East Carolina University
USF
USF Slips Past East Carolina, 22-17
November 07, 2015 | Football
Game Book 
l ECU Notes l ECU Quotes l 
Game Highlights
GREENVILLE, N.C. - Another slow offensive start for East Carolina came back to bite the Pirates in the end Saturday night as USF escaped a rain-soaked Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium with a 22-17 American Athletic Conference victory.
"Disappointing loss to say the least," head coach Ruffin McNeil remarked. "I thought our defense played well all night long. The last play doesn't identify what they did. Special teams also did a great job.
"Our message to the offense was - do not hesitate. We saw glimpses of that in the second half of not hesitating. We saved the timeouts and knew we had enough time as we did the math. Don't get the unsportsmanlike penalty, which is inexcusable and gave them more time, and we don't have such a long drive."
Now, if the Pirates are to qualify for their fourth-straight bowl game, they will have to knock off a winless UCF on the road as well as turn back a resurgent Cincinnati side in the home finale. Of course, ECU will finally enjoy its bye week before all of that.
"I mentioned on Monday this was a big game for us," McNeil stated. "We expect to win games and practiced well this week to win the game. Sunday we got back and they were a little down, but Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were all great practices. We expected to win this game."
The Bulls (5-3, 3-2 AAC) outgained the Pirates (4-6, 2-4 AAC) in total yardage by a 442-220 margin, including a 242-62 advantage on the ground. USF quarterback Quinton Flowers was responsible for 279 of those yards and accounted for both of his team's touchdowns. Running back Marlon Mack led all rushers with 117 yards averaging 4.3 per run.
East Carolina quarterback James Summers finished with 200 all-purpose yards and was responsible for both of the Pirates' touchdowns. His 56-yard strike to tight end Bryce Williams in the final quarter was a career-high.
"Coach Nichol and I felt with this offense you've got to let [the quarterbacks] see the looks and that's the patient part," McNeil said. "We talked about no hesitation all week long and that's what we told James. Do not hesitate to make mistakes. Let it go. Swing your sword, fire it. It's not ready-aim. It's fire. And we saw glimpses of that in the second half. We've got to get him the reps and he's got to have that experience."
The Pirates managed just 29 total yards in the first half - the lowest mark in the McNeil era - and did not record a first down, but found themselves within one possession of the Bulls at the intermission thanks to a defense that bent but did not quite break. Junior punter Worth Gregory, who has been a special teams star for ECU all season, also helped keep USF at bay as his strong first half turned into a career-high 401 yards (nine total punts).
"That's not us," McNeil said. "We have been here five years and have set all kinds of offensive records. We are used to scoring a lot of points and our defense depends on that. Everyone needs to be patient with James [Summers]. He is getting reps under fire. I was disappointed because we practiced well this week and I expected us to have a really productive day."
For the fourth-straight contest, the East Carolina offense failed to produce a score in the first quarter. After a slow start offensively itself, USF gained some traction behind Flowers as he found some running room and moved his team down the field. Although the Bulls did not find the endzone in the first quarter, they forayed into ECU territory far enough to pin the Pirates down inside their own five-yard line late in the period.
On the first play of East Carolina's ensuing drive, Summers was flagged for intentional grounding in the endzone following pressure from Demetrius Hill resulting in a safety - the first allowed by ECU since 2013 in a contest against Virginia Tech. After a free kick gave the ball back to USF, the first quarter would expire with the Bulls in possession and leading 2-0 on the scoreboard.
Just 46 seconds into the second stanza, USF extended its cushion to 9-0 after Flowers tossed a 16-yard touchdown strike to Sean Price. Both offenses stalled for the next 10 or so minutes, but East Carolina found its way back into the game as the clock wound toward the half.
Gregory ripped off a career-high 73-yard punt after an ECU three-and-out all the way down to the USF 2-yard line. It was the longest Pirate punt since 2009 and proved vital as six plays later, Fred Presley ripped the ball from D'Erne Johnson's hands and into Yiannis Bowden's possession. Following the turnover, Summers needed just one play to find pay dirt and slice the visitors' lead back to a deuce.
USF received a 36-yard Emili Nadelman field goal with 41 ticks left in the half to take a five-point advantage into the locker room.
The Pirate defense stiffened up after the break and began to limit the running room for both Mack and Flowers. In fact, ECU did not allow the Bulls much in the way of offense at all in the third frame. The lone score of the period was a Summers three-yard plunge that capped an eight-play, 59-yard drive and left East Carolina ahead 14-12 heading to the fourth.
The teams traded the lead back and forth to begin the final quarter as Nadelman and Plowman knocked through nearly identical 39 and 40-yard field goals to make the score 17-15 in favor of ECU with 9:53 remaining.
After limiting USF to a three and out on its next drive, the Pirates attempted to deliver the knockout blow when Summers found Williams for 56 yards down to the Bulls' 29. However, Summers rushed for a loss and was then sacked for eight yards forcing a ECU punt.
With new life, USF wasted little time in taking the lead back for good. With the ball at the 33 and a fresh set of downs, Flowers found a wide open Rodney Adams streaking down the sideline and the receiver took it 67 yards to the endzone to provide the final margin.
"They just switched routes," McNeil said. "We lost our discipline right there. I thought we had great discipline all night to that point and that one moment we did not. This is the type of game in which you can't have that. It's a small margin for error. You just have to make critical plays and it was a critical playtime there."
East Carolina had two chances to secure the winning points in the final 4:40 but the pair of drives resulted in a punt and a turnover on downs.
"Our guys need to get away from it all for a while," McNeil said. "We will resume things on Wednesday and get after it. We'll talk about what we have to do to prepare for UCF and win that game."
