RALEIGH — East Carolina was stopped on fourth down at the N.C. State 9-yard line with 37 seconds left as the Wolfpack held on to top the Pirates, 24-17, in the season opener for both teams on Thursday night at Carter-Finley Stadium.
“We didn’t do things early in the game to get off to a good start,” said ECU coach Blake Harrell on the Pirates’ radio network in reference to falling behind 17-0. “We couldn’t keep the chains moving.”
ECU did not have a first down on its first three possessions.
A crowd of 56,919 saw the hosts lead the rest of the way after a 29-yard field goal by Nick Koniecznski with 8:34 left in the first quarter.
State quarterback C.J. Bailey had an 11-yard scoring run with 13:33 left in the first half and he hit Wesley Grimes for a 48-yard touchdown with 11:03 left as the lead expanded quickly to 17-0.
“Our motto on offense is ‘Start fast,’ and obviously we did not do that tonight,” said Pirates quarterback Katin Houser.
The Pirates had just eight yards of offense in the first quarter, but a big play late in the first half helped break the Wolfpack’s defensive domination.
Houser hit Jayvontay Conner, who bounced off a State defender and went down the ECU sideline for a 79-yard score with 2:21 left in the half.
That cut the lead to 17-7. Teagan Wilk had a 20-yard interception return to the Pack 43 with 28 seconds before intermission. An 18-yard pass moved the Pirates to the 25 but a holding call led to a missed field goal from 53 yards as the half ended.
State restored its lead to 17 points, at 24-7, when Hollywood Smothers had a 2-yard run to complete an 80-yard drive with 3:43 to go in the third quarter.
Houser had a nice pitch to Marlon Gunn Jr. for a 4-yard TD on the first play of the fourth quarter. A 34-yard field goal by Nick Mazzie narrowed the lead to 24-17 with 8:32 left after State had missed a field goal for a 2-possesion lead.
ECU’s last series started at its 29 with 5:41 remaining. Completions of 10 yards to London Montgomery and 19 yards to Conner got the drive going.
Desirrio Riles had receptions of 17 and five yards.
Ultimately, the outcome was decided on a 4th-and-1 at the State 9 after Parker Jenkins was marked short on 3rd-and-1. Houser threw to Riles on the left and he was ushered out of bounds at the 10 for a turnover on downs.
Harrell said he was going to go for a 2-point conversion if the Pirates had gotten into the end zone.
“In the second half, we turned it up,” Houser said. “We ran out of time and fell short at the end.”
Houser completed 30 of 44 for 366 yards with one score and no interceptions. Brock Spalding (97 yards), Anthony Smith (66 yards) and Riles (49 yards) had six catches each. Yannick Smith had five receptions for 44 yards. Conner’s two grabs accounted for 98 yards.
ECU was limited to 30 yards rushing on 29 attempts.
Bailey completed 24 of 34 for 318 yards with one score and one pick.
“We couldn’t run the ball early in the game,” Harrell said. “In the secondary, we’ve got to stay on top of those post balls. Those are then differences in the game.
“You make a few mistakes, and they’ll make you pay. They certainly made us pay tonight.”
State had a slight 423-413 edge in total yards as Grimes had four catches for 121 yards and Smothers ran 22 times for 76 yards.
“This one’s over,” Harrell said. “We’ve got to go 1-0 next week.”
The Pirates host Campbell on Saturday, Sept. 6 at 6 p.m.
The Pirates showed up in Raleigh last night. Unfortunately, they could do very little right for most of the first half. The Pirates spotted State 17 points before the offense could get it into gear. Still, it came down to a fourth and one inside State’s 10yd line, with a chance for the Pirates to tie, or go for the win. Can’t say I loved the play call, but given the lack of a running game, I can understand it. I would have liked to have seen something more vertical to make State have to back out of the box and cover the end zone.
There are no moral victories, but there is a lot of good to build on, going forward. The Pirates didn’t quit. Many of the mistakes that were made can be corrected, although the lack of a running game is more problematic. The Pirates D-line did a good job. With a couple of exceptions, the rebuilt secondary was competitive.
As Coach said, this one is over. Hopefully, the Pirates came out of last night’s game healthy. GO PIRATES!!!
30 yards on 29 carries is the top storyline on this one.
…BUT, there’s still lots of good to take away from last night, especially the (very pleasantly surprising) play of the new defense, and the Pirates’ no-quit attitude. Once it got untracked, ECU’s passing attack showed what it can do, with lots of weapons, Spalding being of particular note, looking like a reincarnation of Tyler Snead. Houser was a little inconsistent, but on balance was good, especially given the added pressure of not being able to run. That will have to get fixed, and part of the fix might be QB draws. I’ve said it before, but what a difference there is in Coach’s aggressive style from his predecessor’s; he plays to win, not to control damage.