Birmingham Bowl: East Carolina 53, Coastal Carolina 29
Associated Press
BIRMINGHAM, Ala - Holton Ahlers threw a Birmingham Bowl-record five touchdown passes and accounted for a game-record six TDs to help East Carolina beat Coastal Carolina 53-29 in the TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl at Protective Stadium.
Ahlers, selected the game MVP, threw for 300 yards on 26-of-38 passing, rushed for 37 yards and a touchdown and caught a pass for 14 yards for the Pirates (8-5).
Coastal Carolina quarterback Grayson McCall, the three-time Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year who entered the transfer portal this month, wasn't as fortunate.
Presumably, McCall's final play in a Coastal Carolina uniform came on a 9-yard touchdown run. He was hit while tumbling into the end zone and never returned to the game. Jarrett Guest replaced him in the first half and played most of the second half. McCall's run gave Coastal Carolina (9-4) a 14-10 lead. By halftime, though, Chanticleers were in a 24-14 hole.
Coastal Carolina was fortunate to only be down 10 at halftime. East Carolina had six drives in the first half with four finishing in scores. One ended with a fourth- down stop by Coastal Carolina and the other finished with the Pirates running out the final 35 seconds of the half.
Ahlers was accurate on throws of all depths, connecting on 17 of 22 passes for 213 yards with touchdown passes of 27 and 11 yards to Isaiah Winstead. ECU running back Keaton Mitchell was also effective, carrying the ball 10 times for 107 yards with a 1-yard touchdown run.
McCall, who missed three games with an injury late in the season, played well before the injury. He was 11 of 14 for 75 yards and carried the ball four times for 12 yards. His 25-yard pass to Ivy Turon set up a 1-yard scoring run by Reese White.
East Carolina quickly extended the lead to 31-14 in the third quarter. Coastal Carolina's Braydon Bennett fumbled on the first play of the second half and East Carolina's Jireh Wilson recovered at the Coastal Carolina 27. Six plays later, Ahlers found Jaylen Johnson for a 2-yard touchdown pass. Ahlers had a 14-yard reception on the drive on a pass from C.J. Johnson.
Coastal Carolina answered quickly, moving 79 yards on three plays with White gaining 32 yards on the first two plays and Guess hitting Tyler Roberts in stride on a 47-yard touchdown pass.
East Carolina scored the next 14 points on a 1-yard run by Ahlers and a 15-yard pass from Ahlers to C.J. Johnson. Ahlers capped off his night with a 1-yard touchdown pass to Shane Calhoun and a two-point conversion pass to Mitchell.
THE TAKEAWAY
Coastal Carolina: Getting started has been an issue for the Chanticleers in the season-ending three-game losing streak. Coastal Carolina was outscored, 75-28. East Carolina had 330 first half yards.
East Carolina: The Pirates are back in the win column in a bowl for the first tie since 2013. ECU last played in a bowl game in 2014. The Pirates were scheduled to play in the Military Bowl last year, but the game was canceled a day before kickoff.
December 27, 2022
| Scoring Summary |
| First Quarter |
CoastC | ECU |
| ECU |
FG |
10:52 |
Andrew Conrad 28 yard field goal |
0 |
3 |
| ECU |
TD |
3:47 |
Isaiah Winstead 27 yard TD pass from Holton Ahlers (Andrew Conrad Extra Point) |
0 |
10 |
| Second Quarter |
CoastC | ECU |
| CoastC |
TD |
14:38 |
Reese White 1 yard TD run (Kade Hensley Extra Point) |
7 |
10 |
| CoastC |
TD |
8:52 |
Grayson McCall 9 yard TD run (Kade Hensley Extra Point) |
14 |
10 |
| ECU |
TD |
6:37 |
Isaiah Winstead 11 yard TD pass from Holton Ahlers (Andrew Conrad Extra Point) |
14 |
17 |
| ECU |
TD |
1:44 |
Keaton Mitchell 1 yard TD run (Andrew Conrad Extra Point) |
14 |
24 |
| Third Quarter |
CoastC | ECU |
| ECU |
TD |
11:13 |
Jaylen Johnson 2 yard TD pass from Holton Ahlers (Andrew Conrad Extra Point) |
