GREENVILLE – Prior to Saturday night's game, neither the East Carolina Pirates or the visiting BYU Cougars had been having the 2017 season that their fans had hoped for. But, for the East Carolina Pirates, a 33-17 win on homecoming was a hopeful sign of the turnaround that the Pirate faithful were clamoring for.
BYU took advantage of a turnover in ECU territory for the first score of the game. After a catch and fumble by a Pirate receiver, the Cougars went 28 yards in 5 plays, capped off by a 12-yard pass from Tanner Magnum to Micah Simon. The Pirates responded with a 72-yard drive and Thomas Sirk 1-yard keeper to knot the game at 7. Both teams traded field goals in the second quarter to make it 10-10 at the half.
The third quarter was the Jake Verity show. The sophomore kicker hit three field goals from distances of 42, 32, and 33 yards. When the red No Quarter flag came out to start the fourth quarter, the host Pirates were leading 19-10, but the Pirates were determined to extend that lead.
Gardner Minshew, taking over after Thomas Sirk injured his arm in the third quarter, led the East Carolina offense to two scores in the fourth quarter, a 26-yard pass to Trevon Brown and a 9-yard toss to Quay Johnson. BYU tried to get back into the game with a touchdown late, but it was not enough and Pirates celebrated their second win of the season.
What the Coaches Said
ECU coach Scottie Montgomery“Overall, great team victory. I thought offense, defense and special teams all made adjustments at halftime. A lot of critical adjustments. I thought our staff did a great job. Defensively, just critical stops and some guys making stops on the ball which we really haven’t been able to do. I think our overall team speed helped us tonight. We need to increase that overall team speed so we can stay at that level...“I challenged them and I guess you ask and you may receive. I said what we need to do is get points, get a stop and get points again and we will have command of the game and that’s exactly what happened. Not only did we do that but we got another stop and more points with an interception and a touchdown. It’s hard to lose those type of games.”
BYU coach Kilani Sitake
“First off, give a lot of credit to East Carolina. Coach Scottie Montgomery did a great job getting his guys ready and did a better job getting his team ready. Unfortunately, we lost the game. We had some good moments and we had some positive yards but the scoreboard doesn’t indicate a lot of the positive things we saw. Now we have to rally back and find a way to keep playing and keep competing and work for the seniors for the rest of the season.”
Notable North Carolinians
Quay Johnson – Five receptions for 51 yards and a touchdown for the former Knightdale standout
Devin Anderson – Former Northern Vance star was the Pirates' leading rusher and averaged 4 yards per carry on the night
Trevon Brown – New Hanover alum averaged 24.7 yards per catch and scored a touchdown for the Pirates
Aaron Ramseur – The redshirt freshman from Crest led the ECU defense in tackles
Next Week
BYU (1-7) hosts San Jose State (1-7) while East Carolina (2-6) has a bye before heading to Houston (4-3) on November 4th.
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