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Sudden impact
East Carolina is a late bloomer on the football field this season.
Last Sunday night, a game that seemed destined to go the way of host UCF, even after the Pirates rallied to tie it 10-10 late in the fourth quarter, suddenly slanted in ECU’s favor.
From quarterback Patrick Pinkney’s fourth-and-10 connection with Davon Drew to keep the game-tying drive afloat to the Pirate defense’s snuffing out of an odd fake punt call from Knight coach George O’Leary in the waning minutes when field position seemed the most valuable commodity, the Pirates have made winning late a new trait.
On the defensive side, cornerback Emanuel Davis not only forced and recovered a late fumble that stifled UCF’s attempt to somehow make a 10-0 halftime lead stand, he then snared the interception on the first play of overtime that gave the Pirates the ball to win the game.
Like it did in a week three win at Tulane, the light suddenly went off for the ECU offense after being blanked in the first half. With time ticking away in the fourth quarter, the Pirates seized the momentum when the Knights seemingly thought they were destined to win.
Having forced a fourth-and-10 on ECU with less than four minutes to play and clinging to a 10-3 lead, UCF was suddenly defenseless as Pinkney, from the Knights’ 36-yard line, connected with Drew to send the drive to the UCF 23 with a fresh set of downs.
Then, with 2:10 to play on a third down, Pinkney was rushed to his left and fired a pass against the grain to Drew over the middle, and the tight end rumbled to inside the UCF 5-yard line.
From there, Norman Whitley plowed into the end zone to tie the game, 10-10, with 1:51 to play.
The teams traded turnovers during a couple of frantic sequences in the dying minutes of regulation, but neither led to a decisive score.
UCF running back Brynn Harvey fumbled, but a booth review showed his knee hit the ground before losing the ball. But then quarterback Michael Greco lost the ball for the Knights under pressure from Davis, and ECU covered it on the UCF 22 with less than a minute to play.
But when ECU co-quarterback Rob Kass took the field, he promptly tossed an interception to Johnell Neal, ending the threat and allowing UCF to take a knee and force overtime.
Still, head coach Skip Holtz said immediately after the game he was thrilled with his team’s never-say-die attitude.
“I’m really proud of the way this team hung in there, the way they kept competing,” Holtz said. “They never gave up. They played together. It’s a great win, a conference win.
“(UCF) only lost two games at home, to Texas and South Florida, so I’m certainly not going to sneeze at it.”
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