GREENVILLE, N.C. — 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 Saturday. Or it might be more accurate to say, survived after a wild fourth quarter to get away with a 21-20 victory at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
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 5:48 left in the quarter as Rahjai Harris scored on a short run.
But placekicker Owen Daffer hooked and missed the extra point, leaving the Pack ahead 21-20.
The Pirates had the ball one last time and 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.
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.
Leary, using all of his receivers, was 17-of-33 passing for 211 yards, with a touchdown pass to Thayer Thomas and the fourth-quarter interception.
ECU’s Holton Ahlers, a fourth-year starter, finished 24-of-40 passing for 255 yards and became the American Athletic Conference’s career leader in pass completions during the game. Ahllers, a Greenville native, had two TD throws and a pair of interceptions.
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 coach Dave 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.
