CHARLOTTE — High school teams have the opportunity to scrimmage other teams before playing their first game. In the National Football League, there are a series of exhibition games before the regular season begins. Scrimmages and exhibitions provide an opportunity to iron out some kinks. There are no such provisions in the college ranks.

In college, the first game is the first game.

East Carolina and South Carolina had a typical first game on Saturday night at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte in terms of turnovers. ECU wound up with five and South Carolina had four. The miscues dictated the course of the nonconference contest, which the Gamecocks came back to win, 56-37.

The inability of the Pirates to hold on to the football was ultimately their downfall.

East Carolina had objectives other than improving its defense going into the 2011 season. The Pirates wanted to play smarter, commit fewer penalties and improve the turnover ratio.

The Pirates started strong in terms of those defined areas, leading No. 12 South Carolina 24-14 at the half. At that point, 30 minutes into the game, the Gamecocks had lost four fumbles to one for ECU.

But USC's first-half fumbleitis must have been contagious. The Pirates came down with a bad case in the third quarter.

Three straight ECU possessions to start the second half ended with lost fumbles and all three turnovers quickly turned into Gamecock touchdowns as South Carolina forged a 35-24 lead less than five minutes into the second half.

ECU quarterback Dominique Davis demonstrated his senior poise with an 80-yard drive that cut the margin to 35-31.

The Pirates had played disciplined football in terms of flags with just three infractions for 30 yards in the first half. The Gamecocks had drawn 35 yards in walkoffs on five penalties. ECU did not have a penalty in the second half, while USC finished with eight for 55 yards. That factor turned out favorable. The Pirates also had a 21-16 lead in first downs. Total offense was very close. Dominique Davis completed 37 of 56 passess for 260 yards with four touchdowns and one interception.

Heisman Trophy candidate Marcus Lattimore netted 112 yards rushing on 23 carries for South Carolina. The Gamecocks totaled 220 yards on the ground. USC held a slight 351-345 edge in total yardage.

Bullock impact

Reggie Bullock was the offensive player of the year in junior college last season at Arizona Western. He won the starting job at running back in ECU's preseason camp and had 18 carries for 67 yards against South Carolina. He also caught three passes for 15 yards.

"Playing on this level tonight was a big adjustment," Bullock said. "We made mistakes but we can fix the mistakes."

Conditioning factor

East Carolina had hoped to make its conditioning work to its advantage in the latter stages but South Carolina outscored the Pirates 28-7 in the third quarter and 14-6 in the fourth quarter. Those are not the numbers that strength and conditioning coach Jeff Connors wanted to see. On top of that, cornerback Derek Blacknall was limited by cramps.

Garcia changes game

ECU led 17-0 when veteran quarterback Stephen Garcia entered the game for the Gamecocks. Garcia has had his problems off the field but he gave South Carolina a quick fix in terms of offensive leadership. He finished his first series of the night with a 32-yard scoring run, the longest of his career.

A lost fumble on the ensuing kickoff set up a 41-yard USC scoring drive that included a 21-yard Garcia pass to Alshon Jeffery.

"We gameplanned for Garcia," said Pirate linebacker Jeremy Grove. "When he went in there it was like their whole team got amped up."

Garcia completed 7 of 15 passes for 110 yards and one score. He ran five times for 56 yards and two touchdowns. Connor Shaw, who started for USC, completed 3 of 9 passes for 21 yards. He also lost a fumble.

Freshman Hardy shines

Wide receiver Lance Lewis, who is wearing jersey No. 1 for ECU this season, is a known quantity to Pirate fans. Lewis was expected to step up his production with the departure of Dwayne Harris and he didn't disappoint with 13 catches for 108 yards and two touchdowns.

Freshman Justin Hardy, a West Craven product who redshirted last season, is wearing jersey No. 2. Hardy was big in his first college game with 11 catches for 91 yards and a score.

"We're always going to play with heart, no matter what the score is," Hardy said.

Holtz has successful homecoming

Skip Holtz had a huge win as South Florida's coach in a game at Notre Dame that started Saturday afternoon and lasted well into Saturday night with weather delays. The Bulls topped the Fighting Irish, 23-20.

Holtz guided ECU to Conference USA championships in 2008 and 2009 before heading to Tampa. He lettered at Notre Dame and, of course, his dad, Lou, directed the Irish to their last national championship in 1988.

A weather delay at halftime lasted two hours, 10 minutes. Another delay, with less then five minutes remaining in the game, lasted 43 minutes.

"We had plenty of chances to flinch," Holtz said.

Logos

ECU wore skull and crossbones helmet decals for the season opener. The Pirates initially wore the decals for a Thursday night game with Virginia Tech in Greenville in 2009.

The playing surface at Bank of America Stadium was not customized for the college clash, which was televised by Fox Sports South. The middle of the turf featured an NFL logo. One end zone said 'Carolina' and the other said, 'Panthers.' There were Panther logos on the field as well. At $60 a ticket, one might have thought game administrators would have had the resources to do some art work for the Pirates and Gamecocks.

The Panthers had an exhibition game at home on Thursday night, a 33-17 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Panthers don't play in the facility again until the defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers come to Charlotte on Sept.18.

Moving On

ECU plays its first home game on Saturday at home against Virginia Tech at 3:30 p.m. The Hokies will be coming off a 66-13 walloping of Appalachian State.

"We'll take the film from tonight and learn from it," ECU coach Ruffin McNeill said following the South Carolina game. " ... Teams improve the most from the first to the second game. ... I wish we could go out and practice right now. So do the players."