GREENVILLE — Zay Jones had his special moment after his Football Bowl Subdivision record-breaking 388th career reception early in the second quarter, but from there East Carolina’s defense was dismantled by Navy’s triple-option attack.

As has been the case in the last four matchups between the two teams, ECU (3-8, 1-6 American Athletic Conference) simply couldn’t keep up with the unique offense that was executed to near perfection in a 66-31 rout in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.

Midshipmen (8-2, 6-1 AAC) quarterback Will Worth led all