Appalachian State Tops East Carolina, 43-28

Saturday, September 16

Boone, N.C.

3:30 P.M.

East Carolina University

0-3 , 0-0

Appalachian State

2-1 , 0-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

East Carolina

App State

September 16, 2023 | Football

Box Score Game Book Postgame Notes (PDF)

BOONE, N.C. – A change at quarterback couldn't alter the path of a disappointing start to East Carolina's 2023 football season.

Alex Flinn made his first career start at quarterback and provided a spark Saturday against in-state foe Appalachian State, but three interceptions and a Mountaineer second-half offensive surge led to a 43-28 loss.

A week after seeing Marshall reel off 21 straight points to erase a 13-10 second-half deficit, the Pirates surrendered 21 unanswered points to App State after leading 28-22 nearly seven minutes into the third quarter. ECU falls to 0-3 for the first time since 2017 and dropped its second in a row to the Mountaineers in the teams' first meeting in Boone since 1979.

"I knew coming into this we had a challenging non-conference schedule," said fifth-year head coach Mike Houston, whose team opened the season at No. 2 Michigan. "Now, we have hurt ourselves. But we have seen improvement. That's what I told the kids in there: There's a good football team in that locker room. We've got to continue to push to put it all together."

The Pirates showed flashes in an excitement-filled duel before a record Kidd Brewer Stadium crowd of 40,168, matching blow for blow in a game featuring six lead changes, five turnovers, four scoring plays of at least 34 yards and a pair of defensive touchdowns – both by ECU.

East Carolina, averaging just 8.0 points per game coming in, led by as much as 21-10 behind an effective mix of a balanced offense directed by Flinn, an aggressive defense and the punting of Luke Larsen but could not keep pace with the quick-strike Mountaineers (2-1). App State finished with a dominant 465-240 advantage in total yards, holding ECU to 79 yards rushing while piling up 224.

ASU took the lead for good at 29-28 on Joey Aguilar's 35-yard pass to Milan Tucker with 8:18 left in the third quarter. Aguilar, who threw for 241 yards and three touchdowns, added a one-yard run with nine seconds left in the quarter then delivered the dagger with a 6-yard toss to David Larkins with 5:44 to play.

"I thought our defense was on the field too much there in the third quarter, and it got to us there in the fourth," Houston said. "We weren't able to keep up with them when they made a run and got the momentum. We were trying really hard to get back to a one-score game, and we never could do that in the fourth quarter."

ECU maintained the upper hand much of the first half as Flinn, starting in place of Mason Garcia, directed 10-play, 75-yard drive on the opening series. The redshirt junior completed 17 of 31 passes for 158 yards with three interceptions but also was victimized by several dropped passes.

App State's blitzing defense recorded four sacks and forced two passes ruled intentional grounding. Overall. ECU had double-digit penalties for the third-straight game to begin the season (11 for 80 yards).

The Pirates did show more explosiveness of offense, chalking up three plays of 20-plus yards after two total in the first two games.

Houston said he saw positives from Flinn, who played a backup role in the first two games and all but the final series of the first half on Saturday,

"For the most part it was very positive," Houston said. "The first interception is on him. We'll look at the other two. All things considered, I thought he did a lot of positive things, a lot of things to build on."

Rahjai Harris provided some punch with 56 yards on 12 carries and a pair of touchdowns, but the Pirates managed just 79 yards total. App State, spearheaded by Nate Noel, racked up 224 yards on the ground to go with 221 through the air.

Noel finished with 178 yards on 26 carries, his 12th career 100-yard game and fourth in a row. He broke free on a 68-yard dash on the Mountaineers' second snap to tie it at 7-7, but ECU limited him to seven yards on his next seven carries in the first half. Noel had 103 yards on 18 second-half carries.

While ECU's offense sputtered at times, an opportunistic defense kept the Pirates in the game. Freshman Antione Jackson's pick six propelled ECU in front 14-10 after Larsen's 35-yard punt pinned App State at its one-yard line. Jackson, a 6-1, 175-pound defensive back from Lauderhill, Fla., jumped an out route on a third-down pass from Aguilar, snared the ball at the eight and easily strolled in for his first collegiate score.

Shavon Revel gave ECU its last lead at 28-22, scooping up a fumble forced by B.J. Davis and sprinted 57 yards to the house.

"Antoine made a nice break on the ball; big-time play right there by him," Houston said. "And then Shavon was able to not only recover the fumble but to take it back for a score - certainly those two plays were huge."

But App State quickly answered for a 29-28 edge then cashed in Omari Philyaw's interception to essentially seal ECU's fate.

The Pirates look to get on track next Saturday, hosting Gardner-Webb at 6 p.m.