West Virginia at East Carolina
(Saturday, September 6th)
Final Score: East Carolina 24, (8) West Virginia 3
Greenville, NC (Sports Network) - Pat Pinkney completed 22-of-28 passes for
236 yards and a touchdown, as East Carolina knocked off another ranked
opponent with a 24-3 domination of eighth-ranked West Virginia.
East Carolina (2-0) knocked off then-No. 17 Virginia Tech, 27-22, last
Saturday, and won again behind a strong showing on both sides of the football.
Jon Williams ran for 69 yards and two scores on 17 carries for the Pirates,
while Dwayne Harris caught eight passes for 68 yards.
"I don't think you can put it into words. I am so proud of these players the
way they have come out and competed the last few weeks," East Carolina head
coach Skip Holtz said. "We played two elite programs and I am just proud of
the way our team has grown...That was just a phenomenal job by our defense.
West Virginia is a team that scores a lot of points with their speed."
Pat White was limited to 72 yards on 11-of-18 passing for the Mountaineers
(1-1), as head coach Bill Stewart was dealt his first loss. He took over for
Rich Rodriguez prior to the Fiesta Bowl last season and led the Mountaineers
to a 20-point triumph over Oklahoma, and West Virginia opened its season last
week by throttling Villanova.
White also ran for 97 yards on 20 attempts, and Noel Devine added 94 yards on
the ground on 12 rushes for WVU.
"There are some things that need to be ironed out and there will be things
that are ironed out," Stewart said. "We will work hard and learn from this
game. We need to get better defensively and work on our receivers. It is a
long season and the naysayers cannot end our players' season after two games."
East Carolina opened the game with first possession and a long scoring drive.
The 11-play, 80-yard progression featured a 35-yard connection from Pinkney to
Jamar Bryant on 3rd-and-9 to bring the ball down to the WVU seven-yard line.
Two plays later, Williams dashed five yards into the end zone for a 7-0 ECU
lead.
The drive ate up six minutes of the game clock, and the Pirates took the
ball again late in the first quarter to start a drive that lasted even
longer.
It took East Carolina 14 plays and 6:45 to go 56 yards, and Ben Ryan capped it
with a 42-yard field goal for a 10-0 lead. West Virginia got those points back
on the next drive, though, on Pat McAfee's 26-yard kick.
The Mountaineers took the ball late in the first half to start a drive that
might have tied the game, but instead was a pivotal point in their defeat.
Jock Sanders caught a pass on the second play, but fumbled in the flat on the
tackle by Van Eskridge as Marcus Hands recovered. It gave ECU the ball on the
WVU 35, and Pinkney took advantage by later lofting a 13-yard pass that Alex
Taylor caught in the back right corner of the end zone.
The touchdown came with 47 seconds left, giving the home team a 17-3 lead at
intermission, and ECU never looked back. On the Pirates' first possession of
the second half, Williams capped a 12-play, 86-yard drive with a one-yard run
into the end zone.
West Virginia had a number of possessions from there, but never advanced the
ball past the ECU 34.
Game Notes
White became the first player in WVU history to surpass 8,000 total career
yards...McAfee became the second-highest scorer in Mountaineers football
history, with 312 career points. Paul Woodside is the all-time leader with
323...The last time WVU did not score a touchdown in any game was a 45-3 loss
to Miami on October 25, 2001.
09/07 00:21:26 ET