By By BRIAN HAINES
Sports Writer
A sputtering offense combined with special teams miscues allowed Southern Methodist University to stun East Carolina 28-21 on Saturday and give the Pirates (3-3, 2-1) their first Conference USA loss of the season.
The Pirates had a chance to tie the game at 28 late in the fourth quarter when Nick Johnson forced an SMU fumble, which was recovered by Van Eskridge at the Mustangs’ 46-yard line, with 2:56 left in the game.
Quarterback Patrick Pinkney hit Darryl Freeney on a fourth-down pass that got ECU inside the 35-yard line with a fresh set of downs. However, consecutive penalties pushed the Pirates back into a fourth and long.
With the game on line, Pinkney ran out of the pocket and over threw Jamar Bryant, who had a step on a defender in the end zone.
Pinkney finished the day hitting on 20 of 34 passes for 181 yards and one interception, which was returned for safety Rock Dennis for a 53-yard TD that put SMU up 21-7 in the third quarter.
Dominique Lindsay was the lone bright spot for the offense as he ran 24 times for 144 yards.
Running back Giavani Ruffin got his first-ever TD as a Pirate when he scored from two-yards out in the third quarter.
ECU took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter on a Dwayne Harris 10-yard TD run. Harris also scored the Pirates last touchdown on a breathe-taking 77-yard kickoff return. The Harris return made it a 28-21 game with 4:42 left in the fourth quarter.
The score came after SMU QB Bo Levi Mitchell hit Terrence Wilkerson for a 17-yard TD pass to make it 28-14.
Mitchell gave the Mustangs a 14-7 lead in the third quarter when he hooked up with Aldrick Robinson for a 96-yard TD pass.
SMU’s first score of the game came from their special teams, which blocked a Ben Ryan 42-yard field goal attempt, which was returned 63 yards by Bryan McCann to tie the game at seven right before halftime. ECU had two field goals blocked Saturday.
SMU 28, EAST CAROLINA 21
East Carolina 0 7 7 7 — 21
SMU 0 7 14 7 — 28
Second Quarter
ECU—Harris 10 run (Ryan kick), 10:26.
SMU—McCann 63 blocked field goal return (Szymanski kick), 3:52.
Third Quarter
SMU—A.Robinson 96 pass from Mitchell (Szymanski kick), 11:07.
SMU—Dennis 53 interception return (Szymanski kick), 8:12.
ECU—G.Ruffin 2 run (Hartman kick), 1:39.
Fourth Quarter
SMU—Wilkerson 17 pass from Mitchell (Szymanski kick), 5:02.
ECU—Harris 77 kickoff return (Hartman kick), 4:42.
A—13,626.
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ECU SMU
First downs 24 14
Rushes-yards 44-176 21-28
Passing 181 266
Comp-Att-Int 20-34-1 17-29-0
Return Yards 0 90
Punts-Avg. 4-42.8 6-37.5
Fumbles-Lost 2-1 2-1
Penalties-Yards 5-53 12-158
Time of Possession 35:33 24:27
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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—East Carolina, Lindsay 24-144, G.Ruffin 8-16, Harris 3-11, Pinkney 6-3, Whitley 3-2. SMU, McNeal 15-35, Line 3-12, Mitchell 3-(minus 19).
PASSING—East Carolina, Pinkney 20-34-1-181. SMU, Mitchell 17-29-0-266.
RECEIVING—East Carolina, Bryant 5-58, Harris 5-42, Freeney 2-31, Taylor 2-14, Lindsay 2-10, G.Ruffin 2-7, Gidrey 1-10, Whitley 1-9. SMU, Wilkerson 5-39, A.Robinson 4-125, Sanders 4-62, Beasley 2-15, Line 1-15, McNeal 1-10.