ECU Wins American Opener, 41-38

Sunday, September 24

East Hartford, Conn.

12:00 P.M.

East Carolina University

1-3 , 1-0

Connecticut

1-2 , 0-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

ECU

UConn

September 24, 2017 | Football

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By Joe Corley
ECUPirates.com

EAST HARTFORD, Conn. -- Surely, this one felt pretty good for the ECU football team. It definitely wasn't easy. And it definitely wasn't easy on the nerves.

Leading 41-21 at one point in the third quarter, the Pirates withstood a furious comeback by host UConn to hold on for the victory, 41-38, on Sunday at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Conn.

In winning its American Athletic Conference, ECU also improved to 1-3 overall. The Huskies dropped to 1-2 and 0-1. It ended a seven-game skid for the Pirates, dating to their 41-3 victory over the Huskies in late October last season.

The win wasn't assured until the final play. After taking possession at its own 9, after a punt by ECU's Austin Barnes with 2:34 to play, UConn drove to the ECU 15 and lined up for a 33-yard field goal attempt with 6 seconds to play. Sophomore kicker Michael Tarbutt, who had made his first career field goal on his first career attempt earlier in the second half, pushed it wide right. The Pirates survived.

"It was really stressful there at the end, but you've got to get a tough one before you can get an easy one," head coach Scottie Montgomery said.

It was a nice birthday present for Montgomery's son, Cassius, but Montgomery felt like he was the one who aged.

"I feel like I'm five years older, there's no question about it," he said. "We were throwing so many different deals at them on defense there, and they were just finding good spots. Offensively I just wanted to take care of the football. I gave a little too much of the responsibility to (quarterback Thomas Sirk) right there at the end to check in, check out of some plays, but I thought we were running the ball effectively and we found a few things to work."

The day belonged to Sirk and receiver Davon Grayson, who found himself the main target with Jimmy Williams ill and unable to play. Sirk completed his first 11 passes and finished 30-for-39 for a career-high 426 yards and three touchdowns. All three scores went to Grayson, who finished with career-bests in catches (11) and yards (223). His three TDs tied a career-best. And in registering his first 100-yard game, he also became the fifth receiver in school history with more than 200 in a game, trailing only Justin Hardy (230 in a game in 2013) and Cam Worthy (224 in a game in 2015).

"It was part of the game plan all week," Sirk said. "We had a curveball thrown at us in the game plan with Jimmy unable to go, but that's the nature of football. You have guys step up and do what they're supposed to do."

Trevon Brown had nine catches for 92 yards, Quay Johnson had six for 60 and Hussein Howe had three for 44.

The Pirates also rushed for 170 yards on 47 carries. Derrell Scott led with 36 yards on 13 carries, and Sirk had 14 for 31. But Sirk's ability as a runner was key.

"I thought the biggest deal (Sirk) did was he gave our run game a bit of a boost because of everything he can do in the run-action game," said Montgomery, noting that Sirk isn't 100 percent back to full speed yet. "You see those spit-outs, RPOs, they should be counted in the run game because that's exactly what they are.

"He's starting to get a good rapport with these receivers. I thought we missed a few plays in the first half that could've been walk-in scores, but he's starting to get better timing."

ECU extended a halftime lead on the first play of the second half, a 75-yard touchdown from Sirk to Grayson. The pass dropped in over the safety, and once Grayson got past him it was a race to the end zone. The score made it 34-14.

UConn scored on its next possession as quarterback Bryant Shirreffs evaded the blitz and hit Mason Donaldson for a 17-yard touchdown, making it 34-21.

The Pirates then scored what proved to be their final points on their next drive, taking just 1:20 to cover 75 yards, with Howe getting a 14-yard touchdown run. A 46-yard flea-flicker pass from Sirk to Grayson highlighted the drive. The cornerback bit on the handoff to Howe, and there was no safety over the top. It was 41-21 with 11:00 still left in the third quarter.

But from there, ECU was in a bit of a survival mode, and even was its own worst enemy at times. UConn got an 8-yard touchdown run from Arkeel Newsome on its next possession to pull within 13. Then ECU had a couple of penalties, one for a chop block and one for delay of game, thwarting its efforts on its possession.