14 |
31 |
| CoastC |
TD |
9:46 |
Tyler Roberts 47 yard TD pass from Jarrett Guest (Kade Hensley Extra Point) |
21 |
31 |
| ECU |
TD |
2:36 |
Holton Ahlers 1 yard TD run (Andrew Conrad Extra Point) |
21 |
38 |
| Fourth Quarter |
CoastC | ECU |
| ECU |
TD |
13:45 |
C.J. Johnson 15 yard TD pass from Holton Ahlers (Andrew Conrad Extra Point) |
21 |
45 |
| CoastC |
TD |
6:07 |
CJ Beasley 2 yard TD run (Bryce Archie 2pt conversion attempt is GOOD) |
29 |
45 |
| ECU |
TD |
2:14 |
Shane Calhoun 1 yard TD pass from Holton Ahlers (Keaton Mitchell 2pt conversion attempt is GOOD) |
29 |
53 |
| Team Stats |
| |
Coastal Carolina |
East Carolina |
| First downs |
20 |
24 |
| Rushing |
8 |
5 |
| Passing |
8 |
14 |
| Penalty |
4 |
5 |
| 3rd Down Efficiency |
5-12, 42% |
6-12, 50% |
| 4th down efficiency |
0-1, 0% |
2-4, 50% |
| Rushes-Yards |
38-125 |
32-172 |
| Passing Yards |
212 |
314 |
| Return Yards |
105 |
145 |
| Completions-Attempts-Int |
17-25-0 |
27-39-0 |
| Sacks-Yards Lost |
4-37 |
1-10 |
| Punts |
4 |
1 |
| Fumbles Lost |
4-3 |
0-0 |
| Penalties - Yards |
11-98 |
11-130 |
| Coastal Carolina Passing |
| Player |
Cmp |
Att |
Yds |
TDs |
Int |
| J. Guest |
6 |
11 |
136 |
1 |
0 |
| G. McCall |
10 |
12 |
67 |
0 |
0 |
| B. Archie |
1 |
2 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
| East Carolina Passing |
| Player |
Cmp |
Att |
Yds |
TDs |
Int |
| H. Ahlers |
26 |
38 |
300 |
5 |
0 |
| C. Johnson |
1 |
1 |
14 |
0 |
0 |
| Coastal Carolina Rushing |
| Player |
Carries |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| R. White |
11 |
57 |
5.2 |
1 |
| B. Bennett |
4 |
29 |
7.3 |
0 |
| C. Beasley |
5 |
13 |
2.6 |
1 |
| M. Balthazar |
2 |
12 |
6.0 |
0 |
| G. McCall |
4 |
12 |
3.0 |
1 |
| B. Archie |
1 |
6 |
6.0 |
0 |
| L. Adkins |
1 |
2 |
2.0 |
0 |
| J. Guest |
10 |
-6 |
-0.6 |
0 |
| East Carolina Rushing |
| Player |
Carries |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| K. Mitchell |
22 |
127 |
5.8 |
1 |
| H. Ahlers |
7 |
48 |
6.9 |
1 |
| K. Edmonds |
2 |
-2 |
-1.0 |
0 |
| Coastal Carolina Receiving |
| Player |
Rec |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| S. Pinckney |
4 |
79 |
19.8 |
0 |
| T. Roberts |
1 |
47 |
47.0 |
1 |
| T. Ivy Jr. |
2 |
29 |
14.5 |
0 |
| R. White |
1 |
15 |
15.0 |
0 |
| T. Mobley |
4 |
12 |
3.0 |
0 |
| D. Thompson |
1 |
9 |
9.0 |
0 |
| P. McSweeney |
1 |
8 |
8.0 |
0 |
| J. Brown |
2 |
7 |
3.5 |
0 |
| C. Beasley |
1 |
6 |
6.0 |
0 |
| East Carolina Receiving |
| Player |
Rec |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| C. Johnson |
7 |
83 |
11.9 |
1 |
| I. Winstead |
6 |
72 |
12.0 |
2 |
| J. Johnson |
5 |
66 |
13.2 |
1 |
| S. Calhoun |
2 |
37 |
18.5 |
1 |
| K. Mitchell |
2 |
15 |
7.5 |
0 |
| T. Hudson |
1 |
15 |
15.0 |
0 |
| H. Ahlers |
1 |
14 |
14.0 |
0 |
| B. Spalding |
1 |
5 |
5.0 |
0 |
| K. Edmonds |
1 |
4 |
4.0 |
0 |
| T. Savage |
1 |
3 |
3.0 |
0 |
| Coastal Carolina Interceptions |
| Player |
Int |
Yards |
| East Carolina Interceptions |
| Player |
Int |
Yards |
| Coastal Carolina Punting |
| Player |
Punts |
Yards |
Avg |
| E. Crenshaw |
3 |
116 |
38.7 |
| M. West |
1 |
34 |
34.0 |
| East Carolina Punting |
| Player |
Punts |
Yards |
Avg |
| Coastal Carolina Punt Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| East Carolina Punt Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| M. Fleming |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| Coastal Carolina Kick Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| B. Bennett |
5 |
70 |
14.0 |
| T. Jackson |
1 |
17 |
17.0 |
| J. Brown |
1 |
18 |
18.0 |
| East Carolina Kick Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| M. Gunn Jr. |
3 |
88 |
29.3 |
| C. Johnson |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| K. Mitchell |
1 |
57 |
57.0 |
| Coastal Carolina Missed FG |
| Player |
Length |
| East Carolina Missed FG |
| Player |
Length |
