The ECU football team fell to 0-2 on the season after dropping Saturday’s home opener to Appalachian State.
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Julien Davis counts himself among the few remaining on the East Carolina roster who have experienced the in-state rivalry with Appalachian State. He only regrets he has not been on the winning side.
The Pirates, seeking to end a three-game skid in a series that has no future games scheduled, suffered from self-inflicted mistakes for the second straight week and fell 27-24 on a steamy Saturday afternoon inside Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. App State (2-0) has won all four meetings with both teams at the FBS level, including a 21-19 comeback victory in Greenville in 2024.
Davis, who had eight total tackles and contributed to ECU’s 10 tackles for loss Saturday, said critical mistakes led to both of those losses in front of the home fans.
“I’ve been here for four years so those years that we played them, it just came down to the same things,” Davis said. “It kind of hurts because it’s the same small details that we have to work on. We just have to be nipping it in the bud in practice and nipping it in the bud in meetings. We just have to go back to the drawing board on Monday, do our corrections and come back at it.”
For North Texas transfer Ashton Gray, who rushed for a team-high 99 yards on 16 carries, a lack of familiarity with the rivalry doesn’t lessen the sting.
“I take rivalries personally, whether I’m the first guy there to start the rivalry or the last guy there to come in and be a part of it,” Gray said. “So, for me, I was hearing a lot of the talk, and I take it personally.”
Head coach Blake Harrell didn’t hide his disappointment in not being able to deliver a win over the Mountaineers in his second try.
“This certainly has been a good one where we, you know, have a hard time calling it a rival right now,” Harrell said. “They won the last four, and that’s something that really punches you in the gut pretty much. But I told the guys it’s like we can’t control the last two games right now. All we can do is get it fixed, move on and make sure we go back to work. I think we have some chances. We see some flashes, but we get the self-inflicted wounds we’ve got to take care of and get those things fixed.”
At the top of the list are penalties and converting on third down. The Pirates (0-2) were flagged eight times for 72 yards, including two 15-yard infractions that led to App State scores. A week after a 0-for-9 effort on third down in a 48-10 loss at Alabama, the Pirates converted just 2 of 12 third downs, although they were perfect on a pair of fourth-down tries. The Pirates faced an average distance of 8.7 yards to gain on third down.
“The easiest way to take care of third downs is win first and second down,” Harrell said. “If you lose those, you’re getting third and long, and that can be a long day for you. Two weeks in a row we just haven’t fared well on it. I think we picked up two third downs in two weeks, and that’s just not going to help you win ball games. That’s unacceptable.”
The offense did show some life after struggling against a stout Alabama defense. The Pirates finished with 417 total yards, including 187 on the ground, and picked up 22 first downs a week after being limited to five. Griffis completed 21 of 37 passes for 230 yards and a pair of touchdowns – one each to Jason Dickerson and Ja’Keith Hamilton – and also rushed for 52 yards on 11 carries. Jeremiah Melvin registered a career and team-high seven catches for 94 yards.
A missed field goal on the game’s opening drive and a pair of turnovers proved too much to overcome, however.
“Every time we seemed like we had a little momentum going our way, I told the guys in the locker room we take two steps forward and then three steps back,” Harrell said. “And I think that started from the very first drive of the game. We have a great drive; we’re going right down the field playing the way we want to play and get down there and have a little stop there.”
After the early missed opportunity, the Pirates forced App State to punt on its first possession and grabbed a 7-0 lead on Michael Allen’s 2-yard plunge, but the Mountaineers scored on their next three possessions, aided by two third-down penalties and an ECU fumble.
A 41-yard James London field goal drew App State within 7-3, then the Mountaineers cashed in on a Griffis fumble on ECU’s next offensive play to forge ahead 10-7. The Mountaineers faced a third down at the 4, then incurred two of their five first-half false-start penalties to back up to the 14. Malachi Singleton’s pass into the end zone fell incomplete, but an interference penalty gave App State a first down at the 2. Singleton scooted in on the next play.
App State pushed its lead to 17-7 on a 10-yard run by Jaquari Lewis, the fifth play of double-digit yards in a seven-play drive. A 33-yard field goal by Noah Perez close the deficit to 17-10 at the half, but App State struck quickly in the third, pushing ahead 24-10 on Treyaun Webb’s 13-yard run. ECU answered when Griffis scrambled and found Dickerson for a 61-yard score, but the Pirates would not score again until Hamilton’s 7-yard catch with just 21 seconds left.
That left the Pirates seeking answers heading to Old Dominion next week.
“We’re extremely close,” Davis said of the Pirates getting on track. “That’s what really frustrates me because of how close we are. Everyone that watched the game, long third downs, and we just can’t finish. We’re going to go back this weekend, emphasizing finish on third downs, you know, getting off the field and bringing the energy back.”