Tulsa
East Carolina
TULSA FALLS TO EAST CAROLINA 49-32
11/29/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 29, 2014
Quotes | Notes | Photo Gallery | Final Stats
TULSA, Okla. - Tulsa's valiant effort against the East Carolina Pirates fell short, 49-32, Saturday night in front of 15,126 fans at H.A. Chapman Stadium. Tulsa finished the season 2-10 overall and 2-6 in the American Athletic Conference, while East Carolina improved to 8-3 and 5-2 in league play.
Tulsa took a 14-7 lead in the first quarter, but the Pirates' late second quarter score gave East Carolina a 21-14 halftime lead. The Hurricane scored 11 points in the third quarter to cut the ECU lead to three points, 28-25, but the Pirates scored the next 21 points before the Hurricane added another touchdown making the score 49-32 with 6:41 remaining in the contest.
The Hurricane gained 388 yards, 199 passing and 189 on the ground, while the nation's third-ranked offense put up 510 yards, 37 yards below its season average. East Carolina had 172 rushing yards and 338 passing yards for the game.
Tulsa's James Flanders rushed for 97 yards and one TD, while Dane Evans passes for 199 yards and had a TD toss in his 12th game this year. Evans found Keevan Lucas six times for 85 yards and Keyarris Garrett three times for 62 yards and one touchdown. East Carolina's Shane Carden completed 28-of-41 passes for 338 yards and four TDs, while Chris Hairston led the ground game for the Pirates with 91 yards.
It was also a night for some Tulsa seniors to step up with big plays. Luke Snider blocked a punt that resulted in Tulsa's second touchdown. Jake Sizelove had a career-high 14 tackles. Dwight Dobbins intercepted a Carden pass for a 15-yard return.
Tulsa took the opening second-half possession 55 yards in nine plays and settled for a 35-yard Carl Salazar field goal to cut East Carolina's lead to 21-17. The Pirates marched 75 yards in five plays on its first second-half possession to move back ahead of the Hurricane by 11 points at 28-17 with 10:21 on the clock as Carden connected 12 yards with Bryce Williams for the score.
A Dobbins interception of a Carden pass put the Hurricane at the East Carolina 30-yard line and two plays later Evans connected with Garrett on a 30-yard pass in the end zone. Evans hit Josh Atkinson on a two-point play to bring the Hurricane within three points at 28-25 with 5:52 remaining in the third quarter.
The Pirates took only 0:33 off the clock to take a 35-25 lead at the 5:19 mark of the third period as Cory Hunter ran in from one-yard out after a 54-yard Chris Hairston scamper to the one-yard line set up the East Carolina score, capping a three-play, 75-yard drive.
ECU added to its lead with 12:35 remaining in the game on a two-yard Carden run that capped a 54-yard, six-play drive for a 42-25 Pirate lead. A Brandon Williams 37-yard interception return for a touchdown gave the Pirates a 49-25 lead at the 11:23 mark. The Hurricane responded with a 10-play, 75-yard drive, capped by a one-yard James Flanders run.
East Carolina took the game's opening kickoff 75 yards in 11 plays, taking just 3:37 off the clock as Carden threw the final 15 yards to Williams for the 7-0 lead.
It took the Hurricane just 1:24 before scoring on a four-yard D'Angelo Brewer run at the 9:54 mark of the first quarter. The score capped an 85-yard, four-play drive, which was set-up by a 67-yard catch and run by Keevan Lucas.
Tulsa went ahead 14-0 on a blocked punt by senior Luke Snider and the recovery in the end zone by sophomore Matt Hickman with 8:51 remaining in the first quarter.
The Pirates knotted the score at the 2:51 mark of the first period as Carden connected with Jimmy Williams on a 15-yard toss, capping a six-play, 33-yard drive.
The Pirates drove 60 yards in 14 plays to the Hurricane one-yard line, but Tulsa's Sizelove stopped ECU's Carden for a one-yard loss at 2:09 on the first-half clock, giving Tulsa possession at their own two-yard line.
East Carolina took a 21-14 lead into halftime after scoring with 0:14 on the first-half clock on a four-yard pass from Carden to Justin Hardy. The drive, covering 40 yards in eight plays and 0:54, was set-up after the Hurricane was forced to punt from the end zone, and the Pirates took over at the Tulsa 40-yard line.
At intermission, East Carolina gained 228 yards of total offense on 52 plays, while Tulsa totaled 133 yards on 28 plays. The Pirates held an 18:42 to 11:18-yard edge in possession time in the first 30 minutes.
Scoring Summary Team Qtr Time Play Score ECU 1 11:23 Bryce Williams 15 pass from Shane Carden (Harvey kick) 0-7 Tulsa 1 9:54 D'Angelo Brewer 4 run (Salazar kick) 7-7 Tulsa 1 8:51 Matt Hickman Blk punt recovery on Snider block (Salazar kick) 14-7 ECU 1 2:51 Jimmy Williams 16 pass from Shane Carden (Harvey kick) 14-14 ECU 2 0:14 Justin Hardy 4 pass from Shane Carden (Harvey kick) 14-21 Tulsa 3 11:44 Carl Salazar 35 FG 17-21 ECU 3 10:21 Bryce Williams 12 pass from Shane Carden (Harvey kick) 17-28 Tulsa 3 5:52 Keyarris Garrett 30 pass from Dane Evans (Atkinson pass from Evans) 25-28 ECU 3 5:19 Cory Hunter 1 run (Harvey kick) 25-35 ECU 4 12:35 Shane Carden 2 run (Harvey kick) 25-42 ECU 4 11:23 Brandon Williams 37 INT return (Harvey kick) 25-49
