NC State Football Opponent Preview: East Carolina

East Carolina finished 7-5 in 2021, but like NC State, their bowl game against Boston College was cancelled, which would have given them the opportunity to add another W to the Win Column. The Pirates were 3-point underdogs, but we’ll never know what might have happened had they played the game.

Senior Quarterback Holton Ahlers is entering the season as the starting Quarterback for the 4th consecutive year. Ahler has actually been the Starter for 3.5 years already, taking the reins midway through the 2018 season. Taking advantage of an extra year of eligibility due to Covid, Ahlers is looking to put his name at the top of the East Carolina record books. If he stays healthy, he will become the Pirates all-time leading passer and all-time leader in total offense.

Last year, Ahlers threw for 3,126 yards and 18 touchdowns (10 interceptions), completing 61.8% of his passes.

Ahlers lost his two primary targets from last year, in Tyler Snead and Audie Omotosho, who 67 receptions and 40 receptions respectively. Junior Inside Receiver C.J. Johnson (6’2″/222), who ranked 3rd in receptions in 2021 returns. Last year he caught 35 passes for 520 yards and 1 touchdown. The two outside receivers are new to Ahlers’, because they are new to ECU in 2022. Junior Z-Receiver Jaylen Johnson (6’2″/197) transferred to East Carolina from the national champion Georgia squad, where the former walk-on had 3 catches for 29 yards last season, and was on the Bulldogs 2-Deep Depth Chart. On the other side, is another new face, Graduate Transfer Y-Receiver Isaiah Winstead, who transferred in from Toledo. Winstead ranked 2nd on the team in receptions, snagging 38 for 520 yards for the Rockets.

Graduate Tight End Ryan Jones transferred to East Carolina prior to the 2021 season from Oklahoma. The Sooners signed him as a Defensive Back, then moved him to Linebacker, and found his sweet spot at Tight End when he arrived in Greenville. In 2021 he had 37 receptions for 442 yards and 5 touchdowns, which led the Pirates.

Sophomore Running Back Keaton Mitchell is the most impressive part of the Pirates Offense, earning 1st Team All-AAC honors last year. As a Freshman, Mitchell rushed for 1,132 yards (6.5 YPC) and 9 touchdowns. He also managed to catch 22 passes for 253 yards and a touchdown. Mitchell claims to run a 4.31 forty, and has lightning speed, that can take one to the house with a big enough hole or if he finds the right seam. Signal Caller Holton Ahlers also rushed for 6 touchdowns, which he has done in three of his four seasons. Ahlers weighs 230 pounds and can make a defense pay if they aren’t expecting expecting it.

Three of the Pirates starting offensive linemen from 2021 are back in 2022.

In 2021, ECU averaged 29.7 points and 433.8 yards of offense per game.

On Defense, the Pirates lost their two top tacklers from 2021, in Bruce Bivens and Ja’Quan McMillian. They do return their 3rd leading tackler from 2021 in Senior Inside Linebacker Myles Berry, who tallied 53 tackle and 4 pass breakups. Berry is a former Safety, who has thrived as a Linebacker, and even earned Preseason All-AAC honors by Phil Steele this year. The linebacker opposite of Berry is Senior Xavier Smith, who ranked 4th on the team in tackles in 2021, and led the Pirates in tackles in 2019 and 2020.

The Pirates Defensive Line returns 3 of their 4 starters from 2021, and Sophomore Immanuel Hickman is the most impressive, leading the Pirates with 7 tackles for loss in 2021. Hickman was named to Athlon’s Preseason All-AAC 3rd Team. Sophomore Defensive Lineman Elijah Morris’ name appeared on a Athlon Preseason Team this year (4th). He had 4.5 tackles for loss in 2021, starting in 9 of the 11 games he played in. Junior Lineman Jeremy Lewis had 5.5 tackles for loss and 3 sacks in 2021, but more can be expected this year, since last year was his first year on the defensive side of the ball, previously playing Tight End. The newcomer is Sophomore D’Anta Johnson who has appeared in 10 games as a reserve, logging 3 tackles.

In the Pirate’s 4-2-5, the roll out 5 defensive backs into the secondary. They lost the star of the secondary in Cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian, who had 5 interceptions and 16 pass breakups in 2021, and is now on the Practice Squad for the Broncos. McMillian is gone, but Junior Malik Fleming returns on the other side. Fleming had 9 pass breakups in 2021, and earned 2nd Team All-AAC Preseason honors this year. Junior Damel Hickman will be on the other side of Fleming, and he is green. He didn’t start a game in 2021, and primarily saw action on Special Teams.

There’s a good amount of inexperience in the Safety department. Junior Julius Wood didn’t start a single game. Sophomore Teagan Wilk started 2. The most experienced Safety is Senior Gerard Stringer, who started in 5 of the 10 games he played in 2021.

The youth and inexperience in the Secondary could prove problematic for the Pirates tomorrow, with Devin Leary coming to town.

In 2021, ECU gave up 394.8 yards and 26.3 points per game. They allowed 161.7 on the ground and 233.1 through the air.