Inside
Game Day Thursday, November
19, 2015
By Al Myatt |
|
Pirates turn tables on UCF
Al Myatt
©2015 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
Audio: Coach Ruff
postgame...
ORLANDO
—
The last time East Carolina played at Bright House Networks Stadium in a
Conference USA contest in 2012, the Pirates took a 14-0 lead before Central
Florida
rallied for a 40-20 win.
A 99-yard kickoff return for a
touchdown by Quincy McDuffie sparked the UCF rally three years ago.
A kickoff return by the Knights
provided a turning point again on a rainy Thursday night as Patrick Green
forced a fumble by UCF's Tristan Payton after the Pirates had tied the score
at 7 on a 19-yard pass from Blake Kemp to Brandon Bishop.
DaShaun Amos recovered for the
Pirates at the Knights 30-yard line. Kemp hit Isaiah Jones on an 8-yard
scoring pass four plays later to put ECU ahead to stay. Jones got a foot
down in the left corner of the end zone with 7:50 left in the first quarter
as the Pirates took a 14-7 lead.
ECU coach Ruffin McNeill got
his first road win against the Knights in three tries. The Pirates had not
prevailed at UCF since 2008 during the Skip Holtz coaching era.
"Proud of the heart of this
team, proud of the staff," McNeill said after a three-game losing streak was
snapped with a 44-7 victory on ESPN.
The outcome kept ECU in the
bowl picture as the Pirates improved to 5-6 overall and 3-4 in the American
Athletic Conference.
A noon game on Nov. 28 at home
against Cincinnati will determine if East Carolina gets six wins for bowl
eligibility.
ECU athletic director Jeff
Compher said an AAC team won't be left at home as Temple was last year with
a 6-6 record.
"We have more bowl slots now,"
Compher said. "That won't happen again."
With linebackers Zeek Bigger
and Montese Overton on the sideline for the first series of the game, UCF
took a 7-0 lead on an 11-yard scoring pass from Justin Holman to freshman
Tre'Quan Smith. McNeill indicated it was a minor disciplinary matter that
kept the elite defenders from starting.
Holman was the culprit in the
Knights'
stunning 32-30 win at ECU last
season as his Hail Mary to Breshad Perriman as time expired negated a Pirate
rally from a 26-9 deficit in the fourth quarter.
Kemp started at quarterback
after sitting out
a 22-17 loss to South Florida in the
Pirates' last game on Nov. 7. He hadn't thrown a pass in competition since
he was picked off three times late in
a 31-13 loss at Connecticut on
Oct. 30.
The time off didn't affect his
poise or ability to find open receivers.
Kemp completed 20 of 30 passes
for 260 yards with three TDs in the first half. Jones had six catches for
109 yards as the Pirates were in control 31-7 at the half.
It was a stark contrast to the
29 yards and no first downs produced by ECU in the first half of the South
Florida game.
Holman went out of the game in
the second quarter and Tyler Harris came in for the Knights, who had a
successful onside kick to start the second half.
Kemp revved up the Pirate
offense with some Shane Carden-like numbers. His fourth TD pass went to
Jones, covering 13 yards with 6:23 left in the third quarter for a 38-7 ECU
lead.
Kemp finished 34 of 50 for 448
yards with four touchdowns, no interceptions and one sack.
"It felt good to be back out
there on the field," Kemp said. "The offensive line did a great job
protecting so it really helped me go through my reads."
The offensive line has been
reconstructed with three starters out with injuries.
Isaiah Jones had 13 catches for
164 yards and two TD receptions.
"He blocked well, too," McNeill
said.
Ten different receivers had
catches for ECU, which amassed 605 yards of offense.
Chris Hairston ran 14 times for
123 yards with a 39-yard touchdown.
Davis Plowman made field goals
of 45, 36 and 36 yards. The 45-yarder was his career longest.
UCF (0-11, 0-7) is having a
surprising struggle after winning a share of the league title with the
remarkable ending in Greenville in 2014. George O'Leary resigned as coach
and Danny Barrett slipped to 0-3 as interim coach.
The Pirates avoided the
tendency to play down to the level of their competition.
"It's a lot of fun when you
win," said Bigger, who was in on a team-high eight tackles. "Everybody knows
that. It's just been hard times. It's something we had to get over. We had
to start over and get another win.
"Now we've got to see what
we're going to do next week."
E-mail Al Myatt.
PAGE UPDATED
11/20/15 02:04 PM.
|