GREENVILLE — East Carolina coach Scottie Montgomery made no secret that true freshman Holton Ahlers of nearby D.H. Conley was going to make his first start at quarterback as the Pirates hosted No. 10 Central Florida on Saturday night.
The Knights were more covert before sending out redshirt freshman Darriel Mack Jr. to direct the offense with McKenzie Milton sidelined with a shoulder ailment.
UCF notched its 20th straight win, 37-10, despite 406 passing yards by Ahlers.
ECU had the lead in total yards (496-427) for the sixth time in seven games this year, but the Pirates could not overcome five turnovers.
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A jump pass went awry with ECU in a 3rd-and-goal situation at the UCF 2-yard line in the fourth quarter with an opportunity to score a touchdown that would cut the Knights’ lead to 23-17 with more than 10 minutes left in the American Athletic Conference contest.
Ahlers went up, a la Tim Tebow, but UCF defender Kyle Gibson brought pressure and the ball popped free. Nate Evans picked up the pigskin and went 94 yards to deflate ECU’s upset aspirations.
“We’ve ran it a lot during practice, ever since Carolina (41-19 ECU win on Sept. 8),” said Ahlers who made his first postgame appearance before media. “I jumped up to throw it. He was mashed (covered) and the ball was wet. I was trying to throw it away and it slipped. . . . Terrible. That’s on me though. We’ve got to learn from that. I’m going to learn from that. It won’t happen again. . . . Even though I’m a freshman, I can’t make freshman mistakes.
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“I’m the starting quarterback and my job is to lead them to win. I felt like tonight, without those three turnovers, we’re in this game.”
Ahlers also threw an interception and lost another fumble. The Knights got a field goal for a 6-3 lead after the pick and went ahead 20-3 on the series following Ahlers’ first lost fumble.
Montgomery saw the big picture when expressing his evaluation of Ahlers.
“Holton Ahlers played an incredible game,” said the third-year ECU coach after the left-hander recorded the 20th 400-yard passing performance in program history. “He did have a couple of mistakes. I think he is going to be a fantastic quarterback here in the next weeks or so. He’s doing everything we’re asking him to do. He generated the run game. We’ve got to continue to work on our run game to make sure it’s better.”
Ahlers gained 69 of ECU’s 90 rushing yards.
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Reid Herring, who started the first six games at quarterback, was injured in an automobile accident Thursday and was not available.
Ahlers and his teammates believe in each other.
“I trust my guys my guys on the outside and I trust my guys on the inside,” Ahlers said. “We’ve got playmakers and I’m going to get them the ball.”
Ahlers completed 10 passes to senior Trevon Brown for 145 yards. Brown snared a 29-yard touchdown pass to get the Pirates within 20-10 with 6:04 left in the third quarter.
“As far as him running the ball, it opens us up on the outside,” Brown said of Ahlers. “It gives us an aspect of a run-pass option.”
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Linebacker Cannon Gibbs, a team captain, gave Ahlers his full endorsement.
“I’ve talked to Holton since he got here,” Gibbs said. “He’s got a tremendous future ahead of him. I told him, I said, ‘Hey, man, this is your city. This is a great opportunity for you. Go do it.’ Going into this game, we really believed that we were going to win. We expected that. . . . He’s a great leader. I love that guy.”
The Knights were able to move to 7-0 overall and 4-0 in the AAC with their back-up quarterback, a redshirt freshman who played at Norview High School in Norfolk.
“We had to adjust because we didn’t know (Milton) wasn’t going to play,” Montgomery said. “They did a good job of trying to keep it a secret. The biggest adjustment was their quarterback runs. … It kind of changed the game. There were less run-pass options. He created a big-time run game for them. . . . I thought McKenzie went through the whole warm-up and looked good throughout the whole deal so it was a little bit of a shock.
“The first half, there was an adjustment to that.”
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Mack completed 12 of 20 passes for 69 yards without a TD or an interception. He had 22 keepers for 120 yards with a 7-yard run that gave the Knights a 20-3 lead at halftime.
“He’s obviously a lot bigger,” Gibbs said in comparing Mack to Milton. “I think they ran the ball a lot more with him than they would with McKenzie. (Mack) Is a good player, a good athete. He can throw the ball. You prepare. They still run the same scheme. We had to execute at the end of the day, no matter who was out there.”
Ahlers provided a preview of ECU’s offensive future, but the bottom line was the Pirates’ inability to take care of the ball.
“The story of the game is the way we turned the football over,” Montgomery said.
ECU (2-5, 0-4) has an open date before hosting Memphis (4-4, 1-3) on Saturday, Nov. 3.
Whenever we score a TD this year it feels like we got lucky, not the result of clever game planning.
I thought it was just me! I have wondered the exact same thing.
Other Than Ahlers we have no running game whatsoever and the O line is generally weak overall. The offensive line is generally the key to any solid football team because the running game not only helps the offense be more versatile but a solid running game takes a lot of pressure off the defense and allows the D to rest and stay off the field. Other than giving up the typical big plays we always do the defense is making a lot of plays and stops but the offense has to be more constant especially in the red zone if this team wants to win a couple more games this year…….kind of sad to even say that about this proud program but that i
s were this program is right now under this head coach.
I remember when Jeff Connors could turn a boy offensive lineman into a hulk. A very quick speedy hulk. I wonder what happened? Are we out-thinking ourselves and need to fall back on the things that worked in the past maybe?
I had the opportunity to meet Terry Long one day in Greenville before he went on to a career protecting Steelers QB’s. Met others on the O line, too. In the past couple of years I’ve had the opportunity to meet some of our starting offensive linemen. The guys from years ago were lean, fast and strong as an ox. The offensive linemen today, and I hate to say this, just look fat. And I’m sorry guys, when you put your hair up in a feminine “man bun” like what my mother used to wear it just makes you look like a big P. If you act like a pushover and look like a pushover in a contact sport like football — guess what? Somebody had to say it! OK, I’m ready to take my beating from the PC’ers out there.
Not sure why Blake Proehl is not playing or being involved in the game ? Is he hurt ? Just seems like he is the perfect short yardage get the first down type of player. Somebody the Patriots would love to have with Tom Brady. Agree with O line diagnosis. Ahlers is running for his life back there with every snap. Please recruit a running back with some speed please. Ours looks slow as me, and I am sixty years old.