East Carolina’s football team dropped a 34-13 decision to BYU in a game televised nationally on ESPN2.
Below are more details from ECU Sports Information. Videos are from Pirate Radio.
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Photo credit: (ECU Sports Information)
Two passes near the goal line on opposite ends of the field late in the first half dealt a crushing blow to East Carolina’s hopes of a prime-time win over a name-brand opponent.
Brigham Young’s Evan Johnson stepped in to pick off a pair of Katin Houser passes, denying one potential ECU score and turning the other into a touchdown to turn a blow-for-blow battle into a 34-13 win for the Cougars.
The Pirates (2-2) trailed just 6-3 with less than five minutes left in an intense first half, energizing a crowd of 47,213 at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. But the seismic momentum shift put the Cougars in command, and they leaned on their size and strength to maintain it the rest of the night.
“It was kind of a domino effect of the decisions we made that kind of led to things not going our way right before the half,” ECU Head Coach Blake Harrell said.
The first domino to fall came during a frantic end to the first half that featured two interceptions, another interception that was wiped out by a penalty and a fumble.
After BYU, off to 3-0 start in three consecutive seasons for the first time in program history, took a 6-3 lead, the Pirates mounted a threat to either tie or take the lead.
Houser, who had not thrown an interception since the season-opener at NC State, was picked off by Tanner Wall but an illegal substitution penalty returned the ball to the Pirates. On the 15th play of the drive, facing a second down from the 6, Houser rolled to his right and spotted Anthony Smith open for an instant before Johson stepped in to pick off the pass at the goal line.
“It’s second down,” Houser said. “I could have just lived to play the next down. Tried to force it and end up throwing an interception. Those are some things where I have got to learn and grow, especially in those situations where I don’t need to be Superman. I don’t need to make a crazy play and move and live on the next down.”
Domino number two fell after ECU forced a BYU punt. Usually, reliable Kyler Pearson bobbled the ball as he was hit near the 10, pinning the Pirates at their 1. On first down, Houser opted out a run call and fired to Smith, but Johnson slipped in to snare the ball and step into the end zone. Suddenly, it was 13-3.
“We had hitches on the outside,” Houser said. “I saw the corner off, and I thought I had enough space to get a little hitch and get out of the end zone. He made a good play and broke on it. By the time I rose up to throw it, he was breaking on it, caught it. That’s just and idiotic decision where I can just hand the ball off and get us out of that situation.”
ECU entered the game as nation’s leader in turnover margin, forcing eight and committing just one before Saturday. The Pirates also hurt themselves with 11 penalties for 76 yards. BYU did not turn the ball over but drew 10 flags for 102 yards.
“I thought several of our mistakes tonight came from guys trying make a play and sometimes when you try to push too much, you try to make a play, you can make a mistake,” Harrell said. “We’ve got to do a better job of that.”
The Pirates did put a dent in a vaunted BYU defense that had surrendered a total of 212 yards, including just 25 rushing yards, through two games. Houser completed 25 of 42 passes for 285 yards, falling just shy of his fifth career game with at least 300 yards.
Overall, ECU compiled 404 total yards, the ninth time in 10 games under Harrell with at least 400 yards of offense. London Montgomery turned in a career-best 132 yards of total offense and helped the running game grind out 119 yards.
ECU’s defense also chalked up eight tackles for loss, raising the season total to 36.
BYU, which won its first true road game for the eighth straight season, countered with running back LJ Martin true freshman quarterback Bear Bachmeier. Martin rushed for 101 yards on 14 carries for his third game over 100 yards this year and capped his evening with a 41-yard touchdown run.
Bachmeier completed 18 of 25 passes for a career-high 246 yards and added a 16-yard touchdown run.
“He’s a good quarterback and their offensive coordinator does a nice job putting him in situations where he can make some easy throws,” Harrell said.
But it took a while for either offense to get going.
Following a festive pregame with fireworks and a flyover, Montgomery cradled the opening kickoff and sprinted 53 yards down the right sideline to set up the Pirate offense in prime field position. The opportunity proved fruitless when a third-and-1 option misfired and lost 4 yards, and Houser’s fourth-down pass fell incomplete.
The Cougars then snapped ECU’s streak of 23 straight scoreless defensive possessions with a 40-yard Will Ferrin field goal for a 3-0 lead. The drive appeared to end at the ECU 24 on an apparent fumble by Bachmeier, but replay overturned ruled the turf lodged the ball loose.
ECU’s defense did turn in a big response on the Cougars’ next possession, which pushed inside the 10 aided by a targeting penalty on Teagan Wilk. On fourth-and-1 from the 8, Martin could not muscle through Zion Wilson and Ryheem Craig and came up a yard short.
The Pirates tied it at 3-3 on Nick Mazzie’s 36-yard field goal with 18 seconds left in the first quarter. Montgomery provided another spark, blazing 33 yards against a BYU defense that surrendered a total of 25 rushing yards in its first two games.
BYU answered, driving to the ECU 5 before calling on Ferrin again for a 23-yard field goal and a 6-3 lead.
That set up the frantic end to the half that derailed ECU’s upset bid. Now the Pirates have a quick turn-around to face Army on Thursday in their American Conference opener
“This loss isn’t the end of the world,” Montgomery said. “Conference play does start and for us it’s a new season, starting 0-0. We’re looking forward to it. We’re going to put our heads down, work hard and get to it.”