GREENVILLE — Brigham Young used a pair of late first-half interceptions by Evan Johnson in pulling away from East Carolina for a 34-13 win on Saturday night.
The Pirates, who had just one turnover in their first three games, had two within four minutes to trail, 13-3, at halftime.
Katin Houser was picked off at the goal line by Johnson with 4:34 left in the half after the Pirates had moved to first-and-goal at the BYU 6 from their own 25.
The defense forced a punt, but Kyler Pearson had the ball knocked loose on the catch and the Pirates started a series at their own 1-yard line. Johnson jumped a toss to the left side for a 4-yard pick six with 56 seconds before halftime for a 13-3 lead.
“Can’t have those turnovers,” said Coach Blake Harrell on the Pirate radio network. “We’ve got to clean that up.”
The Cougars (3-0) used execution, poise and adjustments to pull away over the last 30 minutes.
A 53-yard return by London Montgomery on the opening kickoff sent a charge through the crowd of 47,213 at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium but the Pirates turned the ball over on downs at the BYU 41 four plays later.
The Cougars drove for a 40-yard field goal by Will Ferrin on their first possession for a 3-0 lead with 9:58 left in the first quarter.
ECU stopped a 4th-and-1 handoff to L.J. Martin at the 8-yard line. After a punt exchange, the Pirates moved from their 47 to the BYU 18 for a tying 36-yard field goal by Nick Mazzie with 18 seconds left in the first.
Ferrin gave the visitors a 6-3 lead with a 23-yard field goal with 10:50 left in the half.
The Cougars executed a 19-yard scoring pass to tight end Carsen Ryan, who lined up on the right and ran a route uncovered to the left side. Bear Bachmeier hit him off play action for a 20-3 lead with 6:33 left in the third quarter.
A pair of pass interference penalties on BYU helped position the Pirates for a 25-yard field goal from the left hash by Mazzie that brought the deficit within two possessions at 20-6 with 2:26 left in the third.
After the Cougars had gone up 27-6 on a 16-yard run by Bachmeier with 12:29 remaining to play, ECU became the first team to score a touchdown against BYU this season on a 2-yard keeper by Houser with 8:11 to go. That completed a 12-play, 97-yard drive.
Martin’s 41-yard TD run put the Cougars up, 34-13, with 3:44 left.
“We came out fast, which we wanted to do,” said Pirates linebacker Sam Dankah. “But we have to finish better.”
Total yardage was almost even with BYU holding a 418-404 lead.
Bachmeier completed 18 of 25 for 246 yards with one TD and no interceptions. The Cougars played turnover free.
Houser completed 25 of 42 for 285 yards with no scores and two picks. Anthony Smith had nine catches for 146 yards. Brock Spalding had six catches for 64 yards. London Montgomery ran six times for 43 yards.
“We definitely did play our hearts out,” Montgomery said. “We’ve just got to be smarter.”
Martin had 14 carries for 101 yards for BYU.
The Pirates’ series with the Cougars is 2-2 with each team 1-1 at home and on the road.
ECU (2-2) has a short week before beginning American Conference play at home against Army (1-2) on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. (ESPN).
ECU going from down 6 – 3 to down 13 – 3 with possession and less than a minute left in the half was a 100% game-changer; from there they wilted, and BYU strengthened.
The defense battled, but got worn down; the offense kept making execution mistake after mistake after mistake. …numerous dropped passes, critical interceptions, key false starts, and bad snaps. This wasn’t a case of being outclassed; it was self destruction.
How ECU responds vs. a very difficult Army at home this week will tell us a LOT about what to expect for the rest of the season; they’re in for a very long haul if the offense can’t clean things up.
It’s no sin to lose to a better team, and BYU was the better team. The Pirate defense didn’t have the answer for the balance and discipline of the Cougars offense. Losing Teagan Wilk certainly didn’t help. He should know better. The Pirate offense, once again, was its’ own worst enemy. Houser’s two picks were killers, no doubt. You can’t do that against any team that’s playing as well as BYU. However, more disappointing to me was the lack of discipline displayed by the Pirate offense. Pre-snap penalties should be few and far between by the fourth game of the season. Coach Baker doesn’t run a tight ship. The same problems that stopped the Pirates against NC STATE are still problematic. The “correctable” problems haven’t been corrected.
The Pirates have performed well enough, at times, to show they can compete against good teams. The lack of consistency and discipline make the Pirates a mediocre team. With Army coming next Thursday, it could be a very ugly night. I hope the coaches and players dig deep to find some answers. The Army game needs to be the pivot point for the season, going forward. If the Pirates don’t play well against Army, I see a largely disappointing season ahead. Opponents don’t have to beat you when you’re beating yourself.