East Carolina-Southern Miss recap: Pirates win OT thriller, 20-17, at 'The Rock'

CUSA-fans.com has a new staff of team correspondents this fall to help bring you, the fan, more detailed Conference USA football coverage. Today, our ECU Correspondent Thomas "Bubba" Rosenbaum recaps the East Carolina Pirates 20-17 OT thiller victory over the Southern Miss Golden Eagles.

All in all, Southern Miss has dominated the series with East Carolina, having won 24 of the 31 meetings prior to this season. The Golden Eagles had won five straight and nine of the last ten.

This series, although dominated by USM, has had some exciting and bizarre finishes. This one can definitely be classified in that category.

On Saturday night, East Carolina captured a rare win in the series, and they did it in unbelievably dramatic fashion. In a game that contained many of the elements—fireworks, physical play, questionable calls and bizarre happenings—that have been present in the more competitive games played in this lopsided series, the Pirates were able to defeat the Golden Eagles, 20-17, in overtime at M.M. Roberts Stadium in Hattiesburg.

The Pirate coaches and players insisted that Southern Miss’ probably didn’t view the series as a rivalry considering the way they have consistently beaten ECU. With the win, East Carolina took a major step toward legitimizing the rivalry for years to come.

Coming into the game, the Pirates had an opportunity to do something that they hadn’t done since the 2001 season, play a game that had significant implications in the Conference USA title hunt. They seized that opportunity and forced a tie atop Conference USA’s East Division.

It didn’t come without the expected dogfight though.

The game was a seesaw affair that featured minimal offense. Defense and special teams’ played a huge role in this one. Case in point, East Carolina took a 10-7 lead in the second quarter when blazer Chris Johnson took a kickoff 96 yards for a score. There was also the dynamic effort of USM punt returner Jasper Faulk. Faulk, who was averaging only three yards and change per return prior to the ECU game, racked up 115 yards on four returns against the Pirates.

Defensively, East Carolina posted one of its best efforts in some time, as they held Southern Miss to 180 yards of total offense and only nine first downs. The Pirates continue to improve on this side of the ball and currently rank third in Conference USA in scoring defense, allowing 22.8 points per game. With the exception of the Navy and Tulsa games (possibly UVA as well), the Pirates have been much better at stopping the run this season. This is evidenced by them holding backs such as WVU’s Steve Slaton and USM’s Damion Fletcher to 78 and 59 yards, respectively.

The Pirates got on the scoreboard first in this one. Ben Hartman, a redshirt freshman that was making his second career start for ECU, connected on a 47-yard field goal to make the score 3-0 with only seconds left in the first quarter.

This lead would not last long. Southern Miss responded by going 78 yards in six plays to take a 7-3 lead less than two minutes into the second quarter. A nine-yard touchdown pass from Jeremy Young to Ed Morgan capped the drive.

The Golden Eagles’ lead wouldn’t last as long as the Pirates did, as Chris Johnson silenced the crowd at M.M. Roberts Stadium by returning the ensuing kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown. Johnson showed his blazing speed by outrunning the Golden Eagles’ coverage across the field and down the sideline.

Fortunately for the Pirates, they were able to prevent the Golden Eagles from scoring and kept the game within seven at 17-10.

With 4:27 left in the game, ECU took over at its own 40 yard-line. It was do-or-die time for the Pirates. Would they step up and force overtime or win it in regulation? Or would they see their CUSA title hopes fade away into the Mississippi night?

Two plays into the drive, ECU faced a critical third and nine at its own 41. Desperately needing to convert, James Pinkney went to the Pirates go-to man Aundrae Allison. Pinkney threw the ball precisely where it needed to be and Allison did an excellent job of getting his feet in-bounds.

On second and nine at the USM 32-yard line, more controversy struck. Pinkney found Steven Rogers for 11 yards and an apparent first down. However, Rogers lost the ball on the way down, and it appeared the Golden Eagles might be the recipient of a game-winning turnover. The officials finally ruled that the play was not reviewable and the Pirates could breathe a little easier.

Disaster nearly struck again two plays later. It was first and goal at the USM eight-yard line. The Pirates spread the Golden Eagles out and called James Pinkney’s number on the quarterback draw. It appeared as though Pinkney would score, but he had it stripped around the two-yard line. Fortunately for the Pirates, Matt Butler fell on the football.

The USM defense stiffened and forced ECU to face fourth and goal at the two. The Pirates spread out the Golden Eagles and ran the quarterback draw again. Pinkney lowered his shoulder and got into the endzone to cut it to one at 17-16. The all-important extra-point by Ben Hartman sailed through and the game was tied with 13 seconds left.

USM did not return the kickoff and we were headed to overtime. Southern Miss won the toss and made the typical decision to play defense first. East Carolina used a seven-yard run by Brandon Simmons and an eight-yarder by Brandon Fractious to get to the USM six in three plays. After ECU got a first down at the USM four-yard line, the Golden Eagles tightened up again and forced the Pirates to settle for a 19-yard Hartman field goal.

USM had the momentum on their side following the goal line stand and opted to go for the win when they detected the ECU defense playing single coverage on Shawn Nelson. Following the game, Southern Miss coach Jeff Bower alluded to the success they had on the same play earlier in the game. Initially, it seemed the play might work, but East Carolina’s Travis Williams prevented dual possession by stripping the ball from Nelson on the way down.

The play was reviewed, but it only confirmed the call on the field. The Pirates’ sideline erupted onto the field and dog piled in the endzone.