After a close loss in a tough matchup, can ECU handle Old Dominion?
East Carolina’s football team returned home at 4 a.m. Sunday following 12 hotel days, countless texts and calls to family coping with Hurricane Florence and, finally, an agonizing Saturday night loss at South Florida.
If the Pirates had turned up flat in their American Athletic Conference opener, it would have been understandable. But instead of being routed by the unbeaten Bulls for a second straight year, the Pirates (1-2, 0-1 AAC East) had a chance to beat USF (4-0, 1-0 AAC East) before falling 20-13 in Tampa.
“That goes to the discipline of the team,” ECU head coach Scottie Montgomery said in a conference call this week. “They prepared hard, practiced well and went out and played their butts off. I’m really proud of the way they handled it.”
Montgomery gave his team Sunday off and Monday is a normal day off before the Pirates resumed their Tuesday morning practice routine to prepare for Old Dominion (1-3). The Pirates host the Conference-USA member that shocked then-No. 13 Virginia Tech (2-1) last week for its first win of the year in a 3:30 p.m. game Saturday at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
South Florida coach Charlie Strong praised ECU for how it played his Bulls, which are on the fringe of the Top 25 rankings. USF is equal to No. 29 with 50 points in the Associated press poll and No. 27 with 113 in USA Today voting.
“They were going through a lot because of the hurricane,” Strong said. “To have to leave home and be somewhere else that long is really tough. The phone calls the players made gave them an idea of what was happening in their community or their own homes. I think Scottie had his team them focused. It was amazing to see their development and how much better they’ve gotten from a year ago.”
ECU outgained South Florida in total yards 412-296 and in first downs 24-9. But two plays beat ECU: Bulls running back Jordan Cronkite broke a 13-13 tie in the fourth quarter with an 80-yard touchdown run and Darnell Salomon caught a 66-yard TD pass for a 13-10 halftime lead.
Only a year ago ECU, on its way to a second-straight 3-9 season, lost to USF 60-21 while yielding 575 total yards. Those Pirates finished last in the nation in both total yards (541.7) and points (45.1) allowed.
“We’re playing with a lot more confidence this year,” Montgomery said.
Before the extended stay in Florida, the Pirates had already been tough to gauge with their season-opening 28-23 upset loss to N.C. A&T, a Football Championship Subdivision member, and a 41-19 win over Power 5 opponent North Carolina.
But no team in America is a bigger head-scratcher than Old Dominion. The Monarchs were a 28.5-point underdog to Virginia Tech; they had lost to Liberty, 52-10; Florida International, 28-20; and UNC-Charlotte, 25-20.
Yet Old Dominion gained 632 total yards on a Hokies defense that had allowed only 20 total points and 593 yards combined in wins over Florida State (24-3, 327) and William & Mary (62-17, 266).
The win was the Monarchs’ first over a Power 5 program.
“I thought they played lights out against Virginia Tech,” Montgomery said. “I thought they played well enough throughout the season, they just had a few things go against them.”
For ECU, the unpredictable has been the norm for so far.