We believed
From the start, ECU tight end Luke Fisher had an inkling.
“I always knew we were going to win the game; I was positive the entire game, especially in the fourth quarter,” he says.
The Pirates trailed, the final minutes ticking away. Then with a catch, a run and a dive, Fisher sealed his and his team’s place in Pirate lore.
Pirate fans erupted. They hugged and high-fived. They rocked the weathered Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. It was Jan. 1, 1992, at the 24th annual Peach Bowl. Fisher had caught a 22-yard pass from quarterback Jeff Blake to put East Carolina ahead of North Carolina State for good. In a comeback that perfectly punctuated that 1991 “Cinderella season,” ECU made up a 34-17 deficit in the fourth quarter to win 37-34.
The Pirates went 11-1 that season, and 25 years later, those days live on.
“The team epitomized what East Carolina University has always been about,” says Mark Hessert, associate executive director of the ECU Educational Foundation (Pirate Club) and associate athletic director, whose career at ECU began in the fall of ’91. “That season encapsulated the spirit and passion ECU has for overachieving and gaining respect. It showed that, given the opportunity, we do rise to the occasion.”
‘We believe’
Having the chance to square off against an in-state rival in a bowl game wasn’t something that occurred to anyone who wore purple and gold at the start of the 1991 football season.
After a controversial loss at Illinois-ECU was penalized for excessive celebration after recovering an onside kick in the final minutes of a close game-no one could have guessed ECU would win out.
“To win 11 games in a row is so hard to do,” says Robert Jones, an All-America linebacker for the ’91 team whose son, Isaiah, plays for the current Pirate squad. “That’s also why that season was so magical.”
Time and again, the team snatched victory from teams including Syracuse, South Carolina, Virginia Tech and Pittsburgh. The Pitt game ended in a 24-23 home win that to many was a defining moment of the regular season.
“I’m getting chills just thinking about it,” says Dean Browder ’77. “Nobody sat down for the second half, and the concrete stands were bouncing.”
The team, led by Bill Lewis, the 1991 American Football Coaches Association Coach of the Year, offensive coordinator (and future head coach) Steve Logan, and quarterback Jeff Blake, made the magic happen game after game.
“I knew if I played at a high level, everyone else would,” Blake says. “I wouldn’t have been able to do it without my teammates and coaches and the support we had. They allowed me to be a leader.”
Fisher also recalls the support that kept the team motivated and confident.
“The fans were just unbelievable,” he says.
Brian Bailey saw that devotion firsthand. As a young sportscaster for WNCT-TV in Greenville, he was only a few years older than the players and bonded with them that season. He knew the team had a chip on its shoulder, that Pirate football had not been to a bowl since 1978 (a 35-13 win over Louisiana Tech in the Independence Bowl) and hadn’t come close to a bowl invitation since the ’83 season. The team’s independent status didn’t help when it came to bowl bids, either.
“After the wins started coming in, some of the players joked with me about going to a bowl,” Bailey says. “I told them that if they went to a bowl, they could shave my mustache. That ‘stache was 11 years in the making, but some of the guys seemed to like the idea.”
As the wins piled up, “I Believe” and “We Believe” began popping up on T-shirts and signs that waved during games. The “We Believe” chant gave rise not only to a stadium cheer, but a team motto, a verbalization of how the Pirate Nation caught fire that season.
“We looked for the ‘We Believe’ every game,” Jones says.
Fans, in turn, looked for the pivotal play that would change the tide in each game. They were never disappointed.
“It was a fun year,” says Rod Gray ’94, who performed as the PeeDee mascot that season. “I’ve never been a part of something so exciting. It took our football program from infancy to more maturity. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
The game-changers
Some say it was fitting that the heady game days of that season yielded an even more energizing reward-a spot in a bowl opposite an in-state foe.
“It was almost fate for us to play N.C. State,” Fisher says. “It was the icing on the cake.”
The Pirates were 10-1 and ranked 12th in the Associated Press poll. The Wolfpack was 9-2 and ranked 21st.
WRAL-TV’s Jeff Gravley was on the sidelines during the Peach Bowl. He recalls the history that created tension between ECU and N.C. State.
“For years the N.C. State-ECU game was one of the most anticipated on the schedule,” Gravley says. “Both schools understood the high stakes of the rivalry, but the game was always played in Raleigh. After the Pirates’ 32-14 win in 1987, fans stormed the field, creating chaos. I didn’t cover that game, but vividly remember the field-level video.”
A fence and both goal posts were torn down, and a security officer suffered cheekbone and eye injuries from someone who was not connected to either school. Afterward, N.C. State canceled the series.
The Peach Bowl would be the teams’ first meeting since.
ECU’s success and the opponent created a double-edged sword for Pirate athletics staff. ECU fans ordered around 35,000 tickets, but the university’s allotment was closer to 20,000. Hessert remembers late nights spent agonizing over how to dole out the tickets.
