GREENVILLE — Central Florida assured itself of a share of the American Athletic Conference football championship in a most improbable manner before an ESPN audience at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium on Thursday night.

East Carolina had scored three unanswered touchdowns in the fourth quarter to lead 30-26. The go-ahead TD came on a 13-yard pass from Shane Carden to Justin Hardy and appeared to be a fitting ending to Senior Night for the Pirates before a crowd of 41,259.

ECU's last score came with 2:17 left, and after the Knights threw incomplete on fourth-and-20 from their own 15-yard line with 1:47 to go, ECU had the ball.

Each team had one timeout left.

The Pirates were content to run clock rather than try to move the ball for a first down or score. Carden ultimately rolled out to the right on fourth down and slid down at the UCF 35 for a loss of 11 yards.

"We didn't want anything that might involve an exchange of possession," said ECU coach Ruffin McNeill.

The Pirates also eschewed a field goal attempt after the Knights had blocked an extra point following ECU's first score.

UCF took over for its last gasp at its own 35 with 10 seconds to go.

Justin Holman passed for 14 yards to Josh Reese, who went out of bounds on the Pirate sideline with five seconds left.

Holman heaved to the goal line at the East end on the last play from scrimmage. Two defensive backs in ECU's prevent defense, Domonique Lennon and Dayon Pratt, appeared to be in position to knock the ball to the turf. Pratt plays on the prevent unit because of his size (6 feet, 4 inches).

Normally, the Pirates practice batting down passes on Thursdays for a Saturday game. This week they went over those situations on Tuesday for the Thursday night game. ECU was prepared, but ...

"They mistimed it," McNeill said.

Holman's 51-yard pass sailed over the defenders and into the clutches of UCF's Breshad Perriman in the end zone with the clock on zeroes.

The officials conferred and said the Knights had to attempt a conversion since a return by the Pirates for two points could potentially tie the score.

UCF (9-3, 7-1 AAC) took a knee and a 32-30 victory.

The disappointment was just starting for the Pirates, who finished the regular season at 8-4 overall and 5-3 in the league.

"It's tough," Carden said. "It's tough for the seniors. ... We kept fighting. We kept believing."

Carden completed 36 of 48 passes for 397 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. Hardy had 12 catches for 140 yards.

ECU trailed 26-9 entering the final period.

Carden's 15-yard scoring pass to Cam Worthy with 13:16 left completed a 90-yard drive to start the comeback. Carden hit Marquez Grayson for a 14-yard score with 10:33 to go to finish a 48-yard march and cut the UCF lead to 26-23.

The ECU defense had allowed just 55 yards in the fourth quarter before the final 10 seconds.

"The defense and the offense fought to give us a chance to win the game," said inside linebacker Brandon Williams, who was in on 17 tackles in his last home game. "No. 13 (Holman) made a great throw. No. 11 (Perriman) made a great catch to win the game. It was good football all around."

The Knights won the pregame coin toss and elected to receive, a strategy used only once previously — at South Carolina — this season by an ECU opponent. UCF moved 44 yards to take a 3-0 lead on a 42-yard field goal by Shawn Moffitt with 10:46 left in the first quarter.

The Pirates were stalled by a holding penalty on their first possession after moving from their 19 to the UCF 25-yard line. Worth Gregory's punt pinned the Knights at their 3.

A three-and-out for the Pirates defense and a Knights punt gave ECU the ball at the UCF 33.

The Pirates scored in four plays with Grayson carrying just into the end zone from seven yards out with 4:19 left in the first. The play was reviewed and the score stood.

Warren Harvey's conversion kick attempt was blocked by UCF defensive lineman Thomas Niles, ending Harvey's string of PATs for the season at 52 and leaving ECU with a 6-3 lead.

The Knights tied the score at 6 on a 38-yard field goal by Moffitt with 45 seconds left in the first.

Carden had two turnovers in the second quarter, a fumble and an interception. Moffitt missed a 41-yard field goal after the fumble gave the Knights the ball at the ECU 41. Pirates noseguard Terry Williams came through with a third down sack to force the kick attempt.

On the play after Moffitt missed, a Carden pass was tipped by UCF's Jordan Ozerities and picked off by Terrance Plummer. A 23-yard return set the Knights up at the ECU 15.

William Stanback got the go-ahead score for the Knights on a 2-yard carry. UCF led 13-6 with 9:59 to go in the half.

After a stop by the UCF defense, the Knights went ahead 16-6 with 6:35 left in the half on a 30-yard field goal by Moffitt.

UCF led 23-6 after Holman completed two big gainers before Stanback had a 1-yard scoring run with 2:39 in the half for a 23-6 Knights advantage.

A 14-yard reception by Isaiah Jones, a 30-yard pass to Hardy and a 21-yard catch by Davon Grayson got the Pirates in position for a 37-yard field goal by Harvey as the first half ended to draw ECU within 23-9.

The Pirates gambled on a fourth-and-one at their own 34 on their last possession of the first half and got the first down on a 2-yard run by Grayson.

In addition to the two turnovers, ECU drew nine penalties for 97 yards in the first 30 minutes. UCF did not have a turnover in the first half.

The Pirates finished with 12 penalties for 127 yards.

Members of the class of 2015 formed a tunnel for the Pirate players as they returned to the field for the second half.

McNeill said the Pirates played as one in the second half after playing as 11 for portions of the first half.

ECU will soon focus forward with the announcement of its bowl destination.

Junior linebacker Zeek Bigger expects the Pirates to regroup.

"The boys will be ready to work," said Bigger, who was in on 14 stops. "It's a tough loss but we're going to be ready to work."