ECU Falls To No. 22 UCF On The Road

Saturday, October 14

Orlando, Fla.

7:00 P.M.

East Carolina University

1-6 , 1-3

UCF

5-0 , 3-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

ECU

UCF

October 14, 2017 | Football

Box Score Final Stats Postgame Notes

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By Joe Corley

ECUPirates.com

McKenzie Milton completed 21 of 27 passes for 324 yards and two touchdowns and had one rushing score as well in just shy of three quarters of action as host UCF beat ECU 63-21 at Spectrum Stadium in Orlando on Saturday.

No. 22 UCF improved to 5-0 overall and 3-0 in The American. ECU dropped to 1-6 and 1-3.

"We just couldn't get the stops we needed to get," ECU Head Coach Scottie Montgomery said. "Offensively during that time, when you can get a stop, it's not offense vs. defense, it's offense vs. offense, and offensively we just didn't get it done."

The Pirates had their moments in the game, though they trailed 42-14 at halftime. After the offense sputtered on its first possession, Darius Pinnix provided a big spark with a 57-yard run on the second play of the second possession, dodging some defenders and barreling over others all the way to the UCF 18. Three plays later, Thomas Sirk hit Deondre Farrier on a 5-yard touchdown pass to pull ECU within 14-7.

Pinnix went on to finish with a season-high 93 yards rushing on 13 carries. His 57-yard run was the team's longest of the season. Pinnix spearheaded a rushing attack that accounted for 187 yards, with Hussein Howe gaining a career-high 69 on a career-best 12 rushes.

Later in the first half, with ECU trailing by four scores, Davon Grayson had three catches for 66 yards on a 12-play, 75-yard scoring drive. Grayson, who earlier had a 41-yard reception to move the ball into UCF territory, capped it with a 4-yard touchdown pass from Sirk on third-and-goal to make the deficit 35-14.

Grayson finished with six catches for 96 yards and the one touchdown, boosting his season totals to 37 catches for 631 yards and six scores.

"Davon Grayson is probably the biggest competitor we've got on the team right now," Montgomery said. "Hands down, at the skill position, out there, we need some people to join his competitive nature. It's not about him, it's about the team. He's a guy who continues to inspire a lot of our young players. Our young players see him, and he's helping the program every second."

Grayson's touchdown, however, came after UCF had put some distance on the Pirates. Perhaps the toughest to take was a 50-yard interception returned for a touchdown by Tre Neal of the Knights. Titus Davis hit Sirk as he threw, causing the errant pass which Neal took all the way down the left sideline untouched to stretch his team's lead to 35-7.

That came two plays after UCF completed a 96-yard march for a score. Milton covered the final yard on a quarterback keeper to make it a 21-point game.

Milton had a productive first half as he completed 19 of 22 passes for 291 yards and two touchdowns, hitting nine different receivers along the way. Sirk faced a lot of pressure all game and was 8-for-20 for 88 yards and two scores along with the interception. He had at least four dropped passes, and one tipped as he threw it.

"I thought we had way too many drops in the game," Montgomery said. "We didn't protect the quarterback at all. We got him hit. We had some guys in some good spots but dropped the ball, and that's what happens when you play against a good football team."

Sirk played the first three possessions of the third quarter before being lifted for Gardner Minshew. Sirk finished 9-for-21 for 91 yards.

"At that point of the game, we wanted to get Minshew in, get him some reps," Montgomery said. "I didn't like the way we were protecting the quarterback. I planned on getting the ball out of (Minshew's hand) as quickly as we could. He did some good things while he was in there, no question, but our biggest concern is making sure we have a healthy football team moving forward. We're banged up in a lot of spots, and we've got to get better."

Minshew finished 6 of 12 for 69 yards with one touchdown, his fourth score of the season. That was a 17-yard pass to freshman Tahj Deans with 10:41 left in the game. It was the first career touchdown reception for Deans.

Milton also was taken out after three of his team's drives in the third quarter, replaced by Noah Vedral. The backup led two scoring drives before being lifted for third-string quarterback Sean Pratt.

Another positive in the game for ECU was the punting of Austin Barnes, who had four punts for a 53.5-yard average with a pair of them downed inside the UCF 5 in the first half. Overall, he had eight punts for a 49.9 yard average. But he also had one punt returned for a touchdown as UCF scored on offense, defense and special teams.

"We planned on kicking the ball out of bounds all day away from Mike Hughes, and we kicked it right down the field not once but twice to him, and he made us pay," Montgomery said.

UCF had seven players with at least 20 yards receiving, led by Tre'Quan Smith with five catches for 93 yards. It also had five players with at least 20 yards rushing, led by backup running back Greg McCrae with 5 carries for 64 yards.

The Knights totaled 600 yards of offense. ECU had 370.

Next, the Pirates will return home to Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium to face BYU at 7 p.m. next Saturday, Oct. 21. It will be homecoming for ECU.

The two teams have met just once previously, two years ago in Provo, Utah, where the Cougars held on to win 45-38. BYU lost to Mississippi State 35-10 on Saturday to drop to 1-6.

"It's a big opportunity for us to get back to playing football at home," Montgomery said. "This was a great football team, and it would've been pretty sweet for us to come down here and get a victory. Unfortunately we couldn't do it for a number of reasons. Not defense, not offense, not special teams, but collective, not playing and not coaching, but collective, everybody, we just didn't get it done."