NC State enters the Military Bowl with an interim defensive coordinator and will adjust to life without sophomore wide receiver Kevin Concepcion, who entered the transfer portal.
The 6-6 Wolfpack play 7-5 East Carolina in the Military Bowl at 5:45 p.m. Saturday in Annapolis, Md. The Pirates made interim coach Blake Harrell the permanent coach. ECU won four of the last five games to become eligible.
Five East Carolina players to watch
Sophomore quarterback Katin Houser
The 6-3, 222-pound Houser took over the position in earnest Oct. 19, and is 131-of-216 passing for 1,859 yards, 18 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He isn’t looking to run and has 36 carries for 86 yards and two scores. Houster threw for 343 yards and five touchdowns, and ran for 52 yards and a score in a 49-14 win over Florida Atlantic on Nov. 7. The former Michigan State transfer from Anaheim, Calif., threw for 1,130 yards, six touchdowns and five interceptions in 2023 for the Spartans.
Senior running back Rajai Harris
The 5-11, 214-pound Harris has been a solid five-year running back for the Pirates. He rushed for a career-high 946 yards and 10 touchdowns on 189 carries, and caught 15 passes for 91 yards this season. The Duncan, S.C., native topped 100 yards in three games and had 24 carries for 128 yards and three scores in the 40-28 win over North Texas on Nov. 23. Harris has accumulated 2,872 rushing yards and 28 touchdowns at ECU.
Senior wide receiver Anthony Smith
The former NC State wide receiver has blossomed into a productive target for the Pirates. He has caught 38 passes for 767 yards and six touchdowns this season. The 6-3, 185-pounder had caught 13 passes for 243 yards and three touchdowns in 33 games at NC State. Smith has topped 100 yards in three games, and had four catches for 121 yards and a touchdown in the win over North Texas.
Senior safety Omar Rogers
Rogers leads East Carolina with 97 tackles (40 solo) and has added five tackles for loss, one sack, one interception and two passes broken up. He leads the Pirates with a 79.8 grade by Pro Football Focus. The 6-1, 203-pounder from Burlington, N.J., is playing his best ball of late. He combined for 27 tackles over the last two games — a loss vs. Navy on Nov. 29, and the win over North Texas. Rogers finished with at least 10 tackles in four different games. Rogers played his first three years at Elon, but didn’t get much playing time at ECU last year.
Junior safety Gavin Gibson
The former Cornelius (N.C.) Hough standout started his career at Maryland, where he amassed 32 tackles in 20 games played. The 6-foot, 185-pounder has 47 tackles, six tackles for loss, three interceptions — one of which he returned for a touchdown against Norfolk State — broke up three passes and had one forced fumble. Gibson had a season-high nine tackle in the 20-14 win over Old Dominion on Sept. 7.
What to watch for from East Carolina
1. Defense has holes. The defense has been a struggle all season, with opposing teams averaging 39.9 points, a hefty 233.3 rushing yards and 223.5 passing yards per game this season.
Charlotte gashed the Pirates defense for 55 points, Army had 45, Liberty had 35 and Navy scored 34. The wins over Tulsa and Temple were the two games where the opponent scored at least 31 points but ECU still won.
ECU lost its best defensive player, senior cornerback Shavon Revel, to a torn ACL in the third game game of the season Sept. 14. The former Louisburg (N.C.) College junior college transfer could return to college football with the new junior college rule, but is contemplating the NFL Draft. He had 55 tackles and one interception last year, and had two picks in the first two games this season.
East Carolina is also without second-leading tackler, sophomore linebacker Zakye Barker, who had 84 stops and two sacks, who is transferring to SMU. North Carolina landed rotational defensive tackle C.J. Mims, who had 23 tackles and 1.5 sacks this season. Cornerback Isaiah Brown-Murray rounds out the key losses to the portal, and he had 42 tackles, six passes defended and one interception this season.
2. ECU aims for run/pass balance. East Carolina wants to be mostly balanced on offense between the passing of sophomore quarterback Katin Houser, and running backs Rahjai Harris and London Montgomery.
