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2nd half feeds into 2nd half of season

By Al Myatt
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The extended break between games for the 2014 East Carolina team amounts to halftime in the regular season for the Pirates, who are 5-1 and ranked as high as No. 16 in the major polls.

Halftime marked a significant juncture Saturday night at Raymond James Stadium in ECU's 28-17 win over South Florida at the Bulls' homecoming.

On the road and trailing 17-7 at the break, the Pirates fought back in a manner that characterizes established programs.

The Bulls got the ball to start the second half because the Pirates, as has been their custom 29 times in the last 30 games, went on offense to open the game.

The defense got a stop to open that second stanza and the offense moved 84 yards in 12 plays despite a first-and-30 situation that developed because of two holding calls.

Breon Allen had a 19-yard gain and Shane Carden had a 14-yard completion to Justin Hardy for a first down.

"When you say play the next play that's what it means," said ECU coach Ruffin McNeill. "You've got a penalty, you can't do anything about that so play the next play. ... The guys didn't flinch."

Hardy had 10 catches for 114 yards. He has caught multiple passes in 42 consecutive games, which ranks first among active receivers in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

Hardy has 313 career receptions and needs 37 catches to break the FBS record of 349 set by Ryan Broyles of Oklahoma from 2008 to 2011.

ECU went for a fourth-and-one at the USF 48 and converted on a 10-yard pass to Cam Worthy who was welcomed back after a two-game suspension. Worthy had five receptions for 56 yards in his return.

Another completion of 11 yards to Worthy preceded another holding call and left ECU in a first-and-20 at the Bulls 37.

A 13-yard toss to Hardy was followed by a 24-yard scoring run by Marquez Grayson and the tone for the second half was effectively set.

"I thought we learned a lot about ourselves," McNeill said after the Pirates improved to 2-0 in the American Athletic Conference. "Conference games are always hard. ... When you watch film every day you understand you're going to face a talented, well-coached team. Wins are hard, period. Wins on the road are even harder. Conference wins are harder. Conference wins on the road are even harder than that. We were very fortunate. I thought it was a victory well-earned by our team."

An interception by Josh Hawkins on USF's second possession of the second half led to the go-ahead score for ECU. The pick at the Pirates' 14-yard line came with one second remaining in the third quarter.

Carden connected with Worthy for 12 yards on a third-and-7 at the ECU 17. On a third-and-8 at the USF 13, Carden kept for a 9-yard gain.

The Pirates converted four of five third downs in the fourth quarter after going two for nine in those situations in the first 45 minutes.

The late domination was similar to a win 21.2 miles away at Tropicana Field to close the 2013 season in the Beef O'Brady's Bowl when ECU outscored Ohio 20-3 in the fourth quarter for a 37-20 victory in St. Petersburg. The Pirates were the fresher team in the late stages of both contests, a tribute to ECU's conditioning under Jeff Connors.

Allen scored on a 4-yard run with 11:42 remaining to put the Pirates ahead for good, 21-17, with Warren Harvey's conversion kick.

The defense went three and out before a valiant punt return by Hardy. He netted just six yards but made a statement by staying on his feet through a wave of Bulls defenders.

Carden went to Hardy for a 19-yard gain on the first play of the ensuing series. On a third-and-4, Isaiah Jones caught an 8-yard pass for a first down in USF territory. True freshman Anthony Scott swept the left side for a 20-yard touchdown with 6:28 to go.

The Bulls converted a third down and a fourth down on their last possession but missed a 28-yard field goal with 31 seconds remaining to effectively seal the outcome.

The Pirates held the Bulls to a net of 10 rushing yards after intermission.

"They run the football which is going to run the clock," McNeill said. "Defensively, we needed great first down play and get them in long yardage situations and get them off the field. Offensively, with our possessions reduced because of the game plan the opposition was using, we had to value each possession.

"In the second half, our defense did that assignment of getting off the field and our offense made each possession count.

"It was good to see us win in that type of action where we had to run the football because they gave us that. Shane did a great job of getting us into the right play. Our offensive line did a great job of getting our running back committee some lanes to run in."

Four backs — Allen, Grayson, Scott and Chris Hairston — averaged more than six yards per carry as ECU had 37 rushes for 231 yards.

Carden completed 24 of 33 passes for 250 yards with one interception and one score, a 35-yard toss to Allen with 37 seconds left in the first quarter.

"We were very proud about the interaction between offense, defense and special teams," McNeill said.

Worth Gregory averaged 43.4 yards on five punts.

The Pirates were penalized 12 times for 148 yards at USF, a factor that will surely get some attention as ECU resumes its focus for the last six games of the regular season.

ECU was on its fall break Monday and Tuesday.

"The kids who didn't travel had an opportunity to go home and the travel kids could if they were within range," McNeill said. "We had a team meeting (Tuesday) night. There was no practice Sunday, Monday or Tuesday."

McNeill wanted to get young players some reps on Wednesday and today. The Pirates are scheduled to begin game planning Friday for a Thursday night game (Oct. 23) at home with Connecticut.

The ECU coach is expecting an approach from the Huskies that will be comparable to the one that was successful for USF for the first half.

"Connecticut is a pro style offense like what Willie (Taggart, Bulls coach) did," McNeill said. "Willie came from Stanford. If you watch the (San Francisco) 49ers (coached by former Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh) play and Stanford play with all the wings and the shifting and all that to get leverage, Bob Diaco (UConn coach) has the same type offense and a 3-4 defense. It will be another tough game."

After playing on six Saturdays to start the season, the Pirates will be in action three times on Thursday nights and once on Friday in the second half of the 2014 season.

"It's getting ready to get a little non-traditional here but we've been preparing for it," McNeill said. "We designed a calendar for our team."

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PAGE UPDATED 10/16/14 03:03 AM.