3 Takeaways From East Carolina’s Win Over Old Dominion

East Carolina wins a dogfight on the road over Old Dominion 24-21

ECU earns their way to a hard-fought win and moves their record to 3-2 on the year. The game was somewhat of a defensive struggle throughout and not a very clean game by either offense. The teams combined for six turnovers and 13 penalties.  In the end, ECU was able to make just enough plays and defensive stops to pull it out. The victory was their first on the road in over two years.

Three Key Takeaways

BIG Plays Were BIG

Going into this season, East Carolina head coach Mike Houston said that he wanted special teams to make big plays and help create momentum for them. There was already a noticeable difference this year in the return game from the past few seasons but that statement showed even more in this game. Towards the end of the first quarter, the Pirates got their first special teams touchdown since 2015. Warren Saba busted through to block a punt and walked it in the end zone for six. This play gave ECU a seven-point lead in what had been a 3-3 game.

The offense helped to steal early momentum on the very first play of the game. ECU was able to hit a 53-yard pass to Deondre Farrier out of their own end-zone to get the game going. The drive ended up with just a field goal. Not long after the start of the second quarter, QB Holton Ahlers completed another long pass, this time to Blake Proehl for a 72-yard TD. Plays like these are what Houston desires and can make the difference in a win or loss.

Ahlers Can Throw The Deep Ball

Arguably for the first time this season, Ahlers was allowed the opportunity to show off his deep ball. As noted above, he was able to complete a 53-yard bomb to start the game and then find Proehl for a 72-yard TD. Both of these passes were right on the money, hitting them in stride.

Even with those completions, Ahlers was still only 8-21 for 202 yards. He isn’t getting a lot of help from the offensive line or his receivers, but he will need to be more accurate in the future as the schedule gets much tougher.

Bend, But Don’t Break Defense

All season long we have seen the “bend, but don’t break” defensive strategy play out. ECU has been able to limit the number of big plays this season by allowing a lot of the underneath short-yardage plays. Saturday’s game against Old Dominion was no exception. The ECU defense gave up 293 yards but only allowed two touchdowns and one of them came in the last minutes. They allowed for Old Dominion quarterback Stone Smartt to have a 20-30 day with 203 yards through the air and 76 yards on the ground.

ECU’s defense did a solid job of getting pressure on Smartt, forcing him to throw two interceptions and put it on the ground three times. Pirate defensive end Kendall Futrell seemed to be living in the backfield, tallying three sacks and seven total tackles. Collectively, the defense was able to force three total turnovers with two picks and a fumble recovery. Forcing turnovers is one of the keys to a successful “bend, but don’t break” defense. I’ve liked the way the Pirate defense has looked thus far, and if the offense can stay on the field longer by getting in a rhythm, they could look even better.

The Pirates won’t have a lot of time to celebrate as they welcome the Temple Owls to Greenville Thursday night. It will be shown on ESPN at 8 pm.