East Carolina stuns NC State with late touchdown to earn Military Bowl win; Brawl erupts
N.C. State’s assistants aren’t known for their explosive personalities and are never particularly animated during media availability, but Wolfpack offensive coordinator Robert Anae and cornerbacks coach Brian Mitchell slammed their hands on the desk in the coaches’ box as East Carolina running back Rahjai Harris scampered 86 yards for a touchdown with 1:33 remaining in the teams’ Military Bowl matchup Saturday.
They, along with the rest of the stadium crowd, were stunned.
On the strength of that run — and Harris’ 220 yards rushing — the Pirates defeated the Wolfpack, 26-21, after N.C. State’s comeback attempt fell short. It was ECU’s second straight bowl win, and completed a season during which their head coach was fired.
N.C. State head coach Dave Doeren fell to 0-5 in bowl games since 2018.
The Wolfpack (6-7, 3-5 ACC) entered the game outscoring opponents 141-79 in the fourth quarter, and it looked like the team’s late-game wizardry would strike again when it scored the first 14 points of the quarter to take a lead for the first time all game, 21-20.
A late punt then pinned ECU deep in its own territory with under two minutes to play.
Turned out, that was right where Harris wanted to be.
The game’s finish was marred when extra pushing and shoving turned into an all-out brawl. After a late interception sealed the win for the Pirates, players came together on the field and started battling. Punches were thrown, and at one point, one player got shoved into an official, who was left bleeding from a cut on his left cheek.
Five N.C. State players and three ECU players were ejected.
All ECU early
East Carolina (8-5, 5-3 American Athletic Conference), looking far more prepared and energized, jumped out to a 7-0 lead courtesy of quarterback Katin Houser. Houser contributed 43 passing yards and 22 rushing yards — including a 19-yard touchdown — on the opening drive. The Pirates added to their lead on the second drive of the game, scoring a 24-yard field goal and taking a 10-point lead.
The Pirates scored on their first four drives and took a 20-7 lead in the third quarter.
The Wolfpack got on the board in the second quarter when quarterback CJ Bailey found Dacari Collins in the end zone for an 8-yard touchdown.
N.C. State’s offense played with a consistent rhythm for most of the game, but it struggled to capitalize on opportunities early. On the other side, the defense looked thin — obvious by its inability to stop the ECU offense early on.
Then, the momentum changed. Bailey found Justin Joly for a 15-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter. The defense forced its first punt of the game and Hollywood Smothers muscled his way in for a score.
Bailey finished the night 18 of 29 passing for 230 yards and three touchdowns. Houser went 18 of 29 for 149 yards and a pair of interceptions for the Pirates. He contributed 84 rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Here are three takeaways from the in-state bowl matchup.
East Carolina offense shines in first half
The Pirates found success on the ground and in the air and scored on their first three drives.
Houser started the game 8 of 8 passing for 74 yards. At halftime, he’d completed 13 of 17 passes for 108 yards. Houser led the team in rushing, contributing 55 yards.
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The quarterback found five different receivers for at least 10 yards in the first half and handed the ball off to a pair of runners. Kelan Robinson hauled in arguably the best catch of the half, grabbing a 15-yard catch as he fell out of bounds and moved the Pirates to the N.C. State 24-yard line. ECU scored a field goal on the drive.
As a team, the Pirates recorded 433.3 yards per game in the regular season and 273.8 yards passing. ECU notched 205 total yards.
ECU also went 2 of 2 in the red zone and 7 of 8 on third down (87.5%), far beyond its 42.3% season average.
Smothers provides big spark for NC State offense
Running back Smothers played a key role in keeping the Wolfpack competitive all night, and his efforts were rewarded in the fourth quarter.
Smothers recorded 139 yards, including a 33-yard touchdown to give N.C. State a 21-20 lead in the fourth quarter. The transfer from Oklahoma grabbed the reverse pass from Bailey and evaded multiple tackles en route to the end zone and his eighth touchdown of the season.
The freshman’s performance gave him his second 100-yard rushing game of the season and fifth contest surpassing the century mark.
Rivalry vibes are strong
N.C. State and ECU have met 33 times, but most of the games took place in the 1970s and 1980s.
“It’s kind of hard to call us rivals now, because we don’t play each other every year,” Wolfpack head coach Dave Doeren said after the bowl matchup was announced. “To me, that’s what rivals do, but we’re in-state opponents, and there’s a lot of crossover between our fans. There’s split households and all those kinds of things. There’s Wolfpack families whose kids are students at ECU. There’s all that in-state stuff that goes with this game.”
Doeren might not think the two programs are rivals, but it certainly felt like a rivalry game in Annapolis, especially between the players. There was pushing, shoving and plenty of trash talk through the game. Officials separated players several times, mostly after special teams plays and when players went out of bounds on the sidelines.
It seemed like everything would be fine, aside from the minor chippiness, until the brawl broke out in the final 30 seconds of the game.
This story was originally published December 28, 2024 at 5:41 PM.
