5 things East Carolina’s loss to Central Florida taught us about the Pirates
Dillon Gabriel and 13th-ranked Central Florida overcame a torrent of early penalties and rolled over American Athletic Conference foe East Carolina 51-28 Saturday.
Gabriel threw for 408 yards and four touchdowns, as the Knights (2-0, 1-0) rallied after a slow start.
The host Pirates (0-1, 0-1) drove for a touchdown on their opening drive at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, but UCF scored the next 41 points, beating East Carolina for the fifth straight time.
The Pirates held their own with the Knights through the opening 1½ quarters, limiting UCF to a 13-7 lead despite losing three fumbles. But the visitors’ explosive, fast-paced offense, which produced 640 yards’ total offense in a 49-21 rout of Georgia Tech last week, finally got into gear late in the second quarter.
UCF was its own worst enemy early in the game, with 10 first-quarter penalties — seven of them for false starts.
Gabriel fired a 64-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Jaylon Robinson with 4:57 left in the half, then connected with Jake Hescock from 7 yards with 24 seconds seconds remaining. That gave the Knights a 27-7 lead. They scored on their opening two drives of the third quarter to put it away.
Gabriel completed 10 of his first 20 passes, then connected on 18 in a row over the second and third quarters.
It was the latest season-opener for East Carolina since 1947, when the Pirates opened with a 27-9 loss to Lenoir-Rhyne.
Here are five things we learned from ECU’s loss to UCF:
Pirates’ defense had its moments
That might sound strange, considering UCF’s offensive output. But the defense, under new coordinator Blake Harrell, fared well at times.
East Carolina held the Knights to 13 points well into the second quarter, with defensive backs like sophomores Nolan Johnson and Shawn Dorseau each making touchdown-saving pass breakups. In the fourth quarter, tackle Derek Gainous forced a UCF fumble with a hard hit.
Seven sophomores are starting on the Pirate defense, which allowed an average of 33.7 points and 469.3 yards a game last season.
Still, the Knights finished with 632 total yards.
Mistakes were crippling
While the Pirates’ defense was managing to hold back the UCF offensive tide, East Carolina’s offense sputtered. The Pirates lost fumbles on three consecutive drives in the first quarter, and in the second quarter, ECU receivers twice dropped third-down passes that could have resulted in first downs.
The Pirates had a 177-144 edge in total yardage midway in the second quarter but had only seven points to show for it. Central Florida had five takeaways last week against Georgia Tech and now has 14 in its last three games, dating back to last season.
The offense had its moments too
Quarterback Holton Ahlers threw for 215 yards and three touchdowns. Freshman Keaton Mitchell rushed for 66 yards, and wide receiver Audi Omotosho had three catches for 56 yards.
Overall, the Pirates totaled 459 yards. But the three early fumbles scuttled their chances.
Pirates’ parents are intimidating
Is that the reason why UCF was whistled seven times for false starts in the first quarter, including four straight plays on their opening drive? If all that isn’t enough, quarterback Holton Ahlers’ dad, Morgan, is East Carolina’s boisterous public address announcer.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, only about 300 fans were in the stadium — mostly parents and other family members of players. But they made some noise.
Penalties helped extend the game beyond four hours. The Knights were whistled for 19 penalties; East Carolina for 11.
Next week might be easier (maybe)
The Pirates are scheduled to resume play next Saturday at Sun Belt Conference member Georgia State. On paper, that would seem to be an easier assignment than facing a nationally-ranked foe like UCF.
But Georgia State was forced to cancel its game Saturday at Charlotte because of positive COVID-19 cases. East Carolina already has seen one game, against Marshall, go by the wayside due to scheduling changes due to the virus.