ECU Forces Four Turnovers In 34-13 Win Over UCF

Saturday, October 22

Greenville, N.C.

7:30 P.M.

East Carolina University

5-3 , 3-2

UCF

5-2 , 2-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

UCF

East Carolina

October 23, 2022 | Football

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GREENVILLE, N.C. – If East Carolina never lines up against UCF again, Saturday's thorough 34-13 dismantling serves as an emphatic parting shot.

On a "blackout" night in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, the Pirates bruised and eventually buried the explosive Knights with their most complete performance in coach Mike Houston's four-year tenure. The Pirates operated with precision and efficiency on offense, forced four turnovers while playing suffocating defense and dealt a severe blow to the Knights' hopes of a title in their final year in the American Athletic Conference.

UCF heads to the Big 12 next year along with Cincinnati and Houston.

"This is one of the conference games I wanted to win the most," said safety Jireh Wilson, who came up with one interception and recovered a fumble. "Since I've been here, they have beat us four-straight times, they put up 50 a couple of times. This is one of the games I really wanted a lot."

Quarterback Holton Ahlers, who became the school's all-time leader in touchdown passes with 87, shares those sentiments. UCF, playing its first game outside of Florida this season, came in with six consecutive wins in the series and had won in its last four visits to Greenville.

ECU now holds an 11-10 edge in the series.

"We're a senior-led football team," Ahlers said. "We've got a lot of fifth years here and we've been through a lot of stuff. We've been through a lot of losses versus them too. We hadn't beaten them and we took that kind of personal, especially with them going to the Big 12 next year. We wanted to send them off the right way."

The Knights (5-2, 2-1 AAC) may want to erase this one from their memories.

UCF, coming off a 70-13 rout of Temple, strutted in as the league leader in both offense and defense, averaging 41.3 points and allowing just 14.3. The 13 points scored represented a season-low, and ECU became the only team to rack up more than 20 points against the Knights (they surrendered 20 in a loss to Louisville).

A vaunted rushing attack that averaged 261.2 yards per game managed just 130 on 32 carries. Quarterback John Rhys Plumlee threw for 296 yards but was picked off three times – matching the number he had in the previous six games.

An aggressive ECU defense harassed Plumlee the entire evening, keeping him on the run and coming up with four sacks.

On the flip side, ECU frustrated and wore down the UCF defense, piling up 35:11 in time of possession and scoring on six of seven drives after a missed field goal to open the game.

Ahlers, foiling a constant blitz, completed 30 of 36 passes for 311 yards – his 17th career 300-yard-plus performance and the third this season. Running back Keaton Mitchell rushed for 105 yards on 16 carries, reaching the century mark for the fourth time this year and joining four other Pirates with at least 10 career 100-yard games.

He punctuated his night with a 37-yard scoring dash with 3:21 to go that delivered the final blow to the Knights.

Receiver C.J. Johnson prevailed in one-on-one battles throughout the night and finished with 11 catches (one shy of matching a career high) for 140 yards, including a 39-yard touchdown for a 17-0 lead in the first half. Isaiah Winstead continued his stellar play with seven catches for 89 yards and now has at least five catches in every game this season.

"I thought all three phases, our coaches had tremendous game plans," Houston said. "They all worked together, how we wanted to play this game. We wanted to control the ball on offense, we wanted to be aggressive and drive and score. … We knew we had to try to limit the explosive plays defensively."

The Pirates could not have scripted the first half any better – minus the final 41 seconds – forcing turnovers on UCF's first three possessions and turning all three into points for a 17-0 lead.

ECU missed a chance to take the lead on its first possession when Andrew Conrad's 25-yard field goal bounced off the left upright.

The first turnover came one play after Plumlee overthrew a wide-open Jaylon Griffin for a sure touchdown. As Plumlee tried to hit Kobe Hudson on a slant, Wilson stepped in to give ECU at least one forced turnover in 25 of the last 28 games and suddenly shift the momentum.

"If they score right there to go up seven to nothing or three to nothing, or whatever it really puts them in control momentum-wise, but Jireh was able to get that interception right there was obviously a big start to the ballgame," Houston said.

Wilson now has two picks this season and three for his career.

"We knew they like to run the glance route, but it's not really a staple in their offense like it is for a lot of other teams," he said. "As I came over, I read the quarterback, and he threw it right to me and I had to make a play."

A methodical 16-play drive followed and reached the 11 before stalling, and Conrad came on to boot a 28-yard field goal.

Julius Wood and Wilson combined to stop the Knights' next drive. On second-and-11, Plumlee broke free on a keeper and had picked up a first down, but Wood, who returned an interception for a score in last week's four-overtime win over Memphis, raked the ball out of the quarterback's right hand, and Wilson scooped it up.

The Pirates needed 10 plays and 5:21 to march 80 yards for a 10-0 lead with Ahlers bowling in from the 3 on a third-down run. A 12-yard toss to Johnson on third down and a 24-yard pass to Tyler Savage set the Pirates up at the 10.

Ahlers gained 9 yards on 1st down then scored two plays later.

Malik Fleming's interception of Plumlee on a fourth-and-5 play from the ECU 37 kept the momentum rolling. Ahlers dumped off a quick pass to Winstead against an all-out blitz for a 19-yard gain on third-and-12 then hooked up with Johnson, his former high school teammate, for 39 yards and a 17-0 lead.

The touchdown pass marked 87 for Ahlers, moving him past Shane Carden as ECU's leader.

"Obviously, he's an all-time great here, so I'm just blessed to be in that category," Ahlers said. "But I've just got to keep working. My goal is to win these games. I'll look at the records when it's all said and done."

UCF avoided a shutout in the first half for the first time since Halloween of 2015 against Cincinnati by quickly driving for a Colton Boomer 26-yard field goal as time expired.

The Knights then showed some life coming out of halftime, scoring on a 3-yard run by Isaiah Bowser to get within 17-10, but they could never get the stop they needed.

ECU responded with a nine-play, 75-yard drive with Mitchell scooting in from the 6, boosting the lead to 24-10 and eclipsing the most points UCF had given up all year. Conrad's 26-yard field goal after a UCF punt made it 27-10.

After a UCF field goal, ECU recovered an onsides kick, and Mitchell scored two plays later on a 37-yard dash.

Gerard Springer's interception at the 1 polished off the win.

"We talked this morning and we said there were two things we wanted to see: we wanted to see the hands team have to take the field in the fourth quarter, and we wanted the last snap of the game to be the victory offense," Houston said. "… I think that makes it ECU 11, UCF 10, so the next time we see them it will be in our favor before the game. It breaks a little bit of a streak they had going with us. I think getting the win at home in Dowdy-Ficklen, that's pretty special too."