College Football Old School Game of the Week: East Carolina's Un"Believe"able Peach Bowl Comeback

East Carolina players hold up the Peach Bowl trophy after their comeback win over the Wolfpack

In 1987, the East Carolina Pirates knocked off the North Carolina State Wolfpack 32-14, marking the third time in five years that the Pirates had defeated the Wolfpack in a series which began in 1970.

Following the Pirates' victory which ECU fans tore down the goal posts of Carter-Finley Stadium, the home stadium of the Wolfpack, the rivalry was terminated by NC State which was a blow to East Carolina as they were a small independent while the Wolfpack played in the ACC.

Over four years later, the two programs separated by 85 miles would travel down to Atlanta Fulton County Stadium where they would face off in the 1992 Peach Bowl on New Year's Day to cap off the 1991 college football season.

The '91 season was a magical one for the Pirates as they went 10-1 in the regular season with their only loss being a 38-31 heartbreaker to Illinois in their season opener when ECU's rally from a 28-point deficit fell short.

Led by third year head coach Bill Lewis and senior quarterback Jeff Blake, the Pirates would not lose again during the regular season as they climbed to #12 in the polls after 4th quarter comeback wins over Syracuse, Pittsburgh, and Virginia Tech, leading to ECU fans to adopt the slogan "I Believe".

The Pirates would be invited to play in the Peach Bowl, marking the first time East Carolina had played in a bowl game since 1978 as nearly 20,000 fans would make the drive down to Atlanta to see their beloved Pirates take on the Wolfpack.

NC State came into the game ranked #21 in the country with a 9-2 record under head coach Bill Sheridan who was about to finish his sixth season as the Pack's head coach having led them to their fifth bowl appearance since his tenure began in 1986.

The Wolfpack were led by a strong running game which featured the stable of Anthony Barbour, Gary Downs, and Greg Mainor as the Pack ran for at least 200 yards in six of their 11 games during the season.

NC State welcomed back quarterback Terry Jordan for the Peach Bowl as he broke his left collarbone in the team's fourth game of the season as the Wolfpack looked to win their 10th game which would be the first time in school history that the Pack had achieved that feat.

 After the Pirates went three-and-out to start the game, the Wolfpack would begin their first possession of the game at their 32-yard-line as they would attempt only one pass on a 12-play, 68-yard drive that culminated with a two-yard touchdown run by Downs to give NC State a 7-0 lead.

Following a 35-yard return by Dion Johnson on the ensuing kickoff, the Pirates would drive 57 yards in six plays as Blake would complete all four of his passes for 42 yards on the drive with the last completion being a five-yard touchdown to running back Cedric Van Buren to help tie the game at seven with 5:22 to go in the first quarter.

The Pirates would force the Wolfpack to punt on their next possession to give their offense the ball back at their 40-yard-line as they would convert on a 3rd & 23 as Blake hit wide receiver Hunter Gallimore for a 33-yard completion to give ECU a 1st down at the 50-yard-line.

However on the next play, Blake would be picked off by NC State cornerback Sebastian Savage, whose 14-yard return would give the Wolfpack the ball at their 46-yard-line.

From there, the Wolfpack would run the ball six straight times to drive to the East Carolina four-yard-line when Jordan put the ball in the air and completed a four-yard touchdown pass to tight end Todd Harrison to give NC State a 14-7 lead just 50 seconds into the second quarter.

After both teams went three-and-out on their ensuing possessions, the Pirates would get the ball back at their 30-yard-line when they would rely on the running game to drive down the field as Van Buren carried the ball five times for 49 yards to lead ECU to a 27-yard field goal by Anthony Brenner to cut the NC State lead to 14-10 with 6:41 left in the second quarter.

The Pirates would take their first lead of the game with 1:39 left before halftime when Blake threw a bomb down the left sideline that was caught by Gallimore for a 55-yard touchdown to give ECU a 17-14 lead which they would hold after the first 30 minutes of play.

East Carolina quarterback Jeff Blake would complete 31 of 51 passes for 378 yards and four touchdown passes while running it for another touchdown.

NC State would get the ball to start the second half as they would drive 58 yards in 10 plays for the go-ahead touchdown as Jordan threw a short screen pass to wide receiver wide receiver Robert Hinton who would dodge two ECU defenders for the 14-yard touchdown to give the Wolfpack a 21-17 lead.

The Wolfpack defense would force the Pirates to go three-and-out on their ensuing possession to give their offense the ball back around midfield only to give it right back to ECU as linebacker Robert Jones would intercept a Jordan pass and return it 20 yards to give East Carolina the ball at the NC State 31-yard-line.

But the Wolfpack defense would allow only two yards on three plays to force a 46-yard field goal attempt by Brenner, which he missed to keep the score at 21-17 in favor of NC State as the Wolfpack offense would take over at their 29-yard-line.

From there, the Wolfpack would drive 71 yards in eight plays as Jordan completed two passes to wide receiver Charles Davenport for 39 yards to help set up an one-yard touchdown run by Manoir to increase the NC State lead to 10 points at 27-17 as the extra point would be blocked by Jones.

