ECU Drops Season Opener In Charlotte

Thursday, September 2

Charlotte, N.C.

7:30 p.m.

East Carolina University

0-1

Appalachian State

1-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

East Carolina

Appalachian State

September 03, 2021 | Football

Box Score

Game Stats | ECU Notes

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – East Carolina head coach Mike Houston can envision his program one day reaching the consistent level of success enjoyed recently by Appalachian State. Thursday night's decisive loss to the Mountaineers in the Duke's Mayo Classic at Bank America Stadium showed there's still much work to be done.

The confidence and experience of a program that has amassed 63 wins (an average of 10.5) and six consecutive bowl wins in the last six years emerged early on pleasant evening and never waned as ASU shook off a quick punch by ECU and cruised to a 33-19 victory. The Pirates had won the previous six meetings in the series, but the teams had not met since 2012 and never as both being FBS programs.

Houston, in his third year at the ECU helm, is trying to revive a program that has just 21 wins in six years (an average of 3.55), but he is now 0-3 in season-openers with the Pirates.

"We've got to grow up and play in games like this," said Houston, whose last season-opening win came when he brought his James Madison team to Greenville in 2017. "We're playing a veteran team that has won a lot. It was a really, really intense ballgame. I thought we did some good stuff, but just too many mistakes."

Crucial penalties topped the list of miscues. The Pirates drew seven flags for 90 yards, including a pair of personal fouls that aided ASU scoring drives. A holding penalty also erased a 59-yard scamper by junior quarterback Holton Ahlers in the first half, and a late offensive pass interference penalty negated what would have been the first career touchdown for tight end Shane Calhoun.

The deciding factor, however, came up front on both sides of the ball where ASU plowed its way to a pair of 100-yard rushers while stuffing ECU's ground game and keeping the heat on Ahlers. ECU managed just 19 first-half yards on 11 carries and finished with 86 total yards on the ground.

"I thought Appalachian's defensive line got the better of us up front, and to a degree their offensive line, too," Houston said. "But I thought there were times our defensive line showed a lot of promise."

The Mountaineers kept Pirates on their heels much of the night with a quick tempo and a balanced diet of the potent backfield duo of Camerun Peoples and Nate Noel along with quarterback Chase Brice distributing the ball to 10 receivers. Noel amassed 126 yards on 15 carries and Peoples churned out 100 yards on 14 carries, scoring on runs of 12 and 21 yards.

After missing on his first two passes, Brice completed 15 of his next 18 in the first half for 156 yards and one touchdown (another was overturned by replay). He finished 20 of 27 for 259 yards with a pair of touchdowns and one interception.

"He's got a great surrounding cast," Houston said of Brice. "You've got four sixth-year senior receivers, two quality running backs, a quality offensive line. There's not as much pressure on him as there was last year (at Duke)."

Ahlers showed the experience of a third-year starter and completed 22 of 40 passes for 295 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. He accounted for half of ECU's 24 rushing attempts and netted 14 yards after four sacks.

"I thought he did some good things," Houston said. "I'm sure there's going to be some things he can improve on, but I thought he did some good things tonight."

One of those came on ECU's second possession when the left-hander teamed up with Keaton Mitchell for an electrifying 63-yard touchdown to give the Pirates their only lead. After a holding penalty set up a first-and-20, Mitchell took a swing pass, darted to the left sideline and then sprinted past safety Nick Ross to the end zone.

The lead lasted a mere 3:20. The Mountaineers quickly found their rhythm after an initial three-and-out series and scored on their next four first-half possessions for a 20-6 advantage. It could have gotten out of hand if not for a couple of stands by the ECU defense that forced ASU to settle for Chandler Staton field goals of 21 and 43 yards.

Brice connected with Thomas Hennigan for a 34-yard touchdown as ASU answered the Pirates' opening score with a seven-play, 66-yard drive for a 7-6 lead. Peoples then squirted through an opening on the right side for a 21-yard scoring run on the next possession as the Mountaineers overcame a pair of penalties to push the lead to 14-6.

ECU's bid to respond derailed when a holding penalty erased Ahlers' 59-yard run to the 5. The Mountaineers then pieced together a nine-play, 78-yard drive that reached inside the 5 before Staton came on for a chip-shot field goal.

Staton tacked on another field goal after an apparent 18-yard touchdown pass from Brice to tight end Miller Gibbs was overturned by replay. Another replay drew the ire of Houston and zapped ECUs momentum heading into halftime. On the final play of the half, Ahlers lofted a Hail Mary pass to the front of the end zone where a scrambled ensued for the ball. The Pirates' C.J. Johnson emerged from the pile with the ball, and a touchdown was signaled, but replay showed ASU's Ryan Huff had possession before the ball was wrestled away.

"I don't really understand that," Houston said. "Usually there has to be conclusive evidence. But I didn't see it. Anyway, we lost to a good football team. Calls didn't have anything to do with it, but we sure didn't get a break on the calls tonight."

The Pirates' hopes of scratching back quickly faded in the second half. After Owen Daffer, the successor to long-time kicker Jake Verity, converted his first career field goal from 38 yards, the Mountaineers needed just two plays to go 86 yards, with Brice tossing 68 yards to Hennigan and then 18 yards to Corey Sutton for a 27-9 lead.

Another quick strike by ASU made it 33-9, covering 60 yards in three running plays with Peoples running in from the 12.

The Pirates added a couple of late scores with Daffer booting a 39-yard field goal and Ahlers flipping a 38-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Jones.