Scoreless in second half, No. 13 NC State football holds on to beat ECU 21-20 in opener
After all the preseason talk about rankings and championship possibilities, it was finally go-time for No. 13 N.C. State as it cranked up the 2022 season Saturday.
Starting the season on the road, against East Carolina, had everyone’s attention all through spring and fall practice. The Pirates, in Mike Houston’s fourth year as coach, were coming off a bowl season, had many returning players and were mindful of ECU’s past success against the Pack in Greenville.
The Pack won it Saturday. Or, it might be more accurate to say, N.C. State survived after a wild fourth quarter to escape with a 21-20 victory before a record crowd at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
“We’re 1-0,” NCSU coach Dave Doeren said after the game. “As ugly as it is, it doesn’t count any different than if we won by a hundred.”
The fourth quarter was filled with big plays and moments. ECU twice stopped the Pack on goal line stands. ECU’s Jireh Wilson then picked off a Devin Leary pass to set up a Pirates touchdown with 2:58 left in the quarter as Rahjai Harris scored on a short run.
But placekicker Owen Daffer badly hooked the extra point, leaving the Pack ahead 21-20.
The Pirates had the ball one last time and running back Keaton Mitchell shook loose for a 37-yard gain on a catch-and-run. But Daffer was wide right on a 41-yard field goal that would have won it as the Pack defenders jubilantly raced off the field.
“The kids fought their tails off. They inspired me with the way they played,” Houston said after the game. “No one outside of Greenville gave us much of a chance, but those kids never doubted.
“We should have won the ball game. We outplayed them, we dominated them physically in the second half. I just hurt for those kids.”
And for Daffer. It was an excruciating end for him.
“He had a chance to redeem himself and he didn’t. He’s hurting worse than anybody right now,” Houston said.
Despite being played on a warm, sultry day and with a noon start, the game attracted a crowd of 51,711, a Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium record. It was full and it was loud at kickoff, although several seats were empty after halftime, after the Pack took a 21-7 lead.
The Pack allowed a touchdown on the Pirates’ second possession to fall behind but scored twice late in the first quarter, then again late in the second for the two-touchdown halftime lead.
The biggest downside for the Wolfpack in the game: Often-injured linebacker Payton Wilson went out with an upper-body injury and did not return.
It wasn’t the smoothest of games for Leary, who was 17-of-33 for 211 yards, with a touchdown pass to Thayer Thomas and the fourth-quarter interception. He did move the ball around -- nine players had catches.
ECU’s Holton Ahlers, a fourth-year starter, finished 24-40 for 255 yards and became the American Athletic Conference’s career leader in pass completions during the game. Ahlers, a Greenville native, had two TD throws and a pair of interceptions, saying he played with a dislocated shoulder that kept “popping in and out” during the game.
The Pack got an offensive boost from sophomore running back Demie Sumo-Karngbaye. While Jordan Houston was the starter, Sumo-Karngbaye gave the Wolfpack some bruising runs including a slashing 22-yard run in the fourth quarter.
The Pirates, 11-point underdogs, made it interesting in the second half.
After ECU scored in the third quarter, pulling within 21-14 on Ahlers’ short TD throw to tight end Shane Calhoun, the Pack put together a drive fueled by Leary’s 16-yard throw to Thayer Thomas.
Thomas’ reception, on third-and-16 from the NCSU 19, quieted the crowd and the Pack then moved to the ECU 2. But Houston fumbled, ECU’s Gerard Stringer recovered and the Pirates had kept it a one-touchdown game.
Then, ECU did it again. The Pack reached the ECU 1 and twice got the ball in the end zone, Leary on a sneak and Sumo-Karngbaye with a run, but had both plays nullified. Play was stopped both times — the first by the refs to re-set the ,and the second when ECU called timeout just before the snap.
Sumo-Karngbaye was stopped for no gain, then mass tackled for a loss on fourth down and ECU’s defense had held again.
The game evoked a lot of memories for Ruffin McNeill. Now a special assistant to NCSU’s Doeren, McNeill played and coached at ECU and remains a popular figure in Greenville.
McNeill, seated on the NCSU sideline during pregame warmups, shook hands, chatted and posed for several photos before turning his attention to the players and the game.
This story was originally published September 3, 2022 at 3:58 PM with the headline "Scoreless in second half, No. 13 NC State football holds on to beat ECU 21-20 in opener."
