Inside
Game Day Saturday,
October 3, 2015
By Al Myatt |
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Summers triggers ECU frenzy
Al Myatt
©2015 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
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.
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.
E-mail Al Myatt.
PAGE UPDATED
10/04/15 02:53 PM.
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