No. 19 East Carolina Rallies To Beat South Florida

Saturday, October 11

Tampa, Fla.

7:00 PM

East Carolina University

5-1 , 2-0

USF

2-4 , 1-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

East Carolina

USF

October 11, 2014 | Football

Box Score

Oct. 11, 2014

Final Stats | Photo Gallery

Final Stats l ECU Notes l Post-Game Quotes l Game Highlights

By Bill Woodward
ECUPirates.com

TAMPA, Fla. - After a forgettable first half, East Carolina's 19th-ranked football team trailed South Florida 17-7. A memorable second half produced a 28-17 ECU victory at Raymond James Stadium on Saturday night.

East Carolina (5-1, 2-0 AAC) had six penalties for 79 yards in the first half. The second half began in similar fashion when holding penalties on consecutive plays left the Pirates with a first-and-30 from their 10-yard line, the first time ECU had the football.

Breon Allen broke a 19-yard run, Shane Carden completed a 14-yard pass to Justin Hardy and, just like that, the Pirates were out of the hole and the offense finally found some rhythm.

Grinding out yards on the ground and hitting key passes to keep drives alive, East Carolina scored 21 unanswered points in the second half to put away the determined Bulls (2-4, 1-1).

Allen finished with 124 yards rushing, including a 4-yard TD run in the second half, and also caught a 35-yard pass for the Pirates' first-half score. Marquez Grayson (42 yards rushing) and true freshman Anthony Scott (39 yards) also had second-half rushing touchdowns on a night when the Pirates gained 231 yards on the ground, while holding USF to 93 rushing yards.

"We came out in the second half and did what we usually do," Allen said. "(The ECU offensive line) has been working their butts off since January. People have been saying we are just a throwing offense. Today we proved otherwise.

"It showed how resilient we are. Every game is not going to be pretty. But we came out on top."

The Pirates had to overcome some mistakes, most notably 12 penalties for a season-high 148 yards. But with unflappable senior quarterback Carden directing the ECU offense to touchdown drives on its first three possessions of the second half, the Pirates gutted out the victory.

"We knew were hurting ourselves," Allen said of the first-half problems on offense. "We were getting holding penalties, personal foul penalties. Even in the second half we came out and had a first-and-30. But we held ourselves together, starting making some plays and went down there and scored, and it started there."

And it kept going. The Pirates' defense pitched a second-half shutout and East Carolina won its fourth straight -- picking up its first road victory against an American Athletic Conference opponent. The Pirates moved into a tie for first in the AAC with Temple at 2-0.

"The kids showed not just character, but great character and great courage," ECU coach Ruffin McNeill said. "I was very proud of our team. The first half things didn't go our way. But in the second half, the defense shut them out and the offense moved the football, controlled the clock.

"Wins are hard, conference wins are even harder and conference wins on the road are even that much harder. I am proud of our guys. It was a big win, 2-0 in the American Conference. Big win."

Carden finished 24-for-33 for 250 yards with an interception and the touchdown pass to Allen.

The Bulls played what McNeill called "slow ball." And the Pirates had to adjust on offense.

"We had to make each possession more valuable," McNeill said. "Normally we average about 14 offensive possessions per game. Teams now tend to use the clock on us, and that's a great strategy, but our defense held strong and the offense gave us the lead and we put away the victory."

The Pirates had just four offensive possessions in the second half against USF, not counting their final possession when they took over at the 20 after a missed USF field goal attempt and took a knee to end the game.

Carden's numbers were not of the eye-popping variety, but McNeill lauded his quarterback's leadership when the Pirates were battling back. On the second TD drive of the second half, Carden rushed for nine yards on a third-and-8 from the USF 13. Allen went over for the touchdown on the next play, giving the Pirates the lead for good with 11:42 left in the game.

"Shane exudes what we want as a team," McNeill said. "The commitment to our team to doing whatever it takes. Embracing his role is what Shane does, understanding at that time of the game we needed a play made. Your great players have to do that. Shane doesn't back down from that challenge at all."

Hardy had 10 catches for 114 yards, his 12th career game with 100 or more receiving yards. He now has 313 career receptions and needs 37 to set the FBS career reception record (Oklahoma's Ryan Broyles had 349 from 2008-11).

Cam Worthy, who returned from a two-game suspension for a violation of team rules, had five catches for 56 yards.

Zeek Bigger led the defense with nine tackles and Montese Overton added seven. Bigger and Overton each had two tackles for a loss, while Josh Hawkins grabbed his fourth interception of the season.

East Carolina is 23-2 in the McNeill era when it outrushes its opponent. The Pirates averaged 6.2 yards per carry in the game, and produced some big gainers (a 24-yarder from Grayson, a 20-yarder from Scott and a 19-yarder from Allen).

"It's a running back by committee," McNeill said. "I want it that way. It's got to be that way. The running back is too physical a position to have one guy. They did a good job of alternating and keeping each fresh."

And on a night when the Pirates had to grind out a victory against a dogged USF squad, fresh legs may have been the key to a second half that the Pirates dominated.