Hunt, Hardy spark Pirates in much-needed 35-17 win over Memphis

East Carolina is now 2-1 in CUSA

After spotting Memphis an early 10-0 lead, East Carolina scored the next 35 points en route to a much-needed 35-17 victory on Saturday night at the Liberty Bowl in Memphis.

The Tigers (1-6, 0-3) took a 3-0 advantage after a Paulo Henriques' 19-yard field goal with 4:04 remaining in the opening quarter. Memphis moved to the Pirates' four-yard line after Skylar Jones connected with Curtis Johnson for 50 yards, but the ECU defense stiffened to force the field goal.

Just over a minute later, Martin Ifedi fell on Dominique Davis' fumble to give Memphis a 10-0 advantage.

East Carolina moved the ball well at times in the first half, but it struggled to consistently and was unable to finish drives. The Pirates' lone first half score came less than a minute into the second period when Dominique Davis hooked up with Derrick Harris for a 12-yard score.

Early in the third, the Pirates' received the spark they needed when Emanuel Davis picked off Skylar Jones and returned it to the Memphis' nine.

Two plays later, Torrance Hunt ran around the left side to put East Carolina ahead to stay.

ECU (2-4, 2-1) proceeded to score on three straight possessions with touchdown drives of 89, 70, and 65 yards--none of which took more than 2:48 off the clock.

With 6:29 left in the third, Davis' scrambled to his left after a great peel back block by Zico Pasut and found a streaking Justin Hardy for a 58-yard touchdown to make it 21-10.

On the first play of the fourth quarter, Davis threw a perfectly placed ball on the fade route to Lance Lewis in the left corner of the end zone from 12 yards out and the Pirates took a commanding 28-10 lead.

Then, on its next possession, East Carolina methodically moved 65 yards in seven plays before Davis took it in from one yard out on a designed run to the right.

With the issue decided, the Tigers tacked on a late score when back-up quarterback Taylor Reed found Tannar Rehrer from eight yards out with just over five minutes to play.

ECU outgained Memphis, 524-233, and the Pirates produced 24 first downs to the Tigers' 13.

Dominique Davis was 28-of-37 for 307 yards and three touchdowns without an interception.

Speedy Torrance Hunt sparked an inconsistent, but improved effort by the East Carolina ground attack. The Pirates finished with 157 yards on 44 carries--an average of 4.4 yards per. Hunt finished with 98 yards on 16 attempts, but 75 of those came on two carries.

Redshirt freshman wideout Justin Hardy had five catches for 85 yards while true freshman Danny Webster had a team-high seven receptions for 67 yards.

Lance Lewis had six grabs for 48 yards.

Memphis' Skylar Jones finished 10-of-18 for 124 yards and two interceptions. Artaves Gibson finished with 65 yards on 13 carries, but 31 of those came on one play. The Tigers managed just 56 yards rushing in the contest.

East Carolina will travel to Navy next weekend for a 3:30 (EST) contest with the Midshipmen. Meanwhile, Memphis will travel to Tulane for a 3:30 tilt with the Green Wave.

Check back with cusa-fans.com for previews of those contests and other CUSA action next weekend.

> Find a great selection of East Carolina Pirates hats & apparel as well as ECU Merchandise!