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ECU hammers USF for first win of season
- Updated: October 11, 2020
East Carolina broke its USF curse in a big way on Saturday night for its first win of 2020. Having only beaten the Bulls once in 10 tries in program history dating back to 2006, the Pirates ran over USF on the road inside Raymond James Stadium for a blowout 44-24 victory. The win marked the Pirates’ first over an American Athletic Conference foe not named Connecticut since beating Cincinnati in 2017. UConn left the league following last season. USF (1-3, 0-2 AAC) was the only team picked to finished below the Pirates (1-2, 1-1) in this year’s AAC preseason poll, but the Bulls were favored by six points heading into the game after the Pirates lost by 20 to Georgia State a week ago.
The biggest story of the night for ECU was the emergence of the freshman running back duo of Rahjai Harris and Keaton Mitchell. The two true freshmen took all the carries at running back until late in the fourth quarter. Redshirt junior Darius Pinnix caught a touchdown pass early and got some bruising runs late, but it was the Harris and Mitchell show for most of the night. Harris recorded his first career 100-yard rushing game and he added two first-half touchdown runs (42 and 10) to give ECU a big lead. Harris finished with 19 carries for 115 yards. Mitchell finished with 15 carries for 42 yards.
Quarterback Holton Ahlers completed 17-of-26 passes for 222 yards, three touchdowns and no picks. Ahlers added six carries for 35 yards. The left-handed quarterback connected with wide receiver C.J. Johnson for two touchdowns, including a 14-yard score in the final stages of the third quarter to make it 38-17 and effectively end the game. Johnson finished with three catches for 99 yards. Ahlers also had a touchdown toss to Pinnix.
Since entering The American, ECU has struggled against USF, only beating the Bulls once in 2014 during the Ruffin McNeill era. South Florida won 45-20 in Greenville last season. But Saturday night was a much different story. ECU forced two fumbles and didn’t turn the ball over once. The Pirates also held USF to less than 400 yards of total offense despite the Bulls having 295 at halftime.
ECU, which led 31-17 at halftime, shut out the Bulls’ defensively in the second half until backup quarterback Noah Johnson scored on a touchdown run with 32 seconds remaining to make the final tally 44-24. The Pirates led by as many as 27 after Johnson’s touchdown and two Jake Verity field goals in the second half.
After an early Verity field goal gave ECU a 3-0 lead following the Pirates’ first drive, USF responded back immediately with a six-play, 65-yard drive, capped by Johnny Ford’s 8-yard touchdown run to make it 7-3.
The ensuing series, the Pirates were sparked by a strong Mitchell return to their own 41. On fourth-and-goal from the USF 2-yard line, the Pirates elected to go for it, and Ahlers found a wide open Pinnix in the flat, and the running back scooted into the end zone to put the Pirates on top 10-7.
Following a USF punt, Ahlers connected with wide receiver Johnson for a 75-yard scoring strike, marking the Pirates’ longest play of the year and making it 17-7 with 16 seconds remaining in the first quarter. McCloud’s fumble on the following series – forced by corner Malik Fleming and recovered by defensive tackle Elijah Morris – was followed by Harris’ 42-yard touchdown sprint on the very next play. The run marked Harris’ first college touchdown run, and made it 24-7 early in the second quarter.
Ford would add another touchdown run later in the second quarter, scoring from seven yards out to make it 24-14. A failed punt by USF – a dropped snap by specialist Trent Schneider, led to an extremely short field as the Pirates took over at the USF 10-yard line. The very next play, Harris again found the end zone, springed by blocks from Avery Jones and Fernando Frye, from 10 yards out to make it 31-14.
USF added a field goal from Jared Sackett with 32 seconds left in the opening half to make it 31-17 heading into the locker room.
The Pirates totaled 285 yards in the first half to USF’s 297, rushing for 152 yards and throwing for 133. USF threw for 243 yards in the first half.
