TAMPA � East Carolina football coach Ruffin McNeill has acronyms for a variety of things.

He formulated TBA for Trust, Belief and Accountability to describe the foundation for relationships among members of the program.

OPAT for One Play At (a) Time evolved later as a reminder for the mindset needed to respond to immediate challenges.

When talking to his players about their behavior away from the field, he uses ABC � Avoid Bad Company.

ECU came to South Florida having never beaten the Bulls. Granted, the previous games the last decade were not when the Pirates were at their best.

In fact, USF used a bounce pass in the end zone for a decisive touchdown in overtime in 2003 when the Pirates struggled to a 1-11 record.

Fast forward to the Pirates' maiden voyage in the American Athletic Conference and the Bulls bullied ECU for 30 minutes on Saturday night.

USF kept the Pirates from developing an offense rhythm and used several big plays to build a 17-7 halftime advantage.

South Florida struck first on a 51-yard pass from Mike White to Andre Davis with 8:41 left in the first quarter. ECU's only points of the first half came on a 35-yard pass from Shane Carden to Breon Allen with 37 seconds left in the first quarter and tied the game at 7 with Warren Harvey's conversion kick.

The hosts went up 14-7 as a 13-yard run by Marlon Mack completed a 70-yard drive with 7:49 remaining in the second quarter.

Marvin Kloss kicked a 45-yard field goal with three seconds left in the half to give USF a 10-point cushion.

ECU had six penalties for 81 yards in the first 30 minutes compared to three flags for 19 yards for the Bulls.

USF had 17:56 of possession time to 12:04 for the Pirates. The Bulls led 226 to 180 in total yards.

Carden completed nine of 15 before intermission for 103 yards with one interception. The pick led to the field goal.

Allen ran 10 times for 81 yards in the first half.

Things changed after halftime.

After the locker room break, the Pirates re-emerged from the tunnel the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will use today when they meet the Baltimore Ravens and looked like the No. 19 team in the country.

"We knew we were going to get their best shot," Allen said. "I can't even begin to talk about the resiliency and the character of my team. We know every game can't be perfect. We know we're going to get everybody's best shot. We just showed how resilient we are in the second half."

The Pirates had a shutout after intermission under the direction of the defensive coaches Rick Smith, Marc Yellock, John Wiley and Duane Price.

The defense would make a stop and the offense would score. Then ECU would repeat the process.

"It speaks very highly of our team and our coaches," said Carden, who finished 24 of 33 for 250 yards. "We stayed with the game plan and did what we know. We made routine plays."

Allen finished with 124 yards on 18 carries. Marquez Grayson had a 24-yard scoring run to complete an 84-yard drive that drew the Pirates within 17-14. Allen got the go-ahead score on a 4-yard run with 11:42 left in the game. True freshman Anthony Scott made it to the end zone from 20 yards out with 6:28 left for the final 28-17 margin.

Kloss missed a 28-yard field goal attempt with 31 seconds remaining to effectively end any chance the Bulls might have had.

"Offensively, we played a very bad first half," Carden said. "We kept getting penalties and shooting ourselves in the foot. But this team is resilient. There are some tough guys in there mentally and physically and we just stuck with it. Coaches kept us in the game, just allowing us to believe in what we're doing. I feel very good about this team in any situation. It's just a matter of we're going to keep fighting."

The Pirates got on a three-sided roll with the threat of an upset looming at Raymond James Stadium.

"We talk about a frenzy," Carden said. "Starting a frenzy. Defense gets a stop. Big special teams play. Offense gets the ball and scores. Good kickoff. Defense goes out and stops 'em. We just talk about a frenzy, playing off each other. Second half, we were able to do that. First half, it was a little on and off.

"We've got a great team. We've just got to play off each other a little better than we did the first half."

USF wanted to run the ball to shorten the game and limit the number of possessions for the Pirates.

"The boys up front did a great job of stopping the run," said corner Josh Hawks. "We came out, settled down, made adjustments and we played ball."

Hawkins had a second half interception that led to an 86-yard drive with Allen scoring for the lead.

ECU played tighter coverage in the second half. The Bulls netted just 10 yards on the ground in the second half. They had 114 yards passing after the break.

"I think we were just too anxious, too amped at the time," said mike linebacker Zeek Bigger, who led ECU with nine tackles, including two for loss, of the Pirates' play in the first half. "We told each other that we've got to stand our ground. It was 17-7. We had to stand our ground. That long pass should have never happened and we let them score on a run, which I blame myself. I should have been in that gap. We messed up on some assignments. That's football. We've got to get things fixed on this bye week."

The Pirates' next game is at home on Thursday night, Oct. 23, against Connecticut.

Bigger said the offense's productivity inspired the defensive unit in the second half.

"We're one of the best teams around when we get going," he said.

Multiple avenues still open

The Pirates (5-1, 2-0 AAC) are on the verge of bowl eligibility. The league title could be a springboard to an upper tier bowl slot that goes to the best team outside the so-called power five conferences.

There are a lot of possibilities out there that ECU kept alive by getting Saturday night's trip to Tampa turned around.

This story's headline, "Pirates End A Competitive Hex," is an acronym for Peach. A return trip to Atlanta for the Peach Bowl is within this team's capabilities. Pirate Nation would no doubt welcome the opportunity to relive some of the greatness of 1991 through the current team, which is emerging in its own right.

McNeill has his team believing in the process of improvement.

"We'll go into open week and we have a lot of things to work on," said the ECU alumnus. "We'll address some situations. We'll watch the film and see what exactly we have to do to correct that."

The 1991 team was famous for pulling out victories.

"To do what we want to do, we know we have to overcome some adversity," McNeill said. "... We were fortunate to get a win, but it was a win that we earned."

Notes

AAC commissioner Mike Teresco spoke with media before kickoff, noting that playing tough teams is a means of building the league brand. He noted ECU's game at Florida next season as an example. ... The Pirates stayed at the Grand Hyatt, Tampa Bay, checking out at 2 p.m. The Baltimore Ravens were staying at the hotel on Saturday night. ... Former ECU pitcher Jeff Hoffman was at the Pirates game Saturday night. The Toronto Blue Jays first-round draft choice is doing rehab in the Tampa area. ... Sources have said Ian Townsend has left the Pirates baseball program and plans to transfer to Division II Tampa.