Week two wasn’t the prettiest for ECU (2-0, 0-0) and App State (1-1, 0-0) on the gridiron, but the in-state foes will have a chance to remedy their shortcomings against each other this weekend.
ECU and App State will meet for the 34th time at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium in Greenville Saturday at 4 p.m.
The Pirates are coming off a 20-14 win over Old Dominion in which they overcame quarterback Jake Garcia’s four interceptions and a sloppy offensive performance. Dealing with its own disappointing showing as well, App State wasn’t as fortunate last week, though, as it gave up 35 first-quarter points and fell 66-20 in a wire-to-wire loss to then No. 25 Clemson.
Going into Saturday’s matchup, ECU is looking for its first 3-0 start since 2008, and the Mountaineers are trying to avoid their first 1-2 start since 2016. Looking at last year’s game between the two teams and what they’ve shown so far this season, the key to an improved record seems to be limiting turnovers.
Former ECU quarterback Alex Flinn threw three interceptions in last year’s 43-28 loss to App State which limited the Pirates’ ability to get into an offensive groove and capitalize on the opportunities to build its first half lead. Down 21-16 at halftime despite the turnovers, App State outscored ECU 20-7 in the third quarter which completely swung the momentum in its favor.
Last week, Garcia threw three first half interceptions against Old Dominion, leading to the Pirates being down, 7-6, at halftime. Garcia, the junior transfer who made previous stops at Miami and Missouri, is now up to 7 interceptions on the year after throwing three in the season-opening win over Norfolk State.
Thanks to a solid defensive performance and graduate running back Rahjai Harris’ 131 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 26 carries, the Pirates still outlasted the Monarchs, but the numerous miscues still rang loudly in players and coaches’ heads.
“He’s got to cut down the interceptions,” ECU coach Mike Houston said about Garcia last week. “These this week were a little bit different from the ones last week. I don’t think as many were sloppy this week.”
Said Houston, “I’ll be honest, I felt like we should have won that game by a couple of touchdowns.”
For App State, its defense hasn’t yet produced many turnovers this season, coming away with just one forced fumble and zero interceptions in the first two weeks.
The Mountaineers’ defense already has much to improve on after giving up 460 yards through the air and 252 yards on the ground against Clemson. Yet, taking advantage of a turnover-prone Garcia can have a huge impact Saturday as the takeaways will give App State’s offense more opportunities to crack ECU’s stout defense.
The Pirates have outscored their opponents 62-17 while allowing just 69 yards rushing and 131.5 yards passing per game.
Finding most of its offensive success in the passing game, App State will need a big day from senior quarterback Joey Aguilar and its leading receiver Kaedin Robinson, a redshirt senior who has hauled in 11 receptions for 161 yards.
Robinson has been a downfield weapon for App State as he caught a 47-yard reception in the season opener, and he was responsible for the Mountaineers’ longest completion (29 yards) against Clemson.
Establishing a run game against ECU won’t be easy for the Mountaineers, but it’ll be a plus if they can move the chains behind redshirt junior running back Anderson Castle. Castle doesn’t get many carries per game, but the Mountaineers’ leading rusher has picked up 6.8 yards per carry this season, which is the type of physical running and production needed to make a dent in the Pirates’ rush defense.
On the flip side, one key player for ECU will be Harris as he’ll look to feast against an App State defense that has given up 217.5 yards rushing per game. East Tennessee and Clemson have exposed a weakness in App State’s inability to stop the run, and with the Pirates having issues with interceptions, it won’t be surprising if Harris gets over 20 carries once again.
With both teams looking to improve, Saturday’s matchup could be an early preview of how the rest of the season could go for the two programs.
It’s all about the response to adversity. App State is looking to bounce back from an embarrassment while ECU wants to put the interceptions in the past and get its quarterback — and its offense — trending toward the right direction.
“Got to fix the turnovers,” Harris said after the win over Old Dominion. “Teams will get better and better as we go, so we’ve got to fix those issues. But we clean them up, man, we’re dangerous.”
