ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Rahjai Harris broke free for an 86-yard touchdown run with 1:33 remaining, giving East Carolina a pulsating 26-21 victory over NC State in the Military Bowl in a game that descended into a wild brawl in the final minute.
Harris had 220 of ECU’s 326 yards rushing, and his sensational sprint near the end of the game gave the Pirates (8-5) the lead back after they’d blown a 13-point advantage in the fourth. But after an interception by Dontavius Nash ended NC State’s final drive, East Carolina’s attempt to run out the clock was interrupted by a large-scale fight.
Three players for ECU and five for NC State were ejected.
“I’d like to apologize for our football team for how that ended,” Wolfpack coach Dave Doeren said. “I’m embarrassed as a coach, and I know our players are, too. That’s not how people of this program, players of this program, staff of this program, want anything to do with something like that. To me, it was a terrible response to something that happened to one of our players, and there’s no excuses for it. So I apologize to ECU and their team.”
The two in-state rivals won’t have to wait long to play each other again — they are scheduled to face off in the 2025 season opener.
Pirates coach Blake Harrell said his team would celebrate Saturday’s victory but was looking forward to playing NC State again next season. He also said he took exception to the Wolfpack downplaying the rivalry.
“I don’t think you can look at our fans and tell them it’s not a rivalry,” Harrell said. “It’s an hour and 15 minutes up the road, and there’s a couple other schools about the same distance. And maybe they should put us on their schedule as well, instead of trying to take our players. They want to call our players and take our players? Well, how about putting us on the schedule? … We’re going to be looked at like a stepbrother, little stepbrother, that’s fine, all right? But these guys are going to compete. They’re going to take up the challenge.”
ECU (8-5) trailed 21-20 and took over the ball at its own 14, and after two incompletions, the Pirates decided to run the ball with Harris. He had a good hole to the left for a big gain, then cut back past the final defender on his way to the end zone.
CJ Bailey threw three touchdown passes for the Wolfpack (6-7), who rallied from a 20-7 deficit in the fourth. Bailey threw a 15-yard scoring strike to Justin Joly on fourth down, then NC State forced ECU’s first punt of the game and took the lead on a trick play.
Bailey handed off to Hollywood Smothers, then Smothers pitched to Keenan Jackson, who pitched the ball back to Bailey. The NC State quarterback quickly dumped the ball off to Smothers, who had plenty of blockers in front of him and went all the way to the end zone for a 33-yard TD and a 21-20 lead.
It wasn’t enough as the ACC completed a desultory day. ACC teams are 1-9 in postseason bowls and playoff games this year after four more went down Saturday. North Carolina (Fenway), Boston College (Pinstripe), Miami (Pop Tarts) and NC State (Military) all lost.
Louisville, Duke and Virginia Tech still have games in the coming days for the league.
ECU quarterback Katin Houser opened the scoring with a 19-yard touchdown run. After an East Carolina field goal, Bailey got the Wolfpack on the board with an 8-yard scoring pass to Dacari Collins in the second quarter.
The Pirates led 13-7 at halftime and then drove for a touchdown to start the third quarter. After Houser’s 4-yard TD run, ECU lined up to go for two, but after a delay of game penalty had to kick the extra point.
NC State: The Wolfpack put up a good battle in the final quarter, but ultimately NC State’s defense didn’t do enough on this day.
East Carolina: The Pirates have a lot to feel good about. They won five of their final six games after coach Mike Houston was fired. His replacement, Harrell, was rewarded by having his interim tag removed, and this game showed why.
NC State can feel a little better about the future after the way Bailey, a 6-foot-6 freshman, handled this game. The same is true for East Carolina with its new coach.
However, the brawl means both coaches have work to do keeping their players under control when they see each other again in the 2025 opener.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.