against Temple at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
The Pirates had costly turnovers in a 28-23 season-opening loss to North Carolina A&T. ECU yielded big plays in a 20-13 loss at South Florida in the Pirates’ AAC opener last week.
ECU was able to overcome a turnover deficit and some big plays by the Monarchs, evidence perhaps that this group of Pirates is growing.
“We wouldn’t have won this game last year,” Montgomery said.
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