GREENVILLE —
East Carolina played its hole card on Saturday and completed a straight.
After turnovers helped
Virginia Tech to an early 14-0 lead and quarterback Blake Kemp brought
ECU level at 14, James Summers took over the offense and led the Pirates
to a 35-28 win on a soggy Saturday at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
If you went to the
refrigerator during the first half of the Florida game, you might have
missed Summers' only previous appearance since transferring from Hinds
Community College in Mississippi. It was easy to see why North Carolina
and N.C. State sought him when he led Greensboro Page to a 4-AA
championship in 2011.
Summers ran 21 times for
169 yards and two touchdowns. He also completed 5 of 8 passes for 110
yards with a score.
"He ran better than we
tackled," said Hokies coach Frank Beamer. "He's got ability. When you
put him with the throwing guy (Kemp), it's a tough thing to prepare for.
We had him several times then missed a tackle."
You have to go back to
option operative Leander Green, a teammate of ECU coach Ruffin McNeill
in 1979, to find a Pirates quarterback who ran for more yards. Green
galloped for 179 against Richmond in a 52-10 ECU win in the last season
of the Pat Dye coaching era.
The ground game had been
missing in action in
a 31-24 setback at Florida
in week two when the Gators held ECU to minus-13 yards. The rushing
effort showed only a faint pulse last week when it accounted for 80
yards in
a 45-21 loss at Navy.
Kemp kept some on the read
option early on and ran three yards for a score that completed a 61-yard
drive for ECU's first touchdown. That started a decisive string of 28
unanswered points for the Pirates.
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ECU, which
improved to 2-2, also had
a 28-0 spree against North Carolina
in a 70-41 win in the fourth game of the 2014 season.
The win was the Pirates'
fifth straight against Atlantic Coast Conference teams, a source of
pride for the 50,514 on hand as the Hokies failed to get some payback
for
a 28-21 loss to ECU in Blacksburg
a year ago.
The "Gold Out" for the day
was mostly in the form of yellow ponchos by the end of the game. Showers
were relatively heavy in the second quarter.
The Pirates themselves were
back in black with gold trim, including some bright socks.
Receiver Trevon Brown made
his first appearance of the season as he returned from a university
suspension to make four catches for 44 yards. Brown caught the tying
11-yard TD from Kemp, which stood up under video review with 16 seconds
left in the first quarter.
"It was a lot of fun," said
Kemp, who completed 9 of 12 for 118 yards after throwing a pick and
losing a fumble on the first two series. "At the same time, we totally
expected to do it. ... They came out and ran something a little
different from what we were expecting. We had to make a few adjustments
and you saw what happened after that."
Kemp and Summers roomed
together the first semester of summer school.
"We have different skill
sets and whatever it takes for this team to win is what we're going to
use," Kemp said. " ... This win is big for momentum and team confidence
going into (American Athletic) conference play next week. Our goal is
still the same, win the conference."
The Pirates travel to play
Southern Methodist at 4 p.m. (ET) Saturday.
Summers drove the Pirates
77 yards early in the second quarter for the go-ahead score, running it
in from five yards out with 10:02 left in the half as ECU took a 21-14
lead.
"We had a game plan for me
to get in," Summers said. "When Blake got us going, we just felt we
could hit them a different way. Our offensive line was blocking good and
we thought our game plan could work."
Summers knew the Hokies
hadn't seen him much on tape.
"You've just got to plant
your feet and keep going forward," Summers said about running so
effectively despite the conditions.
Coach McNeill said the
Pirates prepared by practicing with wet footballs on Wednesday and
Thursday.
Isaiah Jones made a
one-handed grab on a 26-yard TD from Summers that put ECU ahead 28-14
early in the third quarter after a three and out by the Pirate defense.
Jones also had a 29-yard
reception on the series.
A 41-yard keeper by Summers
for a score gave ECU a 35-21 lead with 3:43 left in the third.
The Hokies (2-2) had two
possessions in the final minutes after pulling within one score. The
first ended on downs and the second ended as time expired with Virginia
Tech throwing deep and incomplete from their 41. Pirate fans were hoping
they wouldn't see deja vu from
last year's Hail Mary that
resulted in a 32-30 loss to Central Florida.
"I didn't stop holding my
breath until the clock went to zeroes," McNeill said.
The ECU coach kept the dual
quarterback situation within the team context.
"I like the way Blake
bounced back," McNeill said. "He had two tough series and came back and
led us. ... James comes in and adds a little momentum to our team. I
thought both of them helped win the game.
"I thought both of them,
like their team, stayed dedicated to our mission and our vision and our
team concept. I'm proud of both of them."