BIRMINGHAM — There was a sense of deja vu
about East Carolina's loss of momentum against UAB at Legion Field on
Saturday night. The Pirates were up by two scores when a big play set up
a Blazers touchdown and the hosts used that as a springboard in climbing
out of a 10-0 hole to lead 14-13 at the half.
A 66-yard pass from Austin Brown to Nick
Adams provided the spark for UAB, a deflating about face for ECU — much
like a 99-yard kickoff return by Quincy McDuffie that was so devastating
at Central Florida.
Unlike the 14-0 lead that evolved into
a 40-20 loss at UCF, the Pirates
were able to regain some traction at UAB.
"Our kids learned from that
experience," said ECU coach Ruffin McNeill of the loss in Orlando on
Oct. 4. "They took advantage of their opportunities, which I was proud
of. They fought, they hung in there and they took momentum back."
ECU improved
to 5-3 on the season and 4-1 in Conference USA
with
a 42-35 win over the Blazers.
"Don't let one game beat you twice,"
said sophomore quarterback Shane Carden. "Two weeks ago we got up big
and we let something affect us, momentum wise. It was addressed after
that week and it really showed tonight. Unfortunately we got some field
goals instead of the touchdowns we want but we just stuck with it. ...
We said 'Let's just keep playing. Let's keep making routine plays and
this thing's going to click.' It did in the second half."
ECU made the routine plays and walk-on
receiver Justin Hardy made an extraordinary one.
Hardy came down with the ball after a
carom off one of two defenders covering him in the right side of the end
zone. He got his right foot down inbounds as he landed on his back and
maintained possession. The 20-yard touchdown put ECU ahead to stay at
33-28. Vintavious Cooper ran for the two-point conversion and a 35-28
ECU advantage with 9:21 to go.
"Hardy's catch is probably the best
catch I've ever been a part of," Carden said. "I threw it to the corner.
I knew the safety was there, but I threw it anyway. He make a heckuva
catch. I just went to the sidelines and said, 'Hey, man, that's big
time.' It was cool to see him do that."
Hardy said he wanted to atone for two
drops on the series that covered 75 yards and took 11 plays.
Carden and Hardy clicked again on a
44-yard pass that set up ECU's last touchdown on a 2-yard run by Cooper
with seven minutes to go. That put the Pirates ahead 42-28. After UAB
pulled within 42-35 with 3:47 left, ECU was able to chew up the
remaining time.
The Pirates piled up 600 yards in total
offense, a figure enhanced by zero turnovers. Carden completed 23 of 35
passes for 386 yards and two touchdowns. Cooper used creases provided by
an effective effort from the offensive line and gouged UAB for 172 yards
on 26 rushes.
Those are the kinds of numbers that
danced in the heads of Pirate Nation when McNeill and offensive
coordinator Lincoln Riley came in from pass happy Texas Tech.
The personnel may be catching up with
the concepts of the spread attack.
"We're going to see the game slow down
to Shane," McNeill said. "You see it happen more each week. The kids are
getting used to playing with Shane. We've been expecting that."
The Pirates were especially active on
the sideline, a factor designed to deal with a sparse crowd of 12,403 in
the stadium that seats 72,000. ECU jumped around and even danced a
little bit to some of the tunes on the Legion Field sound system.
"Coach McNeill said we had to bring our
own enthusiasm because there weren't many people here," said Lee Pegues,
who had a tackle for loss in a third and short for ECU that got the
defense off the field at a key juncture in the second half. "We were
just staying loose."
The Pirates have a two-game winning
streak for the first time
this season and that means some
momentum for a nonconference visit from Navy next Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
McNeill said ECU has already done some
advance preparation for Navy's triple-option offense.
"You have to," said the Pirates coach.
ECU gained some confidence with a
determined effort at UAB, a performance that showed the maturing process
from a disappointing outcome at UCF.
"When you lose momentum, you've got to
get it back," Cooper said. "And when you get it, you need to keep it."
View box score and statistics on uabsports.com