Pirates smash Norfolk State for season-opening win

This is not the same East Carolina team from a year ago. That was clear midway through the first quarter.

Many of the offseason changes and adjustments were unveiled on Saturday as the Pirates rolled to a season-opening, 42-3, win over Norfolk State.

The up-tempo, no-huddle offense moved with a flurry and the defense smothered the Spartans’ rushing attack in a resounding win inside Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.

Of the Pirates’ 14 offensive drives, 11 of them lasted no longer than two minutes as the unit hurried to the line and kept the pedal floored throughout the victory. The Norfolk State defense looked exhausted at times as the Pirates would snap the ball with urgency, sometimes with 25 or 30 seconds remaining on the play clock.

The special teams unit was able to flip the field with a dangerous return game, and the defense allowed just one Norfolk State drive to play more than eight plays.

All of that added up to the first season-opening win for coach Mike Houston at ECU in six tries.

“The positive thing is you won 42-3 but you have so many correctable mistakes,” Houston said. “You have so many things to really be on them about this week because I think everybody saw the potential, and it is the potential of what we could be. But I’m excited about the way the kids prepared this week. I told them before the game that y’all don’t need a rah rah speech tonight. They were unbelievable the last couple of days in meetings and preparations, and I thought they came out and played exactly that way.”

ECU (1-0) turned the ball over six times, but the Pirates were so dominant in every other instance that it didn’t even matter.

Quarterback Jake Garcia threw three first-half interceptions and the Pirates committed three more turnovers. One came when a Norfolk State punt hit Andrew Wilson-Lamp in the foot as he tried to get out of the way, another came on a snap inside the 10-yard line that hit tight end Desario Riles in the shoulder, and the final lost fumble came when the ball slipped out of backup quarterback Katin Houser’s hand in the fourth quarter.

Still, the Pirates scored five offensive touchdowns and added one defensive score while allowing only a field goal that came on the opening drive.

“Hey, I get it. Six turnovers ain’t real good,” Houston said. “But, you know, like the one on Lamp on the return, it’s just a freaky thing. It’s something we practice all the time, and he was trying to get out of the way. Some of the others, you just got to fix them.

“The mistakes that Jake made, they’re all easily-correctable things and they’re all in his reads. They’re from just not sitting back there and being comfortable. And I thought that the great thing he did was he didn’t get down on himself. He didn’t start to beat himself up. He didn’t start seeing ghosts “

Garcia credited having perspective to being able to flush the turnovers and continue firing downfield. Saturday was the first game in nearly two seasons since he last took a snap in 2022 at Miami.

He threw an interception on the Pirates’ opening drive when he made the right read on what looked to be an open slant route but instead threw a dart to a lurking underneath linebacker who made a leaping grab to pick off the pass.

In the second quarter, Garcia threw interceptions on back-to-back drives. One came when a receiver fell down in the route, and the other came when he tried to thread the needle between two defenders near the end zone.

He also made highlight-reel throws.

Garcia tossed a bomb to Anthony Smith down the sideline that set up a 14-yard touchdown run by Javious Bond. The extra effort on the play caused Smith to lose his shoe and, because of the offensive tempo, he played the next snap without one shoe.

“It was such a crazy experience because when my shoe came off they called another play,” Smith said. “I’m like, ‘Where is my shoe at?’ I saw it on the sideline and the other team was waving it around and I’m like, ‘I really gotta run this play with no shoe.’ I was hoping they don’t throw me the ball because I can’t cut or nothing. So it was definitely a weird experience for me.

“I’ve never had something like that happen to me before. I think one of the ball boys went over there and got it for me, because even after Javious had scored the touchdown I went to the sideline looking for my shoe and I could not find it. I thought they were hiding it from me or something.”

Smith, an N.C. State transfer, later scored in the third quarter on an 18-yard reception that pushed the lead to 35-3. He finished the game with 86 receiving yards on five catches. Brock Spalding led the team in targets with eight and finished with four receptions for 46 yards.

Garcia responded after throwing consecutive picks by leading a five-play, 21-yard scoring drive that ended with a three-yard touchdown reception by Riles. The tight end later added his second touchdown of the game, this one a 32-yard pass and catch in the fourth quarter that extended the lead to 42-3.

Fellow tight end Casey Kelly hauled in the first touchdown of the season for the Pirates in the opening quarter that allowed the Pirates to take the lead at 7-3. The three touchdowns by tight ends already surpassed last season’s total of two touchdowns by tight ends.

“I came off the field one time and was smiling after it,” Garcia said of one of his turnovers. “I’m saying it’s about perspective. And I truly believe that if the guys see me down, they see me get quiet and go into my shell, I mean, there’s no getting back on track, right? So I feel like you have to keep a positive mindset and just go with this mentality. Like, whatever happened last play, it’s fine. Good, bad or indifferent. You just got to move on to the next play and just keep slinging it. Just keep slinging it and slow things down for yourself.”

After Norfolk State took an early 3-0 lead on a 39-yard field goal, ECU piled up 42 unanswered points.

Garcia finished 23-of-36 passing for 308 yards and four touchdowns with three interceptions.

Eleven different players caught at least one pass. ECU gained 506 yards of offense, with 148 coming on the ground. London Montgomery had a game-high 67 rushing yards on 14 attempts, with much of his production coming in the final quarter.

The ECU defense was able to maul a one-dimensional Norfolk State offense. The Pirates allowed 43 rushing yards on 45 attempts, with the longest run going for 13 yards. The Spartans’ passing game didn’t fare much better as quarterback Jalen Daniels went 8-for-19 with an interception that was returned 30 yards for a touchdown by defensive back Gavin Gibson.

The Pirates also held the Spartans to 1–for-18 on third down.

“That’s what that looks like when it comes to fruition the right way,” said linebacker Zakye Barker, who had a game-high eight tackles including two for a loss. “To hold them under 50 yards (rushing), that’s a good thing to see and it just speaks to the type of character this defense plays with.”

Special teams was solid, too, as the unit was able to flip the field in the return game. Winston Wright, who added three catches for 24 yards, picked up 77 kick return yards in two opportunities, while Bond gained 59 yards in the punt return game.

“Winston Wright, I told you we have a chance to be explosive on special teams,” Houston said. “And you know, he’s probably ticked off he didn’t house the second one, but he’s gonna be more involved in the passing game too.”

Up next for the Pirates is a road game at Old Dominion next week.