East Carolina Topples USF 44-24
East Carolina jumped out to an early 17-point lead and went on to grab a convincing 44-24 win over USF Saturday night at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.
ECU rushed for 152 yards in the first half alone on the way to 210 yards on the ground for the contest, good for 4.5 yards per clip.
“That was the big focus of the week that we had to run the ball better,” ECU head coach Mike Houston said afterward, “and we really wanted to get the ball to C.J. (Johnson). Certainly the two huge plays that he made were difference making plays. I really liked the way he played tonight.”
“Really pleased with our offensive line and the way they responded this week,” said Houston, “That lineup, it was their second game together and the running backs - I really liked the way those kids ran with authority.”
Holton Ahlers threw 222 yards including 133 first half yards and three touchdowns highlighted by a 75-yard strike to Johnson late in the first quarter who ended up with 99 yards on three receptions with a pair of touchdowns.
Blake Proehl and Tyler Snead combined for seven catches for 78 yards and running back Darius Pinnix got in the act with a two-yard touchdown catch with just under four minutes to play in the first quarter.
“We were ourselves and we played good. I’ve got to give praise to the O-line. They killed it tonight and I told them that all night that if they kept doing what they were doing all game, there was no way we were going to lose,” said Ahlers, “We’ve got too many good skill players and they let us show that tonight. The defense came out all out too.”
Rahjai Harris led the Pirate running game with an ECU career high 115 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries, highlighted by a 42-yard scoring run in the first half that gave ECU(1-2/1-1 AAC) a commanding 24-7 lead.
“I’m excited and feeling good right now. Coach Houston came up to me this week and was telling me that you’re going to get your opportunity this week so you’ve got to make it happen,” said Harris afterward, “I was just preparing for it all week. Our offensive line was getting after it all week so it showed up here today. We had a go get it mindset. Every play was us against them, one on one and we had to take advantage of it this week.”
Houston broke down what the victory does for the Pirates heading into next week’s AAC tilt with Navy.
“It gives us our first win of the season and first conference win,” Houston told PirateIllustrated.com after the game, “You can’t get two before you get one. You’ve got to get one first and so certainly it was one that I felt like we needed to get. There is no pressure because the pressure comes off internally.
“I don’t care what anybody thinks. Every week out I promise you our kids and our coaches want to win worse than anybody in Pirate Nation. No offense to anybody else, but they work too hard and invest too much and they want to win more than anybody” said Houston, “It’s a thing where it’s really enjoyable as a group to see this group rebound from last week’s performance and play and practice the way we did this week. To go out and practice well all week and play well on Saturday, it just reaffirms kind of the process of how we’re doing things.”
Johnny Ford’s seven-yard touchdown with five minutes to go in the half trimmed the ECU lead to ten before a ten-yard touchdown run from Harris gave the Pirates a 31-17 lead at halftime.
C.J. Johnson’s second touchdown catch of the game on a 14-yard reception late in the third quarter then expanded the ECU lead to 38-17.
The Pirates capitalized on the first play of the subsequent USF drive when Taylor Jackson’s fumble recovery early in the fourth quarter led to a 43-yard Jake Verity field goal and a 41-17 cushion with 13:27 remaining in the game.
Verity then connected from 37 yards out for his third field goal of the game in four attempts in a 44-17 contest. In doing so, his 14 point overall performance helped Verity surpass Warren Harvey as the all time leading point scorer in ECU football history.
“It’s pretty cool to be appreciated especially being an older player and having really poured myself into this school but at the end of the day the only kick I’m worried about is the first kick at practice tomorrow,” Verity said, “That’s how I approach it, one day at a time. If you do that, I think that’s the best way to be a successful placekicker."
“It’s the start to what our mission is this year. We prepared hard in practice,” said Verity, “This is what we prepared to do. We came out here and executed and really did it and everybody is real fired up and ready to keep this ball rolling next weekend.”
The Pirate defense had their best outing in quite a while led by Xavier Smith with an ECU career-high eleven individual stops in his twelve overall tackles to go along with one sack and three tackles for a loss. He had plenty of help from cornerback Nolan Johnson who recorded nine tackles. ECU safety Shawn Dourseau and linebacker Aaron Ramseur had seven tackles each and Ramseur recorded a sack and three tackles behind the line of scrimmage while outside linebacker Jireh Wilson had six tackles, two sacks and two tackles for a loss.
Ramseur, who has fought back from an ACL injury, talked afterward about what a win like the one Saturday night does for the team heading into next week’s game against Navy.
“It gives us that juice for the next game. This is what we needed,” Ramseur told PirateIllustrated.com, “Everybody in the locker room is talking about Navy next week and making winning addictive. If we can get this done today then why not next week. That’s been the talk in the locker room and that’s how we feel moving on up.”
USF backup quarterback Noah Johnson’s 15-yard touchdown run with a minute remaining provided the final margin of victory at 44-24.
Jordan McCloud emerged this week to handle the majority of the quarterback duties for USF, going 26-for-35 for 298 yards. With the loss, USF falls to 1-3 on the year and 0-2 in conference play.
ECU out gained South Florida with 432 yards to 398 for the Bulls who were held to just 92 yards on the ground.
The Pirates return home next Saturday to host Navy in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. Game time is set for 12 noon. The Midshipmen enter the game at 2-2 overall and 2-0 in AAC play after a 31-29 win over Temple on Saturday.
