You could say that the East Carolina Pirates snatched a defeat from the jaws of victory in their 21-20 loss to the no. 13 NC State Wolfpack. The Pirates had a great chance to seal an upset victory against a ranked opponent in their first game of the season, but kicker Owen Daffer missed what would have been the game-winning field goal for East Carolina. Daffer's miffed kick had NC State football letting out a huge sigh of relief.

For Daffer and the Pirates, that's a missed field goal —  on top of the missed extra-point earlier — that they will have a hard time moving on, though,  East Carolina head coach Mike Houston was not going to let that ruin the way he views Daffer, as he showed his support of the kicker after the game. “I told him I care about him and I’m here for him. Those kicks will not define him,” Houston said, via Stephen Igoe.

The close loss to East Carolina could end up still hurting the resume of NC State football, considering that it nearly lost to an unranked program. However, that could also serve as a wake-up call for the Wolfpack, who will look to have a much more dominant performance next Saturday against the Charleston Southern Buccaneers at home.

NC State football will have a disjointed offense to straighten out if it is to hit its targets this season, especially after getting outgained by the Pirates and only going 4 of 13 on third downs. Wolfpack quarterback Devin Leary went just 17 of 33 for 211 passing yards with a touchdown and interception, while the team's ground attack looked better with 133 rushing yards and a touchdown on 32 carries.