GREENVILLE — Tulane was limited to its lowest point total of the season but managed to edge offensively-challenged East Carolina for a 13-10 American Athletic Conference victory at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium on Saturday.
A 26-yard field goal by Valentino Ambrosio 46 seconds into the fourth quarter accounted for the only points of the second half and provided the winning margin.
Ambrosio tied the score at 10 with a 21-yarder as the first half expired after a reprieve from video review had given the Green Wave one second. The teams had headed to the locker rooms and the marching band was ready to take the field for its halftime show when it was determined that Michael Pratt had thrown incomplete with one tick remaining.
ECU went for a 4th-and-6 at the Tulane 45 on its final series when Alex Flinn’s pass intended for Chase Sowell was broken up by Jarius Monroe. Sowell wanted a pass interference call. It appeared there was contact as Monroe reached around the receiver to make the deflection.
The Green Wave did not relinquish possession over the final 7:17, converting two third downs and a fourth down to keep the ball away from the Pirates.
“It had a chance to be a pretty special night,” said ECU coach Mike Houston after emerging from a grim postgame meeting with his team.
The Pirates slipped to 1-8 overall and 0-5 in league play. Tulane moved to 8-1 and 5-0.
East Carolina was held scoreless for the final 46 minutes and 13 seconds after generating some optimism among a crowd of a 33,765 by jumping out to a 10-0 lead.
Andrew Conrad had a 27-yard field goal to conclude ECU’s first series.
Gerald Green completed a 78-yard drive with a 1-yard carry as the lead grew to 10-0 with 1:47 left in the first quarter.
The Pirates had just 47 yards of offense the rest of the game.
“The defense making adjustments and getting farther into the game and just having that consistency, it’s a combination of those things,” said ECU quarterback Alex Flinn of the offensive lull.
Flinn said the Wave changed its coverage after the scoring drive, which included a 32-yard pass to Jsi Hatfield and a 22-yard gain to Sowell.
The Green Wave, ranked No 21 in the coaches and Associated Press polls this week, were No. 24 in the first College Football Playoff rankings released Tuesday.
The defending AAC and Cotton Bowl champions were favored by 16.5 points but never approached the spread as ECU developed the 10-0 lead and relied on its defense to stay within striking distance of an upset.
“I appreciate the stadium tonight,” Houston said. “The students, the way they support our program. The fans. … Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium was rocking in the fourth quarter.”
Veteran Green Wave quarterback Michael Pratt cut the lead to 10-7 with 4:08 left in the first half on a 9-yard touchdown pass to Lawrence Keys III.
The Wave moved from its 35 for a 1st-and-goal at the ECU 3 at the close of the first half. A stand by the Pirates defense made the visitors settle for the tying boot by Ambrosio on fourth down.
Linebacker B.J. Davis was in on nine stops with five solo tackles to pace the ECU defenders.
Tulane led 368-190 in total yards and had a 38:12 to 21:48 advantage in possession time.
Neither team had a turnover.
Pratt completed 16 of 25 for 213 yards. Keys made three catches for 77 yards. Makhi Hughes ran 25 times for 105 yards for Tulane.
Rahjai Harris gained 52 yards on 13 rushes for the Pirates. Flinn completed 10 of 18 for 120 yards. Jaylen Johnson’s five catches totaled 40 yards. Rahjai Harris had 13 rushes for 52 yards.
ECU visits Florida Atlantic (4-5, 3-2) on Sat., Nov. 11, for a 4 p.m. kickoff (ESPN+).
“I’ve got a great bunch of kids,” Houston said. “They played their tails off. They prepared all week, very, very well. They came out very confident, very aggressive. They gave us a chance and that’s what makes it a tough one to swallow.”
The outtake from the effort displayed by the Pirates is tangible proof the team hasn’t quit. On the defensive side of the ball, too many key starters are out for the defense to really lock any offense down. It’s no secret that the D-line is undersized, and DC Harrell must rely on schemings to put pieces of the puzzle in the right place for the Pirates to be effective. Kudos to all the young guys who have accepted the “next man up” challenge. The defense almost pulled off the upset single-handedly. Yes, at the ultimate crunch time the Pirate D couldn’t get off the field. That doesn’t diminish Saturday’s effort.
