East Carolina lost starting quarterback Mitch Griffis, starting running back T.J. Engleman and primary place kicker Noah Perez didn’t attempt the winning field goal as the Pirates topped visiting South Florida, 20-17, on Friday night.

“Next man up,” said ECU coach Blake Harrell. “We talk about it all the time.”

Griffis and Emory Williams have been QB1 and QB1-A this season. When Griffis went out with a first half concussion that didn’t draw a targeting penalty, Williams came in to complete 19 of  27 passes for 175 yards with a pair of touchdowns to Landon Sides and no interceptions.

Griffis was seven for 11 for 48 yards before he was sidelined.

As a tandem, the Pirate passers were 26 for 38 for 223 yards, very good numbers, especially considering the ball control style the Bulls favor on offense, which limits possessions.

QB comparison

Griffis has played in all nine games for ECU, which is 5-4 overall and 3-2 in the American Conference.

The Texas Tech transfer, who got most of his previous experience at Wake Forest, has completed 76 of 137 for 801 yards with four touchdowns and five interceptions. Griffis has completed 55.5 percent of his passes.

Williams did not play against Appalachian State or Temple. For the season, he is 97 for 144 for 891 yards with nine TDs and two picks. He is completing 63.9 percent of his tosses.

As a ball carrier, Griffis has run 41 times for a net of 133 yards with no scores. Williams has 36 keepers for 61 yards with one score.

Harrell talked about the duo’s mindset on Monday.

“When it’s my opportunity, I’m going to make the most of it,” Harrell said of the quarterbacks’ approach. “If I’m not getting the job done, hey, I’ve just got to go back to work, look myself in the mirror, not going to point fingers.

“Have the right attitude and right mindset. I think Emory’s done that. Mitch has done that at times this year and both of them have had their ups and downs throughout the season.”

Williams likely  

Griffis was still in concussion protocol at the start of the week, making it appear that Williams would be the starter at Charlotte (1-8, 1-4 American) on Saturday at 1 p.m. (ESPN+).

Andrew Bayes of Pirate radio said Griffis and Williams split reps with the first unit before the USF game with true freshman Trey Burke getting the snaps with the twos.

Best effort for Davis

T.J. Engleman was hobbled in the first half against USF. Harrell said Engleman was moving in practice on Monday and had an MRI scheduled for later in the day.

Ashton Gray stepped up against the Bulls with 18 carries for 101 yards. Michael Allen had five carries for 26 yards.

“Ashton Gray had a big game, kind of the expectation we had going into the year,” Harrell said.  “He just did really well there when T.J. went down. Michael Allen had his best game of the year as well. …

“Ashton is kind of hitting his stride right now. Michael Allen’s hitting his stride right now. To see those guys playing their best football come November is pretty special.”

The big kick

Andrew Conrad, the long-range field goal specialist, made his first attempt of the season from 55 yards to win the game with USF as time expired.

Former Pirate coach Skip Holtz was known for telling kickers jokes to relax them at critical junctures,

Harrell was direct with the game on the line against the Bulls.

“Told him to get his butt in there and hit it,” Harrell said. ” … Conrad, nothing phases him.”

Third downs

Harrell was pleased with the Pirates’ performance on third downs on both sides of the ball.

ECU converted six of 15 while limiting the visitors to one of 10.

The Pirates stopped the Bulls on their only fourth down try while making their only fourth down attempt.

Harrell said it was a pregame objective to stay on schedule offensively with manageable downs and distances and vice-versa on defense.

“We let a few plays out, but for the most part we put them in second and eight, third and six, third and seven,” Harrell said. “That was a huge difference through the ball game of just being able to control the flow of the game.”

Staying fresh

Late drives against the defense contributed to both league losses for the Pirates.

Harrell substituted more earlier on to have players fresh in the later stages against South Florida.

“We have started cutting back practice a little bit here and there,” Harrell said. “Making sure we’re doing a better job of rotating guys on Saturday. That’s been huge the last two weeks (wins over Temple and USF).

“Earlier in October we didn’t finish the game and I thought the last two weeks we certainly have finished the game. A bit of that’s mindset. A bit of that’s a great job of our coaches rotating players early and keeping them fresh in the fourth quarter.”

Back in routine

Harrell said the Pirates watched film on Monday for the first time in a while. Thursday night games at Alabama-Birmingham on Oct. 15 and at Memphis on Oct. 22 as well as the Friday night matchup with USF forced adjustments to the schedule during the week.

“This is the first Monday where we’ve been on a normal Monday schedule,” Harrell said. “What I mean by that is we watched film this morning with our players. We did that, lift weights at 6:15 (a.m.), meeting started at 7:30, go out and have a Monday type practice.

“We haven’t done that since the North Carolina Central week.”

The Pirates played NCCU on Sept. 26.

“It’s kind of nice to be back on that Saturday schedule for the last three ball games,” Harrell said. “Get back in that routine.”

Philip Rivers vs. ECU

New N.C. State coach Philip Rivers played quarterback for the Wolfpack from 2000 to 2003. The Pirates did not play the Pack during that span.

ECU is scheduled to open the 2028 season at home against State on Sept. 2.

Beware of Niners

Harrell expressed his respect for Charlotte coach Tim Albin, who is in his second season with the 49ers after previous success at Ohio.

Former North Carolina quarterback Conner Harrell is passing for 167.7 yards per game for Charlotte.

Coach Harrell has reminded the team that the 49ers lead the young series, 2-1.

“We don’t look at 1-8 (Charlotte’s record),” Harrell said. “We look at our opponent. … We respect those guys, whoever we’re playing and whatever the record may be and whatever they’ve done.

“At the same time, if we don’t put the focus on us and how we prepare and how we’ve got to get better and we’re just worried about our opponent, we’re not attacking the thing the right way.”