Pirates finally hook-up the deep ball against Old Dominion

On Saturday night in Norfolk, Virginia, the East Carolina University (3-2, 0-1 AAC) football team shook the narrative of being a team unable to win on the road, defeating Old Dominion University (1-3, 0-0 C-USA) by a score of 24-21.

Despite some near late-game heroics by redshirt senior running back Kesean Strong and the Monarchs’ offense, ECU held on for the victory, riding some big offensive plays in the process. Entering Saturday, the Pirates had yet to consistently move the football down the field, a testament to the shaky play by sophomore quarterback Holton Ahlers.

Prior to the first play from scrimmage against ODU, the Pirates’ longest pass play of the season came on a 41-yard catch-and-run by redshirt freshman wide receiver Tyler Snead in a 42-10 thrashing at the hands of the United States Naval Academy two weeks ago.

This week, while on the road, the Pirates were set to face a defensive alignment familiar to them from last season. Current Monarch defensive coordinator David Blackwell held the same position at ECU last season before moving on to ODU during the coaching shake-up in Greenville.

“We faced the same defense all last year so there was definitely a couple things in the bubble early to Dre (senior wide receiver Deondre Farrier). I knew that from the coverage we faced all last year that that was going to be there,” Ahlers said postgame.

That play Ahlers is referencing was a 53-yard strike to Farrier on the first true offensive play for the Pirates on Saturday. After a delay-of-game penalty added to the disaster of a botched kickoff return, ECU’s offense began its opening drive on its own one-yard line. Recognizing a familiar coverage from Blackwell, however, Ahlers was able to find Farrier over the middle for a momentum-flipping, early chunk play that moved the Pirates into Monarch territory.

“I think it was a big breath of fresh air for our fans, our team. Obviously starting back that deep, it’s big, but making a big play, ran a great route and he made a great catch as well,” Ahlers said.

A huge part of the storyline heading into Saturday was whether or not ECU’s offense would crumble without solidifying a run game. Before giving up 107 rushing yards to the Pirates, ODU was sporting the 21st best defense against the run in the FBS, allowing an average of just 89.7 yards per game.

To accomplish those results, however, Blackwell and the Monarchs’ defense was forced to take away from its pass coverage, leaving favorable match-ups for Pirate receivers to exploit.

“We saw on film that the safety would come down a lot and be flat-footed so we said we were going to take a shot during the game and we came through,” sophomore wide receiver Blake Proehl said after the game.

With one-on-one coverage for much of the game, Ahlers was able to finally find Proehl on a deep ball early in the second quarter. Driving from the team’s own 28-yard line, the Pirates executed a 72-yard pass play over the middle to a streaking Proehl who shook a would-be tackler and raced into the endzone.

That catch gave ECU its biggest lead of the game at 17-3 and gave the Pirates its first pass play of at least 70 yards since Nov. 23, 2018, a span of six games and further displayed the advantage Ahlers and the offense had over Blackwell.

⏮ Rewinding back to that touchdown👀☠️ pic.twitter.com/SSvtOIE8sp

— ECU Football (@ECUPiratesFB) September 28, 2019

“We knew that they were going to give us that coverage. Blake ran a great route, the offensive line gave me great time and we just put a ball out there for him to make a play,” Ahlers said.

On Saturday, Proehl was not done making plays as his 28-yard reception, on what looked to be a broken play, early in the fourth quarter set-up the Pirates’ final and most vital touchdown of the contest. Earlier on that same drive, Ahlers found freshman wide receiver C.J. Johnson who made a nice 21-yard catch after beating his defender on the outside.

From Ahlers’ long touchdown pass to Proehl in the second quarter to Johnson’s reception early in the fourth quarter, the sophomore quarterback went without a completed pass (to his own team) while throwing two interceptions. That turnovers, combined with a brief inability to hook-up with his receivers, allowed the Monarchs to climb back in the game during the third quarter.

“To have all the adversity we had, and for whatever reason, whether it was our mistakes or things happening that didn’t go our way, we had a ton of adversity there in the third quarter,” head coach Mike Houston said.

Adversity is a phrase ECU’s football program has become all to familiar with over the last three seasons, but with a strong drive by the offense in the fourth quarter and a gutsy performance by the defensive unit, the Pirates were able to leave Norfolk with a victory.

While it wasn’t always pretty, Ahlers and the offense proved for the first time all season it has big-play ability. Three pass plays for over 20 yards including the two longest offensive plays of the season thus far made up the bulk of Ahlers’ 202 passing yards on the evening. Despite only completing eight passes in 21 attempts, the sophomore made a 100-yard receiver out of Proehl, marking the first time that has happened this season.

In fact, three receivers made career-long catches on Saturday. Farrier’s 53-yarder, Proehl’s 72-yarder and Johnson’s 21-yarder all set new marks respectively while Proehl eclipsed 100 yards for the first time in his collegiate career.

“Obviously we’ve struggled with that early on but tonight I think we proved we can put it down the field,” Ahlers said. “We got playmakers and got the offensive line to give us time to do it.”

While there is little doubt the Pirates possess the weapons necessary to move the football down the field, it is about executing when a big play is called from the sideline. In Houston’s run-heavy scheme, those instances are usually few and far between. But against Blackwell’s familiar tendencies on Saturday, Houston opened the playbook and allowed Ahlers to take some shots down the field, a calculated risk that paid off handsomely.

Moving forward, this aspect of ECU’s offense will remain something to watch as the Pirates move into conference play against Temple University (3-1, 0-0 AAC) on Thursday. Kickoff between the Owls and Pirates is slated for 8 p.m. inside Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.