Miscues Doom Pirates at Wake Forest, 34-16
September 21, 2003 | Football
From AP and staff reports
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- East Carolina turned in its most spirited effort of the season but was unable to overcome five costly turnovers as the Pirates fell, 34-16, at Wake Forest on Saturday night at Groves Stadium.
Cory Randolph threw a 79-yard touchdown pass to Jason Anderson to lead Wake Forest (3-1), while Chris Barclay, D'Angelo Bryant and Willie Idlette ran for one touchdown each.
Ryan Plackemeir added a pair of field goals to help the Demon Deacons.
Wake Forest, which lost 16-10 to Purdue last week to drop out of the Top 25, wasn't spectacular but capitalized on almost every East Carolina mistake.
The Pirates (0-4) were error-prone from the start, turning the ball over five times and allowing Wake Forest to score two touchdowns in a span of 1:33 in the third quarter.
It ruined what could have been a solid statistical day for East Carolina, which beat Wake Forest in total offense (391 yards) and time of possession (31:24).
"When turnovers equal touchdowns, and then we do create momentum only to give up big plays, you can't win like that,'' said first-year East Carolina coach John Thompson.
The Pirates pulled off a trick play, scoring on a fake field goal to keep the game close late in the third quarter.
Trailing 17-3, they lined up to attempt the field goal but holder Ryan Dougherty instead took the snap and scrambled 9 yards up in the middle for East Carolina's first touchdown of the game.
It cut Wake Forest's lead to 17-10 with 2:22 to play in the third.
"That could have broken our back,'' Grobe said. "We actually told the defense to watch the fake. That had the potential to really be a momentum swing.''
Instead it got Wake Forest's attention.
On the first play of the next possession, Randolph found Anderson wide open along the left sideline for the third-longest play in school history.
"That was a perfect throw,'' Anderson said. "And it came at the perfect time. It put them on their heels and we rolled from there.''
East Carolina unraveled after the long touchdown.
East Carolina quarterback Desmond Robinson threw his third interception of the game and Marcus McGruder returned it 35 yards to the Pirates 10. Two play later, Barclay scored on a 4-yard run that made it 31-10.
There was no recovering for the Pirates, who lost a fumble on the next possession to put Wake Forest at the East Carolina 35. The Deacons turned it into a 34-10 lead on Plackemeir's 28-yard field goal.
Still, the Deacons were thoroughly impressed with East Carolina.
"I think they are going to win a lot of football games,'' Grobe said. "That team tonight played their hearts out.''
Grobe even stopped in the Pirates' locker room to praise the other team.
"He said some unbelievable things to our team,'' Thompson said. "That showed tremendous class and that means a lot to our football team.''
The Deacons set out early to move the ball on the ground.
Wake started the game with a handoff to Barclay and continued it eight more times on its opening drive before Idlette scored on a 5-yard reverse to give the Deacons a 7-0 lead.
By the time Bryant scored on a 2-yard run with 18 seconds left in the half -- putting Wake up 17-3 -- the Deacons had doubled their rushing title from a week ago by churning out 131 yards in the first half.
Wake Forest finished with 193 yards rushing and Barclay led the charge with 55 yards on 17 carries.
Randolph finished 7-for-14 for 131 yards and Anderson had three catches for 95 yards.
For East Carolina, Robinson finished 22-for-32 for 190 yards. Terrance Cooper was his favorite target with eight catches for 61 yards.