"There's so many things we could've done better in this game that'll make us look like a top-tier team," Montgomery said. "If we eliminate the two or three penalties right there in a row, it's a different story."

The Huskies then went 77 yards on their next drive and pulled within 41-31 on Tarbutt's 20-yard field goal.

After the teams traded punts, ECU took eight minutes off the clock with a 15-play drive that ended with a missed 38-yard field goal. That's the opening UConn needed, as it took just two plays to make it 41-38. Newsome scored on a 79-yard catch-and-run, eluding several tacklers near midfield with 5:38 to go.

The Pirates then had a seven-play drive stall near midfield, ending in Barnes' punt to the 9 and setting up games final drive.

"We're a lot tougher than people think," Montgomery said. "We're undaunted, we're resilient. We've got a good football team bouncing back. You learn to be tough when you're a Pirate. We've just got to start stacking some victories now."

For the first time this season, ECU went to halftime with a lead, up 27-14. Behind the hot hand of Sirk, who finished the half 19-for-25 for 217 yards and two touchdowns, the Pirates scored touchdowns on their first three possessions and field goals on their next two. They held a 311-227 edge in total offense and a 19-10 advantage in first downs.

Though the Pirates had a 13-point lead, Montgomery thought they could've done even better.

"We've just got to keep executing," he said. "I think our guys are getting to the spots they need to, just not quite executing enough."

ECU won the toss and deferred. After a three-and-out by UConn, it took the Pirates nine plays to cover 65 yards, with Grayson scoring on a 17-yard pass from Sirk.

The Huskies answered as Shirreffs, who started his career at NC State in 2013, hit a wide-open Mason Donaldson over the middle for a 45-yard touchdown. It was Donaldson's first career catch.

From there, ECU raced in front, getting a 24-yard touchdown pass to Grayson and a a 6-yard touchdown run by Scott on its next two drives, and field goals of 46 and 26 yards by Jake Verity on the two after that. Grayson's second touchdown was set up by an interception by Korrin Wiggins on a deflection of a pass intended for Quayvon Skanes. It was Wiggins' fifth career interception, but his first as a Pirate.

Meanwhile, after their first score and the interception, the Huskies were forced to punt twice in a row before climbing to within 27-14 on a touchdown run by Nate Hopkins on fourth-and-goal at the 1 with 1:52 left in the half. The drive took 14 plays and covered 75 yards.

ECU finished the first half with 51 plays to 34 for UConn. Overall for the game, both teams had 596 yards of offense, though the Pirates held a 37:22 to 22:38 advantage in time of possession.

Shirreffs finished 24-for-39 for 406 yards with three touchdowns and the one interception. Newsome had eight catches for 170 yards, and Kevin Mensah rushed 16 times for 107 yards.

Next up for the Pirates is a home game against No. 21 USF on Saturday, Sept. 30 at 12 noonat Bagwell Field inside Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. The Bulls beat visiting Temple 43-7 in their AAC opener on Friday to improve to 4-0 overall.

"After our first three games we said we're going to focus on conference play, and we have another big one next week," Sirk said. "So, we look forward to that."

Last year, ECU lost to USF 38-22. The Bulls went on to finish 11-2 overall after defeating South Carolina 46-39 in overtime in the Birmingham Bowl.

In running its overall winning streak to nine, USF held the defending AAC champion Owls to -4 yards rushing and came up with four interceptions. Temple quarterbacks completed just seven of 25 pass attempts for 89 yards.

USF quarterback Quinton Flowers was 8-for-20 passing for 96 yards, but he also rushed 16 times for 59 yards. Against the Pirates last year, Flowers was 21-for-29 for 250 yards and three touchdowns, and he rushed 16 times for 115 yards.

Marlon Mack, who led USF with 18 rushes for 152 yards in last year's meeting, now plays in the NFL for Indianapolis. Against Temple, Darius Tice had 15 carries for 117 yards, and D'Ernest Johnson had 24 for 106.