The Pirates live and die by an aggressive offense
It’s been an interesting year in Greenville for East Carolina, a kind of year which typically doesn’t culminate with a bowl game, but here the Pirates find themselves lined up opposite an in-state rival in Annapolis, Maryland.
After a disastrous 2023 season that ended in a 2-10 overall record, expectations were disproportionately high for ECU after the influx of several transfers, but more importantly a new offensive coordinator. That new OC is John David Baker, who came to Greenville after a two-year stint as co-OC at Ole Miss under Lane Kiffin. Baker brought with him an up-tempo approach, designed to put stress on an opposing defense and take advantage of personnel mismatches by not allowing the opportunity for substitutions.
That offensive identity does have its drawbacks, namely consistently operating at a time-of-possession (TOP) disadvantage. ECU was in the positive in TOP just once this season, and averaged over a 9:30 deficit in TOP per game this year. That in turn puts added stress on the your own defense, especially when the offense isn’t putting points on the board at an efficient pace.
Therein lied the main issues for the Pirates this year. The hope on which the season was built – that improved offense – didn’t take flight… err, sail. After a 42-point showing in the season opener against a Norfolk State team from the FCS ranks, ECU surpassed 24 points in a game just twice over their next six games, and hit the 30-point mark (but did not exceed it) just once.
Starting with a late October game against Temple, the offense finally found its footing… err, wind. Three major factors helped in the offense turning things around.
First, Katin Houser took over the starting QB job from Jake Garcia ahead of the Army game. Coinciding with that move, the offensive line went about a shake-up. LT Parker Moorer and C Dustyn Hall were the only linemen to maintain their roles, but Emmanuel Poku went from RT to RG, Hampton Ergle went from RG to LG, and Jimarion McCrimon was inserted as the new starting RT. Tyler Savage also entered as the starting TE over Casey Kelly (nephew of NFL Hall of Fame QB Jim Kelly) at the same time, but that was a minor move in comparison as the two were – and still are – in a frequent rotation.
The third, and possibly most significant move, was the firing of head coach Mike Houston. With Houston gone, the offense became more aggressive and confident.
After averaging 24.2 points/game under Houston in six games against FBS opponents, the Pirates are averaging 40.6 points/game in five games under new head man (and former ECU Defensive Coordinator) Blake Harrell. Interestingly, it was the collapse of Harrell’s defense in back-to-back losses to Charlotte and Army – surrendering 100 points total in the two games – that preceded Houston’s ousting.
Despite being the interim, Harrell fully dove into what all successful ECU football head coaches have in common: leaning into an aggressive offensive identity. That means throwing it deeper, running trick plays, and going for it on 4th down. Of course, posting a 4-1 record was the main driver, but displaying that type of mentality while at the helm of the program was certainly a factor in him getting the full-time job.
Former NC State WR Anthony Smith has also thrived with the more aggressive play-calling, particularly with Houser at the lead of the offense, posting three 100+ yard games and tallying 4 touchdowns during that span. He’s averaged 24.2 yards/reception on passes from Houser, whereas he averaged 15.8 yards/reception from Garcia.
The transfer portal has provided a hit to the Pirates ahead of this game, especially on the defensive side where starters Isaiah Brown-Murray (CB, transferring to Virginia Tech) and Zakye Barker (LB, SMU), as well as highly-used rotational DT C.J. Mims (UNC) are gone. That’s a tough blow from a unit that already lost projected 2025 NFL Draft 1st rounder CB Shavin Revel to a knee injury after just three games.
On the offensive side of the ball the significant loss ahead of the bowl matchup with NC State is starting WR Chase Sowell (Iowa State). Sowell was second on the team in both receiving yards (678) and yards/reception (19.9), while leading the team with 75.3 receiving yards per game. He tallied 3 touchdowns this year.
If the ECU offense can mitigate the loss of Sowell, all the remaining pieces are in place to continue to put points on the board, especially against a Wolfpack defense that will be breaking in a new defensive coordinator of its own. If the Pirates are to come away with the Military Bowl victory, it will be the offense that will have to do the job as the depleted ECU defense will have a tough go of it against an NC State offense which is also at almost full strength ahead of the game.