Pirates Falter in Fourth to Louisville
October 25, 2003 | Football
GREENVILLE, N.C. (AP) -- Eric Shelton rushed for 118 yards and a touchdown Saturday as Louisville took control in the fourth quarter to beat East Carolina 36-20.
J.R. Russell had a 35-yard TD catch in the fourth quarter for the Cardinals, who improved to 7-1 for the second time in three seasons. Lionel Gates added a rushing touchdown and Nate Smith kicked three field goals for Louisville (3-1 Conference USA).
T.J. Patterson closed the game with a 42-yard touchdown run as time expired.
Terrance Copper had 10 catches for 147 yards and a score to lead the Pirates (1-7, 1-3), while Desmond Robinson threw for a career-high 291 yards. Marvin Townes rushed for 82 yards and a touchdown, snapping his streak of 100-yard games at three.
Louisville won last year's game 44-20, getting 204 of its 556 total yards on the ground. But the Pirates kept the Cardinals' yard-munching offense in check and finding enough offense to stay in the game for three quarters.
The Cardinals, however, controlled the fourth quarter, scoring 17 unanswered points to win their third straight game.
The teams were tied at 13 entering the fourth, but Smith kicked a 31-yard field goal on the second play of the period to put the Cardinals ahead to stay.
After forcing East Carolina to turn the ball over on downs midway through the period, the Cardinals pushed the lead to 23-13 on Stefan LeFors' 35-yard scoring toss to Russell with 6:47 to play. That ended a three-play, 67-yard drive that included a 30-yard run on a reverse by Robert Haskins.
Gates' 13-yard TD run pushed the lead to 30-13 with 2:18 left.
Trailing 10-3 at halftime, the Pirates opened the second half with an 80-yard scoring drive, capped by Townes' 9-yard scoring run that tied it at 10 with 11:52 left in the quarter.
The teams then traded field goals before the Cardinals took control of the fourth quarter.
ECU Postgame Notes
ECU Postgame Quotes
Coach John Thompson
"That was a good football team that we played, but this is a good football team in purple. We battled them, we fought, we just didn't make the plays we have to make."
"We can't give up big plays in the fourth when we have the momentum. It is simple as that. We battled them in the fourth quarter, but we have to find a way to win in the fourth. We just simply didn't make the plays and they did."
"I am so proud of this team more than ever because they fought their tails off. I am proud of everyone on our team. We are coming, we are coming. This team deserved to win but it didn't happen. We will fight them [Memphis] next week."
On Terrance Copper:
"Terrance Copper is a fighter; he battled them all day long. What a competitor."
On game preparation:
"We committed as much as we could to the run and we altered our defense. I think the staff did a great job with a great game plan this week. They called a great game and gave us chance to win."
"I see our guys fighting. I see our guys getting better."
On passing game:
"It is getting better. Desmond is getting better, throwing it to more receivers, being able to do more things."
On calling late timeouts:
"We are going to fight to the end and we are going to call timeouts until the end. Our job is to stop them, bottom line. I will coach my team; that is the only team I can coach. Our job is to stop them; they can do whatever they want. We are not going to go in with timeouts left. If you do that it is a give up. I won't do that. Our guys didn't give up; why should I."
On defense:
"Our defense played their best game. They had a lot of yards but our defense played their best game. We had a critical fourth-down stop that gave us a chance to win the ballgame. I am proud of our defense in the red zone. One of these days someone is going to miss a field goal."
"I want this team to understand that what they are doing matters. Continuing to understand that what they do and how they do it counts. I couldn't be more proud of this team if we had won the ballgame, there is no question about it."
