GREENVILLE — East Carolina could be 5-0 at this point, without too many what ifs, but the Pirates were feeling pretty good Saturday evening about a 1-0 start in the American Athletic Conference.
After losing at home to Appalachian State, 21-19, after leading 16-0, and taking a 35-24 loss at Liberty last week after jumping in front, 17-0, the Pirates put together a comeback of their own.
Down 13-3 late in the first half to Texas San Antonio before 41,851
at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, the Pirates were better finishers than starters for a change and dealt the Roadrunners a 30-20 defeat.
“After the last two weeks and a couple of heartbreaking losses when we had the lead and had chances to win against really good teams, it’s just great to see some of the things we saw tonight,” said Pirates coach Mike Houston. ” … I’m particularly pleased to see some of the things we did to take command of the game.”
ECU went ahead, 17-13, on its first possession of the second half on a pass from Jake Garcia to Winston Wright Jr. that covered 40 yards with Wright skirting the north sideline to reach the end zone with 10:45 left in the third quarter.
Garcia had a 25-yard completion to Brock Spalding from the ECU 8 on the Pirates’ second series of the second half and a 16-yard gainer to Chase Sowell before Zah Frazier of the Roadrunners intercepted at the UTSA 2-yard line, the first turnover of the game for ECU.
Garcia hit Anthony Smith for a 53-yard touchdown with 49 second left in the third quarter as ECU went ahead, 24-13.
“I was on my back,” Garcia said. “I saw a flag and I was like, ‘no, please.'”
The penalty was on the Roadruners and was declined.
Andrew Wilson-Lamp intercepted for the Pirates at the ECU 34-yard line on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Omar Rogers had a pick for ECU at the UTSA 29 with 12:35 to go. Noah Perez subsequently hit a 42-yard field goal for a 27-13 lead with 11:51 left.
Brandon High went 66 yards on a counter play as the Roadrunners pulled within 27-20 with 10:38 remaining. Frazier’s second interception gave UTSA the ball at the ECU 25 with 10:33 left. The visitors turned the ball over on downs at the Pirates’ 18.
The Pirates added a 24-yard field goal by Perez for the final margin after UTSA (2-3) turned the ball over on downs at its 4-yard line with 1:48 to play.
East Carolina (3-2) struck quickly after a turnover on UTSA’s first possession of the game. Robert Henry of the Roadrunners fumbled on a hit by Gavin Gibson and Isaiah Brown-Murray recovered for the Pirates at the UTSA 47.
A 35-yard pass from Garcia to Yannick Smith gave ECU a first down at the Roadrunners’ 12-yard line. The Pirates took a 3-0 lead on a 21-yard field goal by Perez on his first attempt of the season with 11:05 left in the first quarter.
The visitors tied the score at 3 on a 23-yard boot by Chase Allen with 9:55 in the opening period after a 65-yard pass from Owen McCown to Willie McCoy to the ECU 5.
McCown went out because his helmet came off on a scramble. Eddie Lee Marburger hit Kevorian Barnes on a middle screen for a 35-yard gain to the Pirates 5.
The Roadrunners scored on a 5-yard pass from McCown to tight end Oscar Cardenas for a 10-3 lead with 3:43 remaining in the first period.
UTSA added a 35-yard field goal by Allen on a drive that started at its 8-yard line for a 13-3 advantage with 3:05 to go in the half.
ECU cut the lead to 13-10 at the break as Garcia scored on a 3-yard keeper with sweep action with 36 seconds left. The 75-yard Pirate possession was helped by two pass interference penalties on the visitors, one of which nullified an interception, and a facemask penalty. Sowell had a 40-yard reception to the UTSA 20.
Garcia completed 17 of 35 for 294 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Sowell had two catches for 67 yards and Smith’s two receptions accounted for 65 yards. Wright’s three grabs spanned 56 yards.
“Today was a big deal for us,” Garcia said. “We had to wipe the slate clean. We had to come into this game and go 1-0. It’s a great feeling.”
Garcia said he missed his daughter’s first birthday as ECU notched its first league win.
Rahjai Harris had 25 carries for 60 yards, producing all but two of ECU’s yards rushing.
Linebacker Michael Edwards had four solos and five assists to lead ECU in tackles with nine.
McCown connected on 24 of 49 passes for 251 yards with one TD and two picks. McCoy had 91 yards on four catches. High ran seven times for 92 yards.
ECU continues league play at Charlotte on Saturday with a 3:30 p.m. kickoff (ESPNU).
The Pirates exceeded their win total in a 2-10 season in 2023.
“It’s just about rewriting the narrative,” Garcia said. “This team has the ability to do that. We have everything that we need. … This game was huge for us.”
A win is a win, and all the sweeter given the comeback. I’m not sure the competition was as challenging as the Flames proved to be, but the Pirates played hard all 60 minutes, and deserved the win.
Garcia is still very much a work in progress, and the good, the bad, and the ugly of Saturday’s performance looks to be something Pirate Nation must endure as we go along for the ride.
One thing that is painfully obvious, the Pirates as of yet do not have a kill-the-clock version of JDB’s offense. Not must trust shown to Garcia given the play-calling down the stretch.
And kudos to the Pirates defense, who had more highs than lows in a seesaw game in which Coach Houston pretty much put the last half of the 4th quarter in their hands.
Again, a win is a win. Some good things to build on, and some “iffy” things that continue to plague the Pirates. 3-2 is better than 2-10 on any scale, understanding the 2024 Pirates have no easy days ahead.
Agree with Jerry about knockout punch. Pirates have at least 3 good running backs. Need to show more imagination in the running game. Kudos to the defense.
Kudos to the Pirates for winning a Must Win game, but goodness, it would be dishonest not to admit that they got a lot of help from UTSA, especially by way of dropped passes down the stretch and a handful of very untimely penalties, though the biggest one, that huge pass interference late in the game on a ball that was more catchable by fans than by the Pirate wideout, was a terrible call; I’d have been beside myself if I was the UTSA coach.
The offensive play by both teams down the stretch seemed almost like an exercise in who wanted the game least, though I give credit to the ECU d, which, as already stated by another commenter, Houston relied on 100% at the end, exactly as he did at the end of the ODU game.
The OL remains a significant liability, unable to dependably protect Garcia or create holes for Harris, and therefore disallowing ECU from controlling the clock; they might be marginally better than they were during last year’s nightmare, and maybe they’ll get better in season; I hope so, because I just don’t see ECU winning consistently unless and until there’s improvement there.
…but a dub is a dub, and even against a team that’s off of what it has been in recent seasons, but probably still decent nonetheless, so Congrats to the Pirates.