MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Holton Ahlers couldn’t remove the smile from his face if he tried his absolute hardest.
The East Carolina starting quarterback, who grew up watching the program as a Greenville native, committed to the hometown Pirates as part of the 2018 recruiting class with one goal in mind: Get ECU football back to where it belongs.
Ahlers accomplished that long-standing goal on Saturday in Memphis, exhaling and celebrating in jubilation as the ECU defense came through with a clutch two-point conversion stop to secure a 30-29 victory in overtime, and a sixth win that means bowl eligibility for the Pirates for the first time since the 2014 season when Ruffin McNeill was the head coach and Lincoln Riley the offensive coordinator.
“I started tearing up once we scored (in overtime),” Ahlers said. “I kind of had a feeling the defense was going to pull through. Super blessed to be part of this program, to be part of Greenville. I really can’t say much more than that.”
Ahlers overcame two interceptions by completing 29 passes for 317 yards, and running for 46 more yards with a score. He put together a dominant performance on third downs, leading the offense to several key conversions (18-of-26 overall) as the Pirates owned time of possession.
Tyler Snead was on the receiving end of several of those big throws, making a season-high 13 catches for 113 yards. Snead, like Ahlers, entered the program as a walk-on in 2018. He’s emerged as a key playmaker ever since, and has played a big role in the turnaround of the program.
“It means the world to us,” Snead said of the sixth win. “They just got the guys from 2018 together in there and they were like, ‘We’ve been here from the beginning.’ It means a lot to us with what we have been through, and then what (Pirate Nation) has been through too. We’re all in this together.”
Number 6!! ???? pic.twitter.com/V0Q0N2I2GD
— ECU Football (@ECUPiratesFB) November 13, 2021
Despite a preseason goal of six wins and reaching bowl eligibility, the Pirates tried to block out the noise and downplay the thought of postseason play all week in their preparation. The goal was to focus on ‘going 1-0,’ just like ECU had the previous several games, and the bowl possibilities would take care of itself.
“I didn’t have to say anything,” ECU third-year coach Mike Houston said. “I didn’t say anything to the kids all week. The only thing we talked about with bowls was we had a little sound bite of (Memphis) talking about getting bowl eligible today. We just kind of talked about we weren’t going to let that happen. That’s it. Everything else was all about Memphis, all about our game plan. But the kids knew it.”
Outside of transfers like Ryan Jones from Oklahoma and D.J. Ford from North Carolina, no one on ECU’s roster has experienced playing in a bowl game. That includes the rare fifth- and sixth-year players, like offensive linemen Sean Bailey and Fernando Frye, and linebackers Bruce Bivens and Aaron Ramseur.
ECU also has several key contributors that entered for the 2018 season and have become staples in the turnaround, including Xavier Smith, Myles Berry, Jireh Wilson, Gerard Stringer, and Jonn Young, in addition to Ahlers and Snead.
Since 2016, ECU has posted records of 3-9, 3-9, 3-9, 4-8, and 3-6. There were uncompetitive losses and blowouts. But through it all, the Pirates never quit working, and never quit believing. It culminated with the sweetest victory the program has had in some time on Saturday afternoon in Memphis. And ECU can now go for wins seven and eight with two regular season games remaining.
“Just being able to do that right then and accomplish a goal we set for ourselves way back when no one else thought it was possible, it’s just a special feeling,” Smith said. “I’m just super proud of those guys. We came a long way, we fought, we could have bowed our heads. But we kept it 10 toes and do what we had to do to get what we need to get done.
“It’s an amazing feeling, definitely something I’m going to remember for the rest of my life.”
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November 14, 2021 at 08:25PM
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Win No. 6 extra sweet for longstanding Pirates - 247Sports
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