DALLAS � It felt like summer time at Southern Methodist's Gerald J. Ford Stadium on Saturday with sunny skies and the temperature an un-October-like 80 degrees.

It felt like Summers' time, too. That would be James Summers, the East Carolina quarterback who has been on the fast track absorbing the offense since projected starter Kurt Benkert went down with a preseason knee injury. Summers initially was going to be an inside receiver but was moved to quarterback after Benkert's misfortune.

He played quarterback on a 4-AA state championship team at Greensboro Page and was a run-pass threat at Hinds Community College in Mississippi.

Summers lifted the Pirates from a tie at 14 to a 35-28 win over Virginia Tech last week with 169 yards rushing and two touchdowns on the ground. He also passed for 110 yards with a score.

He did more on Saturday as his entry into the American Athletic Conference game with ECU in a 23-7 hole corresponded with the Pirates catapulting spectacularly to a 49-23 win.

Former Pirates quarterback Shane Carden made an appearance at the team hotel before the game. The visit was followed by the highest ECU point production of the season as Summers turned in a sensational relief performance.

ECU starter Blake Kemp directed a scoring drive of 75 yards for a 7-6 ECU lead. He hit Davon Grayson for a 10-yard score with 10:23 left in the first quarter.

Kemp subsequently threw a pair of first-half interceptions and the Pirates turned to Summers after the second pick led to a 36-yard field goal by Chad Hedlund and a 23-7 SMU advantage with 10:08 left in the first half.

Mustangs quarterback Matt Davis engineered the early lead but he was soon upstaged.

On the ensuing ECU possession, Summers escaped on a 27-yard touchdown run to get the Pirates within 23-14.

The running game picked up with the Mustang defense forced to respect Summers' wheels.

ECU finished with 306 rushing yards, the most since the Pirates piled up 343 against North Carolina last year. ECU had 37 yards on the ground before Summers came off the bench.

"We knew our game plan and we wanted to come in and run our game plan," Summers said. "We know that no one can stop us. We have so many weapons on the field, they can't cover everything."

Chris Hairston broke free for a 34-yard scoring run that drew ECU within 23-21 with 3:31 to go in the half.

Hairston had 18 carries for 95 yards, his best effort since a 28-20 season-opening win over Towson.

"James, being mobile, it opened a lot up for us," Hairston said.

Summers ran nine times for 85 yards.

Six different players scored for the Pirates and McNeill liked the offensive balance that also produced 249 passing yards. Summers completed nine of 10 for 153 yards with two TDs.

Summers threw to Trevon Brown for a 47-yard TD just 51 seconds into the second half and the Pirates went on top to stay at 28-23.

Summers' arrival was accompanied by an inspired effort by the defense.

There was some signs of the unit-to-unit feeding frenzy that ECU coach Ruffin McNeill likes to see. Punter Worth Gregory continued to do his part as he pinned the Ponies deep in their territory several times.

Gregory punted four times for an average of 45.8 yards. All four punts wound up well inside the SMU 20.

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After a stop that included a sack by Montese Overton, ECU got a 19-yard punt return by Quay Johnson to the ECU 32.

Anthony Scott ran for 29 yards on first down and after a 13-yard Summers-to-Isaiah Jones completion, the Pirates kept the ball on the ground with true freshman Shawn Furlow, Johnson, Hairston and Summers advancing the ball before Scott scored on a 1-yard run with 4:34 to go in the third for a 35-23 Pirates lead.

Yiannis Bowden had a subsequent sack for 13 yards to get the defense off the field on a third down.

Bowden and Overton combined for a third down sack at the SMU 15. Johnson's 46-yard punt return on a 45-yard punt put the Pirates on the Mustangs' 14. The multi-unit contributions led to an 8-yard scoring run by Summers with 12:20 left to play. That pushed ECU's lead to 42-23.

Jimmy Williams scored on a 16-yard pass play with 7:38 to go but apparently sustained a knee sprain that may keep him out for a couple of weeks.

The seventh conversion kick by Davis Plowman was the 42nd unanswered point for the Pirates.

"They were feeding off of us early," McNeill said. "Then we made a few stops. ... I told them we needed to stop their feeding frenzy and we need to have one. They knew what that meant and they made it happen. ... They saw it and understood."

Overton finished with four of the Pirates' eight sacks, the most for ECU since a Conference USA win over Florida International on Nov. 2, 2013.

"We had to get a feel for what they were doing on offense and then we were able to adjust," Overton said. "It's great when we can play like this as a team."

Quarterback Ray Smith and running back Devin Anderson were among Pirate reserves who ran out the clock.

McNeill wore his big, shiny bowl ring from the 37-20 win over Ohio in the Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl in 2013.

"Hardware," McNeill said. "Talked to the kids about that before the game."

An AAC title would mean similar hardware. Rallying past the Mustangs put ECU at 3-2 overall and 1-1 in the league.