ECU’s passing game will take a hit with 6-4 sophomore wide receiver Chase Sowell entering the transfer portal and ended up at Iowa State. Sowell caught 34 passes for 678 yards and three touchdowns this season.
Balance has been the key, but not in every game. ECU threw the ball 38 times and ran it 20 against Army with Houser entrenched. In wins, the Pirates had 36 rushes and 29 passes against Temple, 22 passes and 34 runs against Florida Atlantic, 37 passes and 42 rushes against Tulsa and 24 passes and a staggering 57 rushes against North Texas.
Navy exploded for 34 points in the second half in the 34-20 win, and ECU had 36 passes and 34 runs.
3. Battle of third or fourth downs. East Carolina might not be much for time of possession — it has just 25:14 per game on the season — but the Pirates have been good offensively on third downs and fourth downs.
ECU went 71-of-169 on third-down conversions for 42.0 percent, and then added 9 of 17 on fourth-down conversions this seasons. Conversely, opposing teams were 75 of 191 on third-down conversions for 39.3 percent.
Coach Blake Harrell took over for the Temple game Oct. 26, and quarterback Katin Houser had been inserted the week before against Army on Oct. 19.
Going into Harrell’s first game, the team was 3 of 6 on fourth-down conversions. The team went for it 11 times over the next five games.
Opposing teams definitely were aggressive on going for it on fourth downs. Opponents went 14 of 31 for 45.2 percent against the Pirates.
Three keys to the game for NC State football
1. Also new is having Freddie Aughtry-Lindsay as the interim defensive coordinator.
Aughtry-Lindsay coaches the nickels, but it’s a big change in trying to replace defensive coordinator Tony Gibson, who was hired at Marshall as head coach. NC State has promoted from within in the past, with then running backs coach Des Kitchings and then wide receivers coach George McDonald becoming co-offensive coordinators. Gibson also took over when Dave Huxtable was let go.
It will be interesting to see if the defense changes in any way, or blitz or not blitz more. The good news is that the portal hasn’t disrupted the defensive personnel. Perhaps defensive end Davin Vann sits it out if he needs to, hoping to be 100 percent for pre-draft workouts, but no other player on the roster is really in that position.
2. NC State will likely have a “pick your poison” dynamic in how to attack East Carolina’s defense.
The Pirates allowed Appalachian State quarterback Joey Aguilar, who has entered the portal, to throw for 424 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions in a 21-19 win for the Mountaineers on Sept. 14.
Charlotte took a different tactic in its 55-24 win over ECU on Oct. 5. The running game rushed 52 times for 311 yards and six touchdowns. Quarterback Deshawn Purdie, who threw for 206 yards and zero touchdowns, also has entered the portal, and is going to Florida.
Safe to say none of ECU’s opponents are quite like NC State. In terms of balance, Liberty quarterback Kaidon Salter threw for 223 yards and four touchdowns in a 35-24 win Sept. 21. Running back Quinton Cooley rushed for 105 yards and a touchdown, and the Flames ran 45 times for 191 yards and one touchdown. Salter has since transferred to Colorado.
3. In many ways NC State is building toward next year, and part of that could be getting the ball to freshman wide receiver Jonathan Paylor.
Paylor played in just two games this season, but with slot receivers Kevin Concepcion and Jalen Coit transferring, the opportunity is there for the former Rivals.com four-star prospect and top 100 prospect.
Paylor has the ability to do many of the same kind of plays that got Concepcion untracked in 2023. He can line up in the backfield as a running back or Wildcat quarterback, take jet sweeps from the slot or in motion, handle the pop passes or the bubble screens.
What offensive coordinator Robert Anae does with Paylor will be one of the most watched scenarios of the bowl game.
Three numbers of note
22 Total bowl games for East Carolina, with all but five coming since 1978. ECU topped NC State 37-34 in the 1992 Peach Bowl.
42 Career wins at East Carolina for former coach Ruffin McNeill, who is now an assistant to the head coach at NC State. McNeill went 42-34 overall and reached five bowl games, including a Military Bowl appearance in 2010 in a 51-20n loss vs. Maryland.
35,849 Attendance for the 2023 Military Bowl, which had Virginia Tech defeating Tulane 41-20 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
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