Pirates Run Past Bulls, 44-24

Saturday, October 10

Tampa, Fla.

7:00 P.M.

East Carolina University

1-2 , 1-1

USF

1-3 , 0-2

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

East Carolina

South Florida

October 10, 2020 | Football

Box Score

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TAMPA, Fla. – East Carolina stiffened defensively in the second half Saturday night on the way to a 44-24 American Athletic Conference victory over USF at Raymond James Stadium. The Pirates notched their first league win of the campaign while keeping the Bulls winless in conference play.

ECU (1-2, 1-1 AAC) knocked off USF (1-3, 0-2 AAC) for the first time since 2014 and the Pirates emerged victorious against an AAC opponent other than Connecticut for the first time since downing Cincinnati 48-20 back on Nov. 18, 2017 in Greenville. Additionally, ECU won for the first time under Mike Houston in the month of October after entering the game at 0-4 while also moving to 3-0 when holding an opponent under 20 points.

A bit of history was made during the contest as senior placekicker Jake Verity became East Carolina's all-time leading scorer. He converted three field goals and five extra points to push his career point total to 309 – surpassing Warren Harvey's (2012-14) 300.

Junior quarterback Holton Ahlers turned in an efficient performance, completing 17 of 26 pass attempts for 222 yards and three touchdowns. Jordan McCloud handled most of the quarterback duties for the Bulls, going 26-for-35 with 298 yards but no touchdowns or interceptions. USF held the upper hand through the air with 306 passing yards to the Pirates' 222, but ECU ran the ball well all evening, totaling 210 rushing yards while limiting the Bulls to just 92. East Carolina outgained an opponent for the first time this campaign, besting USF 432-398 in total offense.

Freshman running back Rahjai Harris ended up producing the best performance of his young Pirate career, piling up 115 yards and scoring two touchdowns while Johnny Ford netted 44 yards and two touchdowns to pace the USF ground attack. Sophomore receiver C.J. Johnson fell just one yard short of his fifth 100-yard career effort, pulling down three receptions for 99 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Latrell Williams led the Bulls with eight catches for 93 yards.

For the third-straight contest, East Carolina took the opening possession and drove down the field for the first points. Verity nailed a 25-yard field goal to put the Pirates ahead 3-0 to cap an 11-play, 67-yard drive.

USF responded in kind, using a 37-yard reception from Mitch Brinkman that set up a Ford eight-yard rush into the endzone that gave the Bulls a 7-3 advantage.

The offensive fireworks continued as Keaton freshman back Keaton Mitchell and Harris ran the ball down the field and into USF territory. It was junior Darius Pinnix who finished off the drive, tiptoeing down the left sideline and into paydirt to give the Pirates a 17-7 cushion with 3:50 remaining in the opening stanza.

East Carolina's defense came up with the stop on the ensuing USF possession, as Jireh Wilson produced a sack on a third and 11 play that forced the Bulls' first punt of the evening. Just three plays into the Pirates' next drive, Ahlers connected with a wide-open Wilson and the sophomore receiver raced 75 yards to the house to put ECU ahead 17-7 with just seconds remaining in the first quarter.

The Pirate defense came up big on the first USF possession of the second quarter. Malik Fleming forced a fumble from McCloud and Elijah Morris fell on the ball to set the Pirates up on the Bulls' 42-yard line. It took just one play for Harris to scamper to the endzone and push the East Carolina lead to 24-7. The teams traded touchdowns from there and USF kicker Jared Sackett knocked through a 31-yard field goal to leave the score at 31-17 in the Pirates' favor at the half.

The teams were pretty even statistically in the opening two quarters with the Bulls out-gaining ECU by a slim 297-285 edge. East Carolina held the decisive advantage on the ground, racking up 152 yards to USF's 54, but the Bulls compiled 243 passing yards as compared to ECU's 133.

For the second-straight week, the East Carolina defense pitched a third-quarter shutout. Ultimately, neither team was able to dent the scoreboard until Ahlers found Johnson in the endzone from 14 yards out with 10 seconds on the clock to give the Pirates a 38-17 cushion.

After Verity converted a pair of field goals to extend the East Carolina lead to 44-17, the Pirates were 31 seconds away from a second-half shutout before Noah Johnson posted a 15-yard rushing touchdown to provide the game's final score.

ECU returns home Saturday, Oct. 17, for an American Athletic Conference matchup with Navy. Kickoff is scheduled for Noon and the contest will be streamed via ESPN+.