ECU Falls At South Carolina, 20-15

Saturday, September 17

Columbia, S.C.

4:00 P.M.

East Carolina University

2-1

South Carolina

2-1 , 1-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

East Carolina

South Carolina

September 17, 2016 | Football

Box Score

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COLUMBIA, S.C. – Senior wide receiver Zay Jones hauled in an East Carolina record 22 receptions, but South Carolina dodged an upset by keeping the Pirates out of the endzone until the final minutes for a 20-15 win in Williams-Brice Stadium.

Three crucial East Carolina (2-1) turnovers and a scorching start by the Gamecocks (2-1) hung the Pirates with their first loss despite a 519-312 advantage in total yards, and a staggering 38:25-22:35 edge in possession time.

"The difference in the game was penalties and turnovers," said ECU first-year coach Scottie Montgomery. "Anytime you turn the ball over inside the five, the three and the one the way we did, and still be in it right there at the end…"

Jones, who missed tying the NCAA single-game record for receptions by one, while amassing a career-high 190 yards, shattered the ECU record of 17 catches by Justin Hardy posted on October 12, 2003, against Tulane. It was his second double-triple (catches and yards) receiving game of the season and the eighth of his career. He surpassed 10 catches in a game for the 10th time.

Jones' 22nd catch from senior quarterback Philip Nelson set the Pirates up at the South Carolina four-yard line in the final minutes as ECU battled to pull off the upset.

On the next play, Nelson found sophomore running back Devin Anderson in the right flat for the Pirates' first touchdown of the day with 2:29 left. But the ensuing 2-point conversion pass from Jones to Nelson to the left side of the endzone fell incomplete as Nelson was pulled to the turf by a Gamecock defender. No flag was thrown on the play which could have pulled ECU to within a field goal.

Sophomore tight end Hayden Hurst covered sophomore Caleb Pratt's onside kick attempt for the Gamecocks, allowing South Carolina to kill the last few minutes. A 25-yard run by junior running back David Williams on a fourth-and-one play denied the Pirates a final, last-minute shot at victory.

"Right there at the end, I thought our defense played hard and well," Montgomery stated. "Then we had a couple of passes get through on us. But at the end of the day, they (South Carolina) did a great job offensively. We just have to play better in the redzone."

Jones's performance helped Nelson finish with 400 yards through the air. Nelson completed 44-of-58 passes with one touchdown, connecting with eight different receivers. But he was far from happy with his performance.

"Obviously the big thing is finishing," Nelson said. "I mean, we didn't finish at all, and that starts with me. As a quarterback, I gotta be able to help that offense finish. Our defense played absolutely flawlessly; we couldn't ask them to do any more than they did.

"Hats off to South Carolina. They did a great job. At the same time, I just felt that we didn't do a great job executing down there [redzone]. The plays were left out there for us to make."

Junior wide receiver Quay Johnson caught seven passes for 59 yards while Anderson snared five for 33 yards and his first career touchdown. Freshman wide receiver Deondre Farrier gained 58 yards on three catches.

Senior wildcat James Summers carried 11 times for 71 yards and junior running back Anthony Scott added 48 yards on 10 totes as the Pirates pounded out a 119-117 edge in rushing.

The Gamecocks, who had not scored a first-half point in their first two games of the season, used an 80-yard game-opening kickoff return, an 84-yard scoring drive and Pirate fumble to race out to a 17-0 lead in just over eight minutes.

Gamecock freshman A.J. Turner took the first kickoff on the left side and cut through the middle of the field to set South Carolina up at the ECU nine-yard line. Freshman Brandon McIlwain raced untouched through the right side of the line for the go-ahead touchdown just 17 seconds into the fray.

After a three-and-out by the Pirates that gave South Carolina the ball at its own 16-yardline, McIlwain directed a mercurial 6-play drive highlighted by a first-down 42-yard pass to freshman wide receiver Bryan Edwards to the Pirate 30. Williams followed with a 20-yard burst before McIlwain delivered a carbon copy of his first touchdown run from the 10 to put the Gamecocks up by two touchdowns.

On ECU's next possession, junior cornerback Chris Lammons sacked Nelson, forcing a fumble that junior defensive end Dante Sawyer recovered at the 31. Five plays later, senior Elliott Fray booted a 37-yard field goal to push the Gamecock lead to 17.

The Pirates weathered the shaky start, slicing the South Carolina lead on field goals of 32 and 43 yards by senior Davis Plowman on back-to-back possessions to make it 17-6 with less than three minutes gone in the second quarter.

Battered and bent, the Gamecocks' defense then began a string of improbable takeaways in the shadow of their own goal to frustrate the Pirates.

With a chance to whittle their deficit to a field goal on the Pirates' next possession, Summers carried to the South Carolina one on a first-and-10 before getting stopped for no gain on the next play. South Carolina junior cornerback Jamarcus King dove to pick off an underthrown sideline pass by Nelson, which was intended for senior wide receiver Jimmy Williams, in the endzone. That preserved an 11-point halftime edge for South Carolina.

Nelson drove the Pirates 68 yards in eight plays to open the second half only to see disaster strike a yard short of a crucial touchdown. From the Gamecock seven-yard line, Nelson threw for Williams in the right front corner of the endzone, but Lammons cut inside for a touchdown-denying interception at the one.

Plowman missed a 25-yard field goal (blocked) and ECU saw a 90-yard drive end when junior running back Anthony Scott fumbled into the endzone when stripped of the football inside the five by freshman defensive back Antoine Wilder. Junior safety D.J. Smith came up with the football for the Gamecocks to cap the Pirates' run of bad breaks.

Plowman and Fry traded fourth-quarter field goals from 45 and 39 yards, respectively, as the Pirates continued to race up and down the field in front of 80,384.

Junior inside linebacker Jordan Williams notched six solo tackles, including a pair for losses, to key the Pirate defense which throttled the Gamecock attack after its torrid start. Junior defensive back Bobby Fulp and senior inside linebacker Terrell Richardson each posted four solo stops.

"I'm glad that we kept fighting and I'm glad that we have a good brotherhood." said Richardson of the ECU defense. "We stood together."

For the third consecutive game, the Pirate offensive line controlled the line of scrimmage.

South Carolina won for the fourth straight time in the series which now stands at 14-5. It was ECU's eighth consecutive loss to a Southeastern Conference opponent and marked the 19th straight loss for East Carolina when it fails to score 20 points in a contest.

ECU now travels to Virginia Tech (2-1), a 49-0 winner over Boston College in its Atlantic Coast Conference opener, for a 12:30 p.m. non-conference showdown in Lane Stadium on Saturday.