Sunny to partly cloudy. High 84F. Winds light and variable..
Mainly clear skies. Low 61F. Winds light and variable.
ECU's Shaundre Mims gets the sack on ODU's Hayden Wolff Saturday evening at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
ODU's Keshawn Wicks is stopped by ECU's defense Saturday evening at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium in Greenville.
ODU's Keshawn Wicks is stopped by ECU's defense Saturday evening at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium in Greenville.
ECU's Shaundre Mims gets the sack on ODU's Hayden Wolff Saturday evening at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
ECU's Shaundre Mims gets the sack on ODU's Hayden Wolff Saturday evening at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
ODU's Keshawn Wicks is stopped by ECU's defense Saturday evening at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium in Greenville.
ODU's Keshawn Wicks is stopped by ECU's defense Saturday evening at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium in Greenville.
ECU's Shaundre Mims gets the sack on ODU's Hayden Wolff Saturday evening at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
On the same night the East Carolina running game pushed the floodgates open, the ECU defense dammed up Old Dominion almost completely in a 39-21 football win.
A rainy game suited for rush attacks went the way of the team that piled up 261 yards on the ground, and it quickly got away from the team that had a minus in front of its total rushing yards until late in the fourth quarter.
ECU successfully gummed up the works for the Monarchs, who amassed 271 of their 286 total yards on the pass.
"Everybody thinks this stuff happens overnight, and it doesn't happen overnight," ECU head coach Mike Houston said of his defense, which coughed up a handful of big pass plays but was never threatened by ODU's running backs, who were led by Blake Watson's 45 yards on five carries. "Those kids have played together for three years. They know our defense, they fit things correctly. That's a 1,000-yard running back (Watson) that we shut down tonight.
"It's the kids. It's them knowing our defense and playing together."
The Pirates also kept the pressure on ODU quarterback Hayden Wolff, picking him off once, sacking him four times and also forcing a costly fumble that quickly became an insurance touchdown early in the fourth quarter. It was part of a relentless second half by the hosts.
"Practice here is harder than the games, in my opinion," said junior safety Julius Wood, who snared his first career interception in the third quarter. "We run more plays in practice than in the games, so when game time comes, it's just lay it all on the field with your brothers."
The defense helped put the game on the verge of a blowout in the fourth quarter. Just a couple of plays after ECU tailback Keaton Mitchell gave the Pirates a 29-14 lead with an 81-yard run, Pirate defensive lineman Shaundre Mims pried the ball loose and linemate J.D. Lampley pounced on it deep in ODU territory.
The immediate result was Rahjai Harris 15-yard touchdown run and 36-14 ECU lead.
The next ODU drive was derailed by a combo sack from Mims and Jeremy Lewis.
ECU kicker Owen Daffer was roundly cheered by the home crowd when he was called onto the field in the first half to attempt a 22-yard field goal to give the Pirates a 3-0 lead.
One week removed from a nightmare sequence against N.C. State in which Daffer missed the game-tying extra point in the fourth quarter and then missed the game-winner as time ticked away, he connected on the routine kick to help restore some confidence.
Not everything went well with the kicking game once again, however, as the Pirates saw two extra points blocked, and Daffer's 32-yard field goal in the fourth quarter did not appear to be well struck.
But Houston said the extra point gaffes were not on Daffer and that he was happy with his kicker's return to the field after a difficult week.
"It was one player tonight that did a great job last week and a poor job tonight and caused blocks, and he was replaced and we put somebody else in there and we protected," Houston said of the blocked extra points.
As for Daffer, the coach said was excited for the kicker.
"I thought it was pretty special when Owen took the field," Houston said. "He's had a tough week, and he takes a lot of pride in what he does. For our fan base to cheer him and give him an ovation when he took the field tonight, that was pretty special. It was good for him to hit those kicks, it kind of yanks the scab off and now we can move on."
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