“That was not fun,” he says. “It was a pretty stressful time.”
So many were headed to the Peach Bowl that a joke rippled among fans of both teams: “Last one out of North Carolina, turn out the lights!”
With a bowl-record crowd of 59,322, those who were there felt like all of North Carolina really had joined them in the stands.
“It was a hot ticket,” says Browder, who was the president of the Winston-Salem chapter of the Pirate Club and brought a bus full of fans to the game. “Emotions were high on both sides. Everyone was keyed up to play. It was like lightning in a bottle.”
Dennis Young, who was beginning his stint as executive director of the Pirate Club, remembers a cold, gray day in Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, with a clammy haze rolling over the field. As the game ground on, the Pirates found themselves down by three scores in the fourth quarter.
“I remember thinking, ‘I can’t believe it’s going to come to this,'” says Jerry Leach ’83, who was perched in the top corner of the stands.
But the Pirates weren’t dead. A touchdown near the six-minute mark pulled them within 10 points. Another made it 34-30 with just over three minutes left, but Blake fumbled on a two-point conversion attempt.
Many who were there remember the eerie sound of fans taking a collective breath and then shouting “We Believe!” in unison, over and over.
“All you could hear was ‘We Believe!'” Leach says. “I think the State fans were in shock.”
N.C. State punted on its next possession, and the Pirates stormed back down the field, even surviving a dropped catch thanks to a recovery by running back Cedric Van Buren.
Fisher recalls the go-ahead touchdown.
“This was a two-minute spread offense; I was split out on the right side,” he says. “When the ball was snapped, they didn’t blitz but dropped back into more of a zone coverage. “Because we had so many receivers out in the play it really spread the underneath coverage thin and, because of my option route (the opportunity to move to an opening), I found an open pocket.
In the final play of the game, Pirate defensive lineman Greg Gardill, bottom left, tries to push the Wolfpack offensive line back as far as possible so that defensive players, including Robert Jones, center, can attempt to block the field goal attempt. The kick went wide.
In the final play of the game, Pirate defensive lineman Greg Gardill, bottom left, tries to push the Wolfpack offensive line back as far as possible so that defensive players, including Robert Jones, center, can attempt to block the field goal attempt. The kick went wide.
“I ran 12 yards deep, made an inside turn and then slid out to the sideline. Jeff placed the ball perfectly on my outside shoulder, which allowed me to catch while turning on the run. This gave me the momentum to get up the field and over the end zone before a defender could reach me.”
Christin Simpson ’93 ’95 ’01 was an ECU cheerleader that season. “I distinctly remember the crowd going crazy and the team barely able to contain themselves,” she says.
But there was time left, and the Wolfpack drove into ECU territory to set up a 49-yard field goal attempt to tie.
Pirate defensive lineman Greg Gardill describes what happened next.
“What we do is three defensive linemen get on the center and try to push the line back as far as possible so that the two linebackers can jump up and knock the ball down on the kick,” Gardill says. “So we pushed the line back, and I just thought, ‘Get as low as you can and drive as hard as you can and push the center back and let the two linebackers jump up and hopefully we block this thing.’
“Well, instead of blocking it, it went wide right, and (the) stadium, at least three-quarters of it, went crazy,” he says. “The other people were not so happy.”
Gravley says the momentum swings created an electric atmosphere.
“It’s still one of the greatest games I have ever covered between two bitter rivals who had to go out of their home state to play,” he says.
At one point, birds-pigeons or doves, depending on whom you ask-flew over the stadium and settled onto the field, close to the action. They reminded some of the fighting spirit of the late Chancellor Leo Jenkins and the late head coach Clarence Stasavich, Young says.
“When you’re down by 17, some teams get down on themselves and don’t play to their potential,” Jones says. “For us, we were so accustomed to being down that we adapted and just kept playing. We learned how to overcome adversity.”
A lasting impression
Blake, Fisher, Jones, defensive back Chris Hall and wide receiver Dion Johnson would be drafted into the NFL. ECU would earn the respect it had sought statewide and beyond. The team finished the season ranked ninth nationally.
“It was the season that put ECU on the map,” Blake says. “That season was the catalyst for what Pirate football is today.”
The 1983 squad, with only three close losses to powerful teams, had been heralded as one of the greatest in school history (and don’t forget the undefeated 1941 team), but the 1991 team surpassed it. The win even helped breathe new life into the Peach Bowl itself with a sold-out crowd and a renewed excitement for the annual contest.
“The Pirates have had great seasons since, but none have been close to what that 1991 team did,” says Bailey, who lost his mustache that week, is still with WNCT-TV and calls the Peach Bowl the highlight of his career. “I hope to see the day that East Carolina has an even better football season, but we should never forget what this team accomplished.”