Unfortunately, the Pirate offense, for the second week in a row, could offer only one quarter of productivity. Oddly enough, but for a sailed pass over the head of JJ, the Pirates could have taken a 14-10 lead to the fourth quarter, even considering the under performing for 45 minutes. I saw the effort exhibited, no question. Alex Flinn said that the Green Wave defense made some adjustments – well, YEAH!!! Tulane came in ranked as high as #21, is the top-ranked non Power Five team a/o today. What would you expect? That sums up the 2023 Pirate offense in a nutshell. Nine games played, and not enough improvement to muster a drive to get close enough for a field goal attempt – on a day in which a couple of field goals could have been enough to seal the deal. Nine games, and we can’t figure out something to advance the ball during a 45 minute run. What a disappointing bookend to a more than decent, defensive effort. I wish I could say it was a surprise, but…
At this point, what’s personally most vexing is what Coach’s plan is for the offense in the future, which has shown virtually no improvement this season; what’s needed is a complete overhaul, with a possible exception of the running backs roster; does that mean that the best we can hope for is maybe four wins in 2024?? Earlier in the week, Coach invoked Tulane’s bad record from three seasons ago, trying to draw a parallel with ECU’s situation today. Really?? How does that work??
Yes, TU went 2-10 in 2021, but they had Michael Pratt under center, the cornerstone position. God bless Alex Flinn and Mason Garcia, but neither have evidenced the remotest hint that either would be better than a very mediocre D1 quarterback on their very best day behind a competent OL, which unfortunately, and in fairness, they absolutely don’t have today. Is Jeter the answer? How would Coach know, since he’s given him no live action time?
I can hear it now; “Oh, the NIL! We’re so poor! It’s our circumstances!” Etc., etc. If that’s true (which I categorically reject), then ECU should admit to it, stop throwing $2.4M at a guy who in his 5th season showed up with an offense that is today ranked 127 out of 130 FBS teams, and step down to the FCS ranks.
ECU has hung on too long with losing coaches. Montgomery should not have survived his first year for example and was kept for most of 3 despite going 9-26. Thompson was here for 2 at 3-20. In both those cases it was obvious that it wasn’t working out. Neither one was able to improve the roster or achieve any depth past the starters. This is looking like a similar situation in that no one realistically can see this getting better in 1-2 more years.
College success requires a great recruiter and Houston doesn’t appear to have what todays players want.
To compare Houston to these coaches is at best very short sighted. We were in and WON a bowl just last year!! Hello!! Keaton Mitchell, a Houston recruit! How is he doing? Pointless to say but if you could go back and look at the roster under Montgomery, not even close. We have been competitive and lost in close games most of the season. Compared to the folks you sighted, we were not competitive and regularly got blown out. Look around the country and wake up. Many programs with far more resources than us are struggling. It’s ultra competitive. This coach understands and I believe continues to learn what it takes in the ‘ new’ environment of college football. Fire him?!?! Like we did McNeil?!?! Stay positive. Wake up. And if you can’t do that then please just stay silent.
I agree that getting rid of Coach Houston isn’t the thing to do. However, a come-to-Jesus meeting should have already occurred with the entire offensive coaching staff. With few exceptions, the offense is about where it should be at the start of camp, not three-quarters thru the season. The offensive line is struggling to achieve mediocrity, even after a major personnel shuffle – which itself occurred far to deep into the season. When your blind side tackle is so lost as to be left in his stance on a must-have, crunch time pass play, in the 36th quarter of the season, that’s not progress. Did it result in a sack, no, but only just barely.
The most glaring fault in all of this, is how wrong the preseason evaluations were. No one was saying stupid stuff like, “watch out Michigan”, or predicting another eight win season, but we were promised respectability. The offense isn’t delivering. Only the defense has managed to roll with the punches, maintaining a very decent level of performance for almost every game. The defense is the only reason we’ve been close in several games, although the UTSA game was a setback. There hasn’t been any good explanation for the offensive futility demonstrated by the Pirates, or why some new scheme hasn’t been put in place that as a unit, the offense could execute. Pirate Nation deserves that much.