TAMPA, FL — Two big plays were too much for East Carolina to overcome on Saturday night at Raymond James Stadium against South Florida in the American Athletic Conference opener for both programs.
Jordan Cronkrite broke free up the middle for 80 yards with 10:13 to go for the last touchdown in a 20-13 Bulls win. USF (4-0) got blockers on the ECU inside linebackers and Cronkrite was past the safeties before they reacted.
The Bulls had taken a 13-7 lead on a 66-yard scoring pass from Blake Barnett to Darnell Salomon with 13:46 left in the first half.
ECU (1-2) had a 412-296 lead in total yardage. The pair of lengthy scores accounted for almost half of USF’s yardage. The Pirates had 24 first downs to just nine for the hosts.
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“We played really, really hard on both offense and defense tonight,” said ECU coach Scottie Montgomery. “. . . We weren’t quite gap sound there (Cronkrite’s TD). We’ll take a look at that and make sure we get that fixed. … Without those two plays, that was a great defensive performance.”
USF overwhelmed East Carolina, 61-31, last season in Greenville as the Bulls ran for 390 yards. USF has lost some significant skill personnel and ECU has retooled its defense under new coordinator David Blackwell.
The Pirates flew back to Greenville after traveling by bus to Orlando on the Wednesday before Hurricane Florence swept through the Carolinas.
ECU hosts Old Dominion on Saturday, Sept. 29, at 3:30 p.m. The Monarchs are coming off a 49-35 home win over Virginia Tech on Saturday. The Pirates cancelled a Sept. 15 game with the Hokies in Blacksburg due to the storm.
ECU practiced for the AAC contest with USF while in Orlando.
“We’re to the point that we’ve caught the people that we need to catch in playing,” Montgomery said. “Now, our discipline is going to have to get us over this next hump.”
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East Carolina scored on its first possession on a 2-yard keeper by true freshman Holton Ahlers after a 47-yard pass play to Trevon Brown from Reid Herring.
Brown had six catches for 99 yards. Ahlers led ECU’s rushing with 48 yards on 12 carries.
The Bulls pulled within 7-6 after a 2-yard keeper to the left by Barnett after a play fake to Cronkrite. Alex Turner of the Pirates blocked the extra point with 3:33 left in the first quarter to maintain the lead.
“We were doing one of our regular blocks and I came up with Raequan Purvis,” Turner said. “We pressed inside of the guard. I came free and got up and blocked the kick.”
Turner, a defensive tackle, was in on five tackles and had 1.5 of ECU’s six sacks.
USF went ahead, 13-7, lead as Barnett connected with Salomon. Davondre Robinson was in coverage for the Pirates. Corner Colby Gore did not play for ECU at USF after being taken from a 41-19 home win over North Carolina on Sept. 8 with a possible concussion.
Herring left the field with 15 seconds remaining in the first half after running five yards for a first down at the USF 5-yard line. The field position led to a 28-yard field goal by Jake Verity to cut the Bulls’ advantage to 13-10 as time expired in the opening half.
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ECU led 14-5 in first downs and 218-165 in total yardage for the first 30 minutes. The Pirates had possession for 19 minutes and 44 seconds before the locker room break compared to 10:16 for the Bulls. ECU had 78 rushing yards to 27 for the hosts. The Pirates ran eight times on first down on 10 first-half possessions, averaging 4.2 yards on those snaps.
“We’re going to run the football this year,” Montgomery said.
The Pirates got a 24-yard field goal by Verity to tie the score at 13 with 9:58 left in the third period after generating their first turnover of the season on the first series of the second half. Robinson caused a fumble and Michael Witherspoon recovered at the USF 40.
ECU had six possessions after tying the score at 13 without producing points.
Herring completed 21 of 48 passes for 253 yards with an interception at the ECU 44 with two minutes left on the last series for the Pirates.
“Thought the defense played great tonight,” Herring said. “They kept us in the game. Obviously, we didn’t make enough plays to win. I didn’t make enough plays to win. I’ve got to throw the ball better. We were a couple of plays away from having a few more touchdowns. … We’ve got to play better on offense.”
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