NC State faces slightly revised version of ECU

North Carolina couldn’t beat East Carolina at its own game. Neither could N.C. State.

That was clear after the Tar Heels left Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium two years ago with a 70-41 loss, which was the Pirates’ fourth straight win over either UNC or N.C. State.

With the Pirates ready to host an in-state ACC opponent for the first time since the UNC rout, with N.C. State’s visit on Saturday (noon, ESPNU), the question is how much has ECU changed under first-year coach Scottie Montgomery?

After watching ECU’s 52-7 win over Western Carolina, N.C. State coach Dave Doeren said there are similarities between what the Pirates do now on offense and what they did under former coach Ruffin McNeill and former offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley.

“It’s a spread offense that’s up-tempo, which is what Ruff was as well,” Doeren said. “That part of it is pretty similar.

“There are some run-game things that are different. They were a huge perimeter screen team when Lincoln was there, a lot of those out in the flat. They had some (vs. Western Carolina) but not as many.”

In other words, ECU has changed some under Montgomery, who was an assistant at Duke, but the Pirates haven’t brought back Pat Dye’s triple option.

The Pirates did go under center against Western Carolina, a noticeable change, and used different formations, featuring more running backs, than what was the standard under McNeill.

There was also a package of running plays with receiver James Summers lined up at quarterback. How Montgomery used Summers as a runner isn’t all that different from the quarterback sub packages that have been a staple of Duke coach David Cutcliffe’s offense in goal-line situations.

Offensive similarities

N.C. State’s spread offense, under first-year coordinator Eli Drinkwitz, might actually be closer to what ECU used to do. The Wolfpack (1-0) ran 87 plays against William & Mary, compared to 70 for ECU (1-0) against Western Carolina.

Trying to out-ECU ECU was a losing formula for ACC teams against the Pirates. ECU, in 2013 and ’14 with quarterback Shane Carden, ranked in the top 25 in the country in both scoring and total offense.

The historic destruction of UNC came in September 2014. The year before, the Pirates beat UNC 55-31 in Chapel Hill and the Wolfpack 42-28 in Raleigh.

In his postgame comments to his team in the locker room after a 48-14 win over William & Mary last Thursday, Doeren called that home loss to ECU in his first season “one of the lowest moments of my life.”

“Some of you were here with me first year we lost to ECU in our stadium,” Doeren said in the locker room, in a clip that was aired on his weekly coach’s show. “I’m going to tell you right now, it was one of the lowest moments of my life.

“So I want to make sure you all understand that this week coming up is an in-state game.”

The Pirates led 35-7 after the third quarter and their fans took over Carter-Finley Stadium with a “Purple/Gold” cheer on a rain-soaked November afternoon.

A boost for either side

Doeren said specifically the misery from that loss was tied to ECU’s fans.

“Their fans did a great job in our stadium,” Doeren said. “The team that I coached and we played with created that.

“Any time you’re a head coach, you don’t want to hear the other crowd talking about how they played in your stadium.”

The loss, the crowd, ECU’s recent dominance all add to a series that’s not quite played enough to be a rivalry. This will be the 10th meeting in 20 years.

Much has been made about the meaning of the game to ECU, which is on the outside of the power structure looking in, compared to how either N.C. State or UNC value the game.

Doeren, who coached at Northern Illinois for two years before taking the N.C. State job, said he understands ECU’s perspective. (Doeren’s boss at NIU, by the way, was East Carolina AD Jeff Compher.)

But Doeren said he didn’t think the game “meant more” to ECU than it does to N.C. State.

“I don’t feel that way at all,” Doeren said. “It’s very important to our guys and our staff.

“The only comment I’ve made is I’ve been in a locker room like theirs, and I understand their perspective on the game. That doesn’t mean we don’t have the same perspective in our locker room.”

A win would be a boost for either side on Saturday and a loss, if the past is any indication, will linger until the teams meet again.

This story was originally published September 9, 2016 at 8:53 AM with the headline "NC State faces slightly revised version of ECU."