Pirates top Pack - ECU wins despite mistakes

With each week, Coach Ruffin McNeill sees East Carolina’s spread offense becoming a little more efficient and his struggling defense gaining extra confidence.

Just think how McNeill feels now, after a big win over N.C. State.

Dominique Davis scored on a 1-yard keeper, while Damon Magazu intercepted Russell Wilson’s final pass to help the Pirates beat the Wolfpack 33-27 in overtime yesterday, giving McNeill his first victory against a challenging nonconference schedule.

Davis passed for 376 yards and two touchdowns for the Pirates (4-2), who blew a big lead and committed mistake after mistake before figuring out a way to win in front of a sellout and record home crowd. ECU ran out to a 21-0 first-quarter lead only to see the Wolfpack rally to take a 27-24 lead late in the fourth quarter on a field goal from Josh Czajkowski before staging its own comeback.

When Magazu’s interception ended the game, the ECU sideline spilled onto the field to celebrate in front of a roaring home crowd in the newly finished end-zone section of Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.

“They have sacrificed and paid the price and have been battled and scarred,” McNeill said of his players. “And today, that was special.”

One thing is clear: East Carolina has proven it can win close games. ECU, the two-time defending Conference USA champion, beat Tulsa in the opener on a last-play touchdown pass, then rallied from 20-point deficit at Southern Mississippi and scored the go-ahead touchdown with 4½ minutes left in last week’s 44-43 win.

This time, Michael Barbour kicked a field goal with 1:04 left to send the game into overtime, where Davis put the Pirates ahead for good by bouncing off tacklers on a sneak and falling across the goal line. The Wolfpack (5-2) couldn’t answer, with Wilson forcing a pass over the middle to Jarvis Williams that Magazu grabbed at the goal line.

Magazu, a true freshman and the son of Dave Magazu, the Carolina Panthers’ offensive-line coach, credited a teammate for jamming Williams at the line and forcing him to alter his route.

“I kind of broke on it with instinct and watched the quarterback all at the same time,” he said. “The reroute really made the play. I was just doing what I was supposed to do.”

Wilson offered few details when asked about what he saw on the final play. “Just trying to get a touchdown, and the kid made a nice play on it,” he said. “That’s basically it.”

It was quite a finish for the Pirates considering the game appeared to be slipping away only moments earlier. East Carolina committed many mistakes, from 10 penalties to two costly fumbles that both set up touchdowns for the Wolfpack and ended another drive just as the Pirates were crossing the goal line. There was even Barbour’s missed extra-point attempt on Davis’ keeper, meaning an N.C. State touchdown in overtime could win the game.

And yet, the Pirates figured out a way to beat a team that had won seven of 10 matchups with the state’s four other Bowl Subdivision foes under Coach Tom O’Brien — including two meetings with ECU.

“I told the team last night in the hotel: We’re going to face adversity,” Davis said. “It might be fumbles, it might be picks, it might be missed tackles. We’ve just got to stick together through the good and bad, and that’s what happened.”

Lance Lewis and Justin Jones had touchdown catches for the Pirates, while Jon Williams had a 5-yard touchdown run to cap ECU’s first possession.

The Pirates had 496 total yards, while their struggling defense held up vs. Wilson and the Wolfpack’s strong passing game.

NCS 21 0 6 0 0 — 27
ECU 21 3 0 3 6 — 33

First Quarter

ECU—J.Williams 5 run (Barbour kick), 11:32.

ECU—Lewis 11 pass from D.Davis (Barbour kick), 3:49.

ECU—J.Jones 3 pass from D.Davis (Barbour kick), :05.

Second Quarter

NCSU—Graham 49 pass from R.Wilson (Czajkowski kick), 13:09.

NCSU—R.Wilson 2 run (Czajkowski kick), 9:07.

ECU—FG Barbour 35, 6:25.

NCSU—Haynes 1 run (Czajkowski kick), 1:44.

Fourth Quarter

NCSU—FG Czajkowski 22, 11:47.

NCSU—FG Czajkowski 37, 2:59.

ECU—FG Barbour 31, 1:04.

Overtime

ECU—D.Davis 1 run (kick failed).

A—50,410.

TEAM STATISTICS

NCSU ECU

First downs 26 24

Rushes-yards 39-154 33-120

Passing 322 376

Comp-Att-Int 26-52-3 37-53-0

Return Yards 0 76

Punts-Avg. 6-40.7 5-42.8

Fumbles-Lost 1-1 4-4

Penalties-Yards 6-49 10-90

Possession 32:31 27:29

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—N.C. State, Greene 16-75, R.Wilson 10-37, Haynes 10-36, Washington 3-6. East Carolina, Ruffin 15-74, J.Williams 11-31, D.Davis 5-19, Harris 1-(minus 1), Team 1-(minus 3).

PASSING—N.C. State, R.Wilson 26-52-3-322. East Carolina, D.Davis 37-53-0-376.

RECEIVING—N.C. State, Spencer 6-98, Williams 5-44, Haynes 4-33, Bryan 3-29, Graham 2-77, T.Gentry 2-17, Payton 1-12, Davis 1-5, Greene 1-5, J.Smith 1-2. East Carolina, Harris 9-91, Lewis 8-87, J.Williams 6-44, Bowman 5-93, Ruffin 3-14, Bodenheimer 2-29, Arrington 2-11, Price 1-4, J.Jones 1-3.