Many things have changed at the quarterback position since the last time NC State played East Carolina.
NC State and East Carolina will play each other at 5:45 p.m. Dec. 28 in the Military Bowl in Annapolis, Md. The two will then open the 2025 season against each other in Raleigh.
The Wolfpack needed to win its regular season final game against North Carolina to reach 6-6 and become bowl eligible. NC State will have nickels coach Freddie Aughtry-Lindsay call the defense in light of Marshall hiring defensive coordinator Tony Gibson.
The Pirates fired coach Mike Houston after a 3-4 start and inserted defensive coordinator Blake Harrell as head coach, and won four of the next five games to finish 7-5 overall and 5-3 in the American Conference.
NC State topped East Carolina on Sept. 3, 2022, in Greenville, N.C., the last time the two teams met. The Wolfpack entered the season ranked No. 13 in the country and running hot, with then quarterback Devin Leary being touted as a Heisman contender.
NCSU’s offense scored two touchdowns, with the defense scoring one, and the Pirates missed an extra point with 2:58 remaining and then a 41-yard field goal with five seconds left.
NCSU coach Dave Doeren joked Sunday that due to the transfer portal, he’s not even sure how many players will even be left from that game. Outside linebacker Sean Brown scored on a blocked punt and he’s the lone player returning for NC State who either scored, threw a pass, ran the ball or caught a pass.
“I don't know how many of our players, the way rosters change anymore, are going to remember the last time we played,” Doeren said.
Doeren said knowing the team can build around Bailey will also add some juice to the interest in NC State’s defensive coordinator job.
“As soon as I'm ready, we'll have a guy in there,” Doeren said. “I owe it to NC State and every player in that locker room to look at everything and make the best choices, not just for them as players, but for the culture of the team. It's a great opportunity.
“There's a lot of good young football players here. There's a lot coming in in our signing class. We have one of the best, if not the best freshman quarterback in college football on our roster coming back. There'll be a lot of interest. My phone's been buzzing the whole time.”
Leary and ECU quarterback Holton Ahlers were guys their programs built around. Leary later got injured against Florida State on Oct. 8, and that set into motion Jack Chambers, M.J. Morris and Ben Finley getting starts in 2022.
The 2023 campaign brought in Virginia transfer Brennan Armstrong, with Morris returning, and that got messy when Morris essentially quit on the team and season.
NC State was hoping Coastal Carolina transfer Grayson McCall would be the answer, but he retired from football after multiple concussions Oct. 5 against Wake Forest.
NC State turned loose freshman Cedrick “C.J.” Bailey and hoped he’d play through his mistakes. Bailey proved crucial in going 14-of-20 for 242 yards and two touchdowns, with one interception, and he rushed 14 times for 54 yards. Finally, NC State has a quarterback to build around for the next three or four years, depending on how the NFL views him one day.
“We do have a really talented quarterback that's excited, to get into the postseason here,” Doeren said.
ECU didn’t have it as dramatic in the post-Ahlers era. However, the Pirates did have a miserable 2-10 season in 2023, with neither Alex Finn or Mason Garcia the answer at quarterback.
That led to going and getting two California natives in the transfer portal with Miami (Fla.) transfer Jake Garcia, a junior, and sophomore Katin Houser of Michigan State.
Houser’s emergence truly got going in the 45-28 loss at Army, with Houston fired the next day Oct. 20. He took over from Garcia and went 131-of-216 passing for 1,859 yards, 18 touchdowns and nine interceptions in eight games played (six full ones).
ECU also now knows that it has a quarterback to build around for the next two years.
“Just an opportunity to start fresh, an opportunity to be in an up-tempo offense, throw the football around and something he felt comfortable with,” Harrell said. “He kind of hit it off with [Offensive coordinator] Coach [John David Baker]. Coming out of the preseason camp was not our starter. Jake Garcia was.
“Jake played some pretty good ball at times, but halfway through we thought there was an opportunity to make a change and a need to make a change.”
Houser transferred from Henderson (Nev.) Liberty High to prep powerhouse Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco High. Rivals.com ranked him the No. 151 overall player in the country, the No. 8 overall player in California and the No. 10 pro-style quarterback nationally in the class of 2022. He originally committed to Boise State and then eventually flipped to Michigan State. Iowa, Washington, Arizona, Colorado, Washington State and others had all offered him.
Hauser threw for 1,130 yards, six touchdowns and five interceptions his redshirt freshman year at Michigan State, and then he entered the transfer portal. Landing Houser at East Carolina took some maneuvering.
“We were coming off a 2-10 season, [and it] started with our new offensive staff, new offensive coordinator, John David Baker [who came from Ole Miss],” Harrell said. “At that point, it was really just go out and find a quarterback we thought fit our system and could fit us. That’s really where Katin Houser factored in.”
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