The score was still 27-17 as the game moved into the fourth quarter when Gallimore would muff a NC State punt that was recovered by wide receiver Shad Santee to give the Wolfpack the ball at their 49-yard-line as Jordan would lose one yard on a quarterback option run to set up 2nd & 11 at the NC State 48-yard-line.

That is when Jordan threw a backyard pass to running back Ledel George who then threw a deep pass for Davenport, who made the catch around the East Carolina 10-yard-line and then ran into the end zone for the 52-yard touchdown that with the extra point extended NC State's lead to 34-17 with 13:01 to go in the fourth quarter.

Things seemed hopeless for the Pirates especially after their ensuing possession ended in an interception when Blake threw a deep pass that was picked off by NC State defensive back Mike Reid.

But the Pirates would catch a break after they forced the Wolfpack to punt which ended up being a disaster for NC State as Tim Kilpatrick would shank the kick as it traveled only 10 yards to give ECU the ball at the Wolfpack 32-yard-line with 8:41 to play.

Lining up in the shotgun formation, Blake would start the drive with a nine-yard completion to Johnson followed by an eight-yard completion to Van Buren to give ECU a 1st down at the NC State 15-yard-line.

After throwing an incomplete pass, Blake would find Fisher for 13 yards to give the Pirates a 1st & goal at the two-yard-line as Blake would threw two straight incomplete passes to set up a 3rd & goal when the quarterback ran it in for a two-yard touchdown to cut the NC State lead to 34-24 with 7:26 to go in the game.

The East Carolina defense would force a three-and-out to give their offense the ball back at their 20-yard-line as Blake would complete eight of 10 passes for 77 yards on the drive that was capped off with a 17-yard touchdown to Johnson to make it an one-score game at 34-30 with 4:18 remaining.

The Pirates would go for two after the touchdown but would fail to convert as Blake was stripped of the ball by NC State linebacker Tyler Lawrence to keep the score at 34-30, meaning that ECU needed a touchdown to win the game.

Hoping to pick up a few 1st downs to run out the clock, the Wolfpack went to their bag of tricks on the opening play of their next possession as they attempted an end around with the ball ending up in the arms of Davenport, only for the receiver to be dropped for a nine-yard loss by Pirates linebacker Jerry Dillon which ultimately killed the drive and forced another NC State punt.

Making up for his muffed punt earlier in the 4th quarter, Johnson would return the punt 27 yards to the NC State 41-yard-line where the Pirates would take over with 2:37 to go in the game.

The drive would begin with Blake hitting Johnson for eight yards to set up 2nd & 2 when disaster nearly struck for the Pirates as Fisher was stripped of the ball following another completion only for Van Buren to recover the fumble to give ECU a 1st down at the NC State 30-yard-line.

An incomplete pass and an eight-yard completion to Fisher would set up 3rd & 2 when Blake found Fisher again at the 15-yard-line who then split the NC State defense and dove into the end zone for the 22-yard touchdown that with the extra point gave East Carolina a 37-34 lead with 1:32 to play as Blake had completed 15 of 21 passes for 158 yards on the Pirates' last three drives.

Tight end Luke Fisher dives for what would be the game-winning touchdown.

Despite having given up 20 points in a span of 5 minutes and 54 seconds, the Wolfpack had a chance to win the game as they would begin their next drive at their 29-yard-line with all three timeouts left in their pocket.

Jordan would complete three straight passes to running back Chris Williams for 23 yards then would find Davenport for 12 more yards to put NC State at the ECU 36-yard-line when the Wolfpack burnt their first timeout with 26 seconds to go.

The timeout helped the Pirates more than it did the Wolfpack as ECU defensive lineman Zaim Cunmulaj and Derek Taylor chased Jordan out of the pocket and dropped for a quarterback sack which resulted in a 17-yard-loss for NC State as it was forced to spend its second timeout with 15 seconds to go.

Facing a 2nd & 27 situation, Jordan would complete a 23-yard pass to Hinton to put NC State at the ECU 32-yard-line as the Wolfpack would spend their final timeout with six seconds remaining.

Instead of attempting a Hail Mary to win the game, Sheridan would send in the field goal unit as Damon Hartman would come on to attempt a 49-yard field goal that salvage a tie for the Wolfpack(There was no overtime in FBS Football in 1991).

However, Hartman's kick would sail wide right as time expired with the Pirates on top 37-34 as many of the 20,000 East Carolina fans rushed onto the field to celebrate their Pirates' record 11th win of the season.

East Carolina would finish the season ranked #9 in both the AP and coaches polls while the Wolfpack would finish #24 in the AP and #25 in the coaches poll.

Almost a week after the Pirates' win in the Peach Bowl, Lewis would leave Greenville to become the head coach of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets where he lasted only two and a half seasons as he resigned following a 1-7 start during the 1994 season while Blake would go on to a 14-year NFL career which was highlighted by his 1995 + 1996 seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals where he there for over 3,500 yards in each season.

As for the rivalry between the Pirates and the Wolfpack, it has not become an annual affair but it has been played 14 time since their meeting in the 1992 Peach Bowl with both teams winning seven games each during that span.