ECU Falls To Marshall In Home Opener, 31-13

Saturday, September 9

Greenville, N.C.

4:00 P.M.

East Carolina University

0-2 , 0-0

Marshall

2-0 , 0-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Marshall

East Carolina

September 09, 2023 | Football

Box Score Game Book (PDF)ECU Notes ECU-Marshall Quotes

GREENVILLE, N.C. – On a night filled with lightning-quick changes and long delays, Marshall struck the decisive blows to spoil East Carolina's 2023 home opener.

The Thundering Herd scored 21 fourth-quarter points in big-play fashion to pull away for a 31-13 victory, their first in eight trips to Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. The momentum shift came in a stunning sequence after ECU seemed in command following a delay at halftime of nearly two hours due to storms in the area.

"I was disappointed in the way the game ended," said fifth-year head coach Mike Houston, who is now 1-4 in home openers at ECU. "It turned pretty quickly and pretty extremely.

"The kids played really, really hard. We had control of the ball game, driving deep in Marshall territory with the lead in the fourth quarter. From that point we just made way too many huge mistakes and had some huge busts that you can't have."

Perhaps the biggest came when Marshall's sputtering offense reached into its bag of tricks and connected on a 75-yard double pass from Charles Montgomery to fellow wide receiver Caleb McMillan. Before that strike, Marshall managed just 16 yards on 13 second-half plays.

"We knew it was something they had in their arsenal," Houston said. "We literally talked about it right before we took the field for that snap. We had a defense called where it should have been protected. We had a huge bust, which you can't have."

The score obviously deflated the Pirates, who used a pair of big plays in the first half to erase a 10-0 deficit and pushed ahead 13-10 with a dominant third quarter. Andrew Conrad's miss of a 45-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter kept the margin at three before Montgomery took a backward pass from quarterback Cam Fancher and found McMillan all alone at the 35.

"It kind of knocked a little too much air out us, but that's a natural thing when that happens," said ECU senior outside linebacker Jeremy Lewis, who had 1.5 tackles for loss and recovered a fumble. "Trick plays happen. … We practice things, but everything doesn't always come out the way you expect it, so you've got to be able to bounce back."

Senior defensive back Julius Wood also felt the momentum shift.

"That was big for them," Wood said. "That was something that they needed to take the lead. We've just got to do better executing."

Marshall, which opened the season with a 21-17 win over Albany, was hardly finished. On the Herd's next possession, Fancher completed a 29-yard pass to Jayden Harrison to convert a third-and-16, then running back Rasheed Ali sprinted 56 yards two plays later for a touchdown and a 24-13 lead.

The Pirates stymied Ali much of the night, limiting the 6-0, 209-pound junior to a mere six yards on his first 15 carries before ripping off Marshall's first run of night for more than 15 yards. He added a 14-yard touchdown run after the first of two Micah Abraham interceptions and finished with 85 yards on 18 carries.

For much of the night, the two opposing quarterbacks generated the bulk of the offense. Fancher, now 8-1 as a starter, amassed all but 16 of Marshal's first-half yardage, throwing for 125 and picking up 44 on the ground. He finished 15 of 28 for 178 yards and netted 30 yards on 15 carries.

Mason Garcia, who split time with Alex Flinn in last week's opening loss at Michigan, directed the offense until being replaced in the fourth quarter. Garcia's 103 yards (84 rushing, 19 passing) accounted for all but 18 of ECU's first-half production. He finished with a career-high of 118 yards rushing on 16 carries and completed 10 of 23 passes for 62 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

Flinn connected on 3 of 8 passes for 61 yards with one interception.

Houston said Garcia got the nod because he felt he gave ECU the best chance to win.

"He gave us a great chance to win for a lot of the ballgame," Houston said. "No matter which quarterback you go with, you're going to have to go through some stuff to get acclimated. He made some mistakes, but some other guys out there on the field did too. So, we've got a lot to clean up."

Among the chief area is penalties. ECU, one of the least penalized teams in the nation a year ago, drew 11 flags for 112 yards a week after being penalized 12 times for 118 yards.

"We've got to clean that up, and the kids know it too," Houston said. "We'll address that this week."

A couple of those penalties proved costly in the first half as Marshall built a 10-0 lead. The Herd struck first with a 12-play, 79-yard drive to push ahead 7-0, then tacked on a field goal after three ECU penalties aided a 68-yard drive.

But the flow of a first half controlled by Marshall changed dramatically on two pivotal plays. On the first play after Kameron Lake's 20-yard field goal made it 10-0 lead with 6:03 left in the half, Garcia broke loose on a 57-yard run down the right sideline to the Marshall 18, injecting some life into the Pirates.

ECU could push no closer, and Conrad came on to boot a career-best 39-yard field goal.

The Pirates' defense then made a statement. With the Herd backed up to their 10, Chad Stephens delivered a jarring hit on Ali, forcing a fumble that Lewis recovered at the 3.

On third down, Garcia rolled to his right and zipped a pass to Shane Calhoun to tie it at 10-10

After the extended halftime, ECU seemed poised to reward the remaining fans of a turnout of 38,211 with a victory until the Marshall flipped the script.

"I told the kids all week, told them at halftime, this game's going to go down to the wire, and that's the way it was headed," Houston said. "Good football teams can't make those mistakes, can't have stretches where they play like that and expect to win.

"I know the first three quarters weren't perfect, but our kids were playing hard and giving us a chance. So, I was disappointed in the end of the ballgame."