Among Pirate faithful, few games have approached the level of determination, triumph and pride of the ’92 Peach Bowl.
“The win over Miami in 1999 was the closest emotionally to that ’91 season because of everything eastern North Carolina had been through,” Hessert says, referring to the Pirates’ game played on N.C. State’s field in the aftermath of Hurricane Floyd.
The season not only defined a fan base but also attested to ECU’s ability to fight and prevail.
“It really paralleled life,” says Richard Allsbrook ’91 ’02, who attended the game with his future father-in-law. “When you’re down and out, there’s always a chance to make a comeback. Part of being a Pirate is having that underdog role, having a chip on your shoulder. We don’t want people to give us anything; we want to work for it. That makes us appreciate it even more.”
-Rich Klindworth contributed to this story.
Peach Bowl Fan Quotes
Teresa Vigari, left, and Tara Birchall cheered on the Pirates.
We asked ECU fans on social media what they remember most about the Peach Bowl. Here’s what they said.
“This win reverberated from the coast to the mountains, resulting in some grudging acceptance by many who had always considered us a nuisance. I remember our admissions spiked the year following, and that was perhaps the best reward as more students and families got to see for themselves how great an East Carolina education could be.” -David Englert
“I was there. Sitting in the rain. Angry the Pirates were letting me down. Then Jeff Blake took over!” -Monty Johnson
“Fantastic win! I screamed so loud I couldn’t talk for days!” -Charlene Carriker
“I was there dreading going back to work the next week in Raleigh to face all the State grads I worked with. Then the game turned around, and the rest is history.” -Glenn Aaron Russell
“Wasn’t at the game but definitely watched it. Some of those football players were in my classes; I felt a personal connection to them!” -Judith W. Wilson
“Of course I was there! I had a chunk of the end zone up until a couple of years ago … It finally disintegrated. It was the best football game I’ve ever witnessed!” -Chris Moser
“Was there and remember thinking all of Greenville must have been there based on how many people I ran into New Year’s Eve. Stayed at the Marriott Marquis Atlanta where the team was staying. Still remember Luke Fisher walking into Champions Bar that night and everybody chanting ‘Luke! Luke! Luke!'” -Eric Pierce
“We were SO there! So close I can remember the birds walking on the field! Up close and personal! SOOOO fun and exciting!” -Helen Spigner
“We Believe! Best football game I have witnessed in the history of the world!” -Gordon Walker
“I was there sitting on the goal line when [N.C. State] missed the kick. The only way we could tell it was wide was watching the sea of purple and gold going crazy. That was the only time I have rushed the field, and I have never had as many hugs from complete strangers in the last 25 years!” -Mike Dupree
“I was there and 6 years old with my dad. One of our greatest memories together. I still have the foam pirate sabre from that day.” -Marc Demiter
“I have a piece of the purple end zone my husband carried around downtown Atlanta. PRICELESS.” -Karen Todd Brown
“I watched the game at my neighbor’s house. She pulled for the other team until she decided she felt sorry for ECU and switched sides. One of the most memorable parts was the mourning dove on the football field. It actually was filmed for several minutes.” -Constance Corbett
“The press box is supposed to be neutral ground but I will never forget the excitement and cheering as we continued our comeback and how the eastern N.C. media erupted with the winning touchdown.” -Carolyn Justice-Hinson, assistant SID for ECU Athletics in 1991
“Yes, I was there, best game ever. I compare it to any game I watch live. I will never forget this day!” -Tara Brisson Birchall
“I was there, and I think my voice is still there.” -James K. Elkins
“As a recent alumnus at the time, the feeling was that this game brought ECU to the level of a big-time college football program. It was huge and so was the ECU fan base that traveled to the ATL!” -Jeffrey Parks
“What a game! My sister was there, but I was watching the game from the (arguably) second best place to be at the time, The Attic.” -Amy Singleton
“My wife and I were there for the epic comeback over the trash-talking Pack. You could just feel the momentum shifting toward the Pirates and deep down inside everyone on both sides of the ball knew Blake and Company were going to pull it out.” -Mike Stoneman
“I was there, and it was such an amazing college memory!! Great school, great education, great team, great friends, great times.” -Nechol Thayer
“I was there. I was in Germany when I heard about us going and playing State. Immediately phoned a friend in the U.S. and told him to get us tickets! This game and the Carolina game from two years ago rank as my all-time top 2.” -Jeff Hope
“I was 7 years old and this was the game in which I became a Pirate. I remember sitting in the living room with my parents. They were going crazy, and my dad flipped over his recliner when he jumped up to celebrate. I had never seen my parents act so CRAZY! I loved it. Now I am an ECU alumnus and met my wife at ECU. Go Pirates.” -Justin Cobb
-Jackie Drake contributed to this story.