RALEIGH — If there was any question whether East Carolina could rise up Saturday and make a statement playing for former head coach Scottie Montgomery who was fired Thursday, the answer was no in every capacity, as shown in a 58-loss to North Carolina State.

The Wolfpack (9-3, 5-3 American Coastal Conference) destroyed a physically, mentally and emotionally depleted Pirate team Saturday, holding ECU (3-9, 1-7 American Athletic Conference) to zero points until kicker Jake Verity connected on a 46-yard field goal as time expired. As has been a trend this season, ECU didn’t look ready for its road contest. In their five away games this season, the Pirates were outscored 207-46 and held under 10 points twice (their last two games).

ECU starting QB Holton Ahlers missed the season finale with a knee injury, as he did not get out of his knee brace all week. Reid Herring, the Pirates’ starter at the beginning of the season, got the nod, but went just 8-for-22 for 69 yards and an interception before leaving the game in the second half with an injury. Interim head coach and defensive coordinator David Blackwell turned to Kingsley Ifedi and he lasted one pass attempt, as the redshirt freshman threw an interception to Jarius Morehead. That was enough for Blackwell, who turned to Caiden Norman for the remainder of the half, where he went just 1-for-2 and four yards.

If the passing game wasn’t ugly enough, the running game was again nonexistent and dismissed. Anthony Scott lead all rushers with 12 carries for 50 yards, while Trace Christian was the only other positive rusher, finishing with 9 yards on five carries. ECU just barely totaled more than 100 yards of offense with its poor passing and rushing performances, finishing with 104 in the game, its fifth-lowest performance in program history.

On the flipside, NC State showed how they’ve been putting teams away all season, as Wolfpack quarterback Ryan Finley finished with 409 yards on 32-for-44 passing and three touchdowns. In a bright spot for ECU, Daniel Charles picked off Finley for his first career interception in the second quarter. NC State had 421 total yards through the air along with 234 on the ground to make the Pirates’ defense have reminders of last season as it gave up more than 600 yards again.

NC State got up early and never looked back. It took a 27-0 lead into halftime after scoring on its first four possessions, beginning with a 23-yard field goal to cap a 67-yard drive. The Wolfpack scored a passing and rushing TD in the final four and half minutes of the opening quarter before adding another passing TD and a field goal as time expired in the first half to head into the locker room more than comfortable. NC State only allowed 73 yards of total offense to the Pirates in the half while amounting 388 of its own.

The Wolfpack scored two more touchdowns in both the third and fourth quarter while also adding another field goal to start the final quarter. Jakobi Meyers lead NC State with 13 receptions for 163 yards and one TD, while fellow wideouts Kelvin Harmon and Thayer Thomas also scored for the Wolfpack. NC State had more rushing TDs than passing on the day as Reggie Gallaspy had 220 yards on 24 carries, his longest being 86 yards, and two TDs.

Trevon Brown lead all receivers for ECU in his final game in a Pirate uniform with three catches for 48 yards. Brown has at least one reception in 38 of his 41 games played, with multiple catches in 35 of them. He finished the 2018 season with 1,123 yards and nine touchdowns on 74 receptions and tied Dwayne Harris’ 2010 record for fourth most yards in a single season for the Pirates all-time. He finished his career 48 yards short of 3,000, coming in at 2,952 on 189 receptions. Both of those stats are also fourth all time in ECU history. Brown is also now second all-time with 24 career TDs.

Wide receiver Tyler Snead did not play after being a staple to the Pirates’ offense in the latter part of the season. He now is eligible to redshirt as he only appeared in four games this season.