GREENVILLE — Andrew Conrad was ready when his chance came, kicking a 55-yard field goal at the East end of Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium as time expired to lift East Carolina to a 20-17 American Conference win over South Florida on Friday night.
It was the first field goal attempt of the season for Conrad, who had previously kicked a 33-yard game-ending field goal for a 27-24 win at Brigham Young on Oct. 28, 2022.
The Bulls tried to ice the fifth-year booter from East Forsyth in Kernersville, but Conrad took the unofficial opportunity and nailed it.
“They called a timeout and I was like, ‘You know what? Let’s just get a snap and the kick real quick,'” Conrad said on the Pirate radio network. “I felt really good about the first one, so I had all the confidence in the world going into that second one.”
Noah Perez has taken shorter kicks all season, but the Pirates have had Conrad in reserve from long range.
ECU had players step up as starting quarterback Mitch Griffix went out with a concussion and leading rusher T.J. Engleman sustained a leg injury. Offensive lineman Karson Jones also was sidelined.
USF had a physical defense that was limiting opponents to 14,5 points per game. Josh Aldridge is defensive coordinator for the Bulls. He served in that capacity for the Pirates last season until the bowl game.
“Our young men are just so resilient,” said Pirates coach Blake Harrell. “So proud of them. The next man up mentality. We always talk that it takes everybody.”
Emory Williams came in for Griffis and completed 19 of 27 for 175 yards with two touchdowns to Landon Sides, who had 14 catches for 126 yards.
Ashton Gray ran 18 times for 101 yards in Engkeman’s absence. Ray Ray Joseph Jr. had seven receptions for 62 yards. Gray had three catches for 26 yards, including an 18-yarder to get ECU within field goal distance on the last series.
The Pirates (5-4, 3-2 American) moved within a win of bowl eligibility going into a league game at Charlotte on Saturday at 1 p.m. (ESPN+). The 49ers are 1-7 overall and 1-3 in the American going into a game Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at Alabama Birmingham.
USF slipped to 6-3, 2-3.
After taking over on downs at its own 32 following the first series of the second half, ECU went up, 17-10, on an 8-yard scoring pass from Willians to Sides with 6:24 left in the third quarter.
Gray had a 31-yard run to the USF 10-yard line on the series that gave the Pirates their first lead.
The Bulls tied the score at 17 on a 1-yard run by Jason Collins Jr. with 9:42 left to play. The touchdown came on a 4-play drive that included two runs by D.J. Crowther totaling 48 yards and a heave under pressure by Luke Kromenhoek to Evan Dangler for 27 yards to the ECU 1.
The score was tied at 10 at the half as Sides caught a 15-yard scoring pass from Williams with 31 seconds left in the half. That completed a 65-yard drive after USF had taken a 10-3 lead on a 30-yard field goal by Nico Gramatica.
Williams had a 16-yard run and completions of 20 and 14 yards to Sides on the four-play series that took just 40 seconds.
USF scored on its first possession after winning the coin toss and deferring as Kromenhoek had a 26-yard touchdown pass to Bryson Rodgers with 10:25 left in the first quarter.
ECU settled for a 44-yard field goal by Perez to cut the lead to 7-3 on a 4th-and-4 at the Bulls’ 26 with 9:30 to go in the first half.
This was not a “pretty” win, but it might be the best win of the entire year. I don’t think the Pirate team that played Rice could have accomplished the task. Stepping up (Williams, Gray, Weaver) and going toe-to-toe with a tough USF crew after seeing your qb, #1 rb, and left guard get injured was special. The Pirate offensive effort might not have been the most explosive of the year, but it certainly has to be the most rewarding.
The Pirate defense had its’ down moments, but did enough to keep ECU close. A. Conrad stepped up, big time, and would have made it from 60. Let’s hope Mitch, T.J., and Karson aren’t seriously injured.
Looking ahead, it would be easy for the Pirates to overlook Charlotte. Hopefully, the Pirates will be focused.
It’s the best dub of the year BY FAR.
The Pirates exhibited a lot of cajónes to take this one, and I’m very happy for them.
Hats off particularly to Williams, Gray, Sides, Jospeh and the whole d. I think that Williams and Griffis are essentially the same; neither are great, honestly, but both are serviceable, and Williams most definitely stepped up at crunch time, a couple of his crucial completions being into a tight window. Sides is a machine out there, but what about Spalding (who he reminds me of)?? He saw a few snaps last week; is he not ready, reinjured or did he lose his job to Sides? Could they use both of them out there? I’ve always thought that Gray and Engleman are essentially the same also, and the former proved that last night.
It was nice to see Harrell’s aggressiveness reemerge, too, both at the end of the half and on that 4th and 2 in the 4th quarter on their own side of the field. (Lord, where was that at the end of the UAB regulation?!)
ECU would need considerable help, but the conference isn’t out of the question; they must keep the foot on the gas for Charlotte upcoming.
I was expecting ESPN to give at least a little analysis during halftime of the game last night. They completely ignored the game they were broadcasting and discussed the ACC! ♂️! Just another reason I don’t like ESPN