GREENVILLE — East Carolina won its second straight American Athletic Conference contest since a coaching change by obliterating Florida Atlantic, 49-14, on Thursday night before a Black-Out crowd of 30,573 at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium and a national television audience on ESPN2.
As in a 56-34 Homecoming win over Temple on Oct. 26, Michigan State transfer Katin Houser threw for five touchdowns as the Pirates improved to 5-4 overall and 3-2 in the AAC.
Mike Houston was dismissed as coach after a 45-28 loss at No. 25 Army, now 8-0, on Oct. 19.
Defensive coordinator Blake Harrell was named interim coach and while caliber of recent competition must be considered, ECU is within a win of bowl eligibility and will have the opportunity to qualify for postseason play on Thursday at Tulsa (7:30 p.m., ESPN). The Golden Hurricane is 3-6 on the season and 1-4 in league play after a 59-21 loss at Alabama Birmingham on Nov. 2.
“Thank you to the fans,” said Harrell in his postgame remarks on the Pirates radio network. “What a special environment. Just so proud of our young men, the way they go out and play together.”
ECU didn’t give FAU (2-7, 0-5 AAC) a chance to regain any confidence after a 44-21 thrashing from South Florida last week as the Pirates took a 21-0 lead before the first quarter had concluded.
Offensive coordinator John David Baker drew up a pass by Houser off a reverse that went for 25 yards to tight end Tyler Savage on the first snap. The next play was a 50-yard touchdown toss to Chase Sowell and the tone for a beatdown was set.
The next two scores covered 47 and eight yards to Florida State transfer Winston Wright Jr.
“It’s a testament to the coaches,” Wright said. “Keeping us humble and the practices are showing on Saturdays — or Thursdays.”
Houser narrowly missed another TD pass when a video review turned a score to former N.C. State receiver Anthony Smith into a 64-yard gain to the 1-yard line, setting up Rahjai Harris for a 1-yard vault into the end zone for a 28-7 lead with 1:18 left in the half.
The ECU defense went three and out before Houser bolted 35 yards for a score just 17 seconds before halftime to expand the margin to 35-7.
The Owls played two more quarterbacks after starter Cam Fancher was knocked out of the game late in the first quarter after an apparent shoulder injury.
Houser had second-half scoring passes to Smith for 47 yards in the third quarter and a 2-yarder to Jayvontay Conner with 7:25 remaining in the game.
Houser completed 17 of 22 passes for 343 yards without an interception in his third start for the Pirates.
“Playing these last three games, just getting more experience,” Houser said. “Getting comfortable with different arm angles and different touch on the ball. Just down the field, I feel like I’m connecting with the receivers more — which I wasn’t at the start of the season.”
Smith had three catches for 120 yards. Three receptions by Wright accounted for 80 yards. Jhari Patterson had three rushes for 61 yards and five catches for 40 yards. Harris ran eight times for 55 yards.
The Pirates had a 581-399 lead in total yards.
Ja’Marley Riddle had his third interception for ECU in two games and Sam Dankah also had a pick for the Pirates. Zakye Barker was in on a team-high eight tackles. Riddle was involved on seven stops.
“All we’ve asked the last couple of weeks is for these guys to go out and play with a lot of energy,” Harrell said. “They’re doing exactly that.”
I think what Harrel said after the game was telling in the post game on field interview. He gave credit to the seniors on the team. Told them that when they finish their careers they will only remember what happened in November. It’s true that I only remember that as well from my last year of high school ball, when we had a 3 game winning streak to end our season. The team was loose and having fun right from the start. It’s what has been missing for years. What a revelation Houser is, wow how was he on the bench? Saw maybe one throw off target. Can they score like that vs Navy? If he gets us into a bowl game Blake should keep the job.
There’s no denying the improvement of the Pirate offense with KH as the trigger man. Ten quarters after the change, Houser is leading the offense in the manner to which it was advertised. I don’t think he has the arm strength of Garcia, but he is displaying an accuracy which belies his time standing on the sidelines. Although there is still some room for improvement, the ‘O’ has clearly rallied around him. I have to wonder, if Coach Huston had made the change during the CLT game, would he still have his job?
The competition level clearly has been in the Pirates favor for the last two games, but you can’t ignore the improvement in overall team performance going back to the second half of the Army game.
What seemed impossible at the end of the first half of Army, a 6-6 season, is clearly in play. Dare I say it, with the current level of performance, a winning season isn’t out of the question. And, if the current staff somehow runs the table, they deserve a shot at leading the Pirates in 2025.
“…a winning season isn’t out of the question” is understating it, in my opinion. Tulsa is poor; ECU should take them handily. North Texas appears to be mediocre only, and Navy, now on a two game losing slide, including a not very good Rice team, might also prove to have earlier been a bit of a paper tiger.
I try to keep reminding myself that the competition that of the past two games was poor, but Houser’s accuracy, seeming comfort under center and even his running ability, is a source of genuine optimism, especially with two years of eligibility runway remaining ahead of him. This might the start of something big for Pirates Nation, finally.
The team is playing with heart and intensity and a free wheeling spirit that was not previously present. Harrell obviously has taken the shackles off the offense and is letting Baker call the plays he wants to call. Houser is playing with poise and not making mistakes and the offense can showcase the speed talent we have at receiver positions. 5-4 with 3 games left…….a 6th win and bowl game is now likely and winning out not to far fetched to hope for at this point.
I think North Texas and our Pirates are evenly matched. Their defense looked capable enough against Army to be challenging for our men. Plus them having homefield advantage the Tulsa game feeling like a must win for Bowel eligibility. I’m hoping for strong finish wining last three games but think Thursday is our best chance at 6 wins.