Pirates Fall To Huskies, 31-13

Friday, October 30

Storrs, Conn.

7:00 PM

East Carolina University

4-5 , 2-3

UConn

4-5 , 2-3

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

East Carolina

UConn

October 30, 2015 | Football

Box Score

Oct. 30, 2015

Final Stats | Photo Gallery

Game Book l ECU Notes l UConn Notes l Post-Game Quotes

EAST HARTFORD, Conn. - Halloween may have been a few hours away, but Fright Night already had arrived for East Carolina's football team.

A half-empty Pratt & Whitney Stadium became a house of horrors for the weary Pirates on a damp, cold Friday night as usually offensively challenged UConn rolled up a 31-13 American Athletic Conference victory. ECU (4-5, 2-3 AAC), who led 6-0 early thanks to a defensive score, were haunted throughout the evening by critical penalties, turnovers and an offense that couldn't scare up enough key plays.

"This game you've got to make plays," sixth-year ECU head coach Ruffin McNeill said. "We had guys on both sides of the ball that had opportunities to make plays, and we've got to make them. It's as simple as that. They made plays, and we did not."

Coming off a scoreless second half in a loss to Temple, the Pirates' offense came up fruitless through the first three quarters despite six trips into UConn territory. James Summers started his third career game and played until late in the third period. He was accurate early but missed on his final six passes to finish 12 of 21 for 87 yards and one interception.

Blake Kemp, who has been the more effective thrower, was 7 of 11 for just 50 yards and was picked off three times, raising his total to 10 for the season.

The 137 yards passing was a season-low for the Pirates.

McNeill said the plan was to play Summers longer to give him an opportunity to find a rhythm.

"We wanted to give James a chance to get a feel for the offense and give us another scoring threat," McNeill said. "We felt like that from the Temple game, that we've got to get points."

One bright spot for the Pirates was the return of Marquez Grayson, who recorded career highs in carries (9) and rushing yards (87) to spark a 203-yard rushing attack. His career-long 44-yard scamper in the fourth quarter set up ECU's lone offensive touchdown.

The Huskies (4-5, 2-3 AAC) countered with diminutive 5-foot-6 running back Arkeel Newsome, who piled up 179 yards rushing on 25 carries, including a 90-yard touchdown dash late in the third period that broke the Pirates' spirit. Sophomore quarterback Bryant Shirreffs, an NC State transfer, added 184 yards through the air, completing 12 of 21 passes.

UConn, averaging just 19 points per game, finished with 220 yards rushing and 404 total yards. The Pirates, coming in averaging nearly 30 points per game, had total 340 yards.

The Pirates certainly were not without opportunities, penetrating UConn territory on four possessions in the first half and six times in the first three quarters, but their only points in that span came from the defense - a 32-yard interception return by DaShawn Benton for a 6-0 lead.

Penalties had a hand in derailing two of those threats. A holding penalty on a second-and-2 play from the Huskies' 44 wiped out a 12-yard run by Chris Hairston and proved more than ECU could overcome. A third-down substitution penalty at the 42 helped foil the next drive.

ECU's third venture into UConn territory fizzled when Summers was tracked down by Luke Carrezola on a fourth-and-2 play from the 33. The Pirates had converted 7 of 11 fourth-down attempts this year before converting just 1 of 3 on Friday.

The Pirates' final possession of the half reached the Huskies' 30 with less than 40 seconds to go, but a Summers pass intended for Bryce Williams was picked off by Jamar Summers at the 7-yard line.

Summers completed 12 of his 15 first-half passes, but they were primarily short tosses and amassed just 87 yards. His longest completion was 18 yards to Isaiah Jones, who had nine catches on the night and extended his streak of consecutive games with a catch to 32. Hairston had a productive half with nine carries for 54 yards, but the Pirates could not sustain enough to dent the UConn defense.

ECU's only first-half points came courtesy of Benton, a 6-0, 191-pound junior from Atlanta who honed in on Shirreffs, broke perfectly on the pass and sprinted untouched to the end zone.

Davis Plowman's extra point was blocked - his first missed PAT and making 32 in a row and the third blocked kick the Pirates have surrendered in two weeks (Temple blocked a pair of punts last Thursday in Greenville). Plowman also had his second PAT deflected, but it fluttered through the uprights.

Another kicking-game mistake set up the Huskies for their first score, giving them their best field position after starting twice inside the 10 and once at the 13. UConn started at its 35 after a kickoff out of bounds and moved to the ECU 28 before settling for a season-long 45-yard field goal by Bobby Puyol, who is now 12 of 13 on the year.

Two big penalties then aided a drive that put the Huskies up 10-6. A targeting penalty tacked on 15 yards to a 29-yard pass from Shirreffs to Hergy Mayala and also ended the night for the guilty party, Travon Simmons. Josh Hawkins then was detected for pass interference in the end zone on a third-and-9 play. Newsome scored two plays later on a 2-yard run.

UConn took command in what turned into a nightmarish third quarter for the Pirates and carried a 24-6 lead into the final 15 minutes.

ECU escaped two near turnovers on a fumbled punt and an interception that was overturned on a review before Summers was drilled on a fourth-and-9 scramble from the UConn 34.

A third-down personal foul penalty on Dominique Lennon then helped the Huskies on an eight-play, 64-yard drive that culminated in Shirreffs' 23-yard pass to tight end Alec Bloom.

After a three-and-out series ended with a sack of Summers, the Huskies dodged disaster on a fumbled punt at the 10. Newsome needed just one play to put the Huskies up 24-6, bursting through the line and streaking 90 yards.

Kemp replaced Summers on the next series but was met with a similar fate. His first pass was batted down, then his second, into triple coverage, was intercepted by Marquise Vann, his first of the year.

Another apparent TD connection from Shirreffs to Bloom was erased by a penalty for an ineligible man downfield, forcing the Huskies to punt.

Blake was intercepted once again on the next possession, this time by Obi Melifonwu, but Benton came up with his second big defensive play of the night when he forced a fumble that teammate DaShaun Amos recovered.

The Pirates cashed that in with their only offensive score in six quarters, with Kemp punching it in from the 2. Grayson ripped off a 44-yard run to get the Pirates down to the 3.

But UConn then played keep-away on an eight-play, 66-yard drive featuring the running of Newsome and Ron Johnson, draining all but 4:29 off the clock. Shirreffs did the scoring honors on a 3-yard keeper for a 31-13 lead.

Now the Pirates must find a way to regroup for its final three games, beginning next Saturday at home against South Florida. ECU needs two wins in its final three games to become bow eligible.

"We've got three games left," McNeill said. "We just ended the third quarter of our season and didn't end the way we wanted to. Now we start the fourth quarter; we've got three games in the fourth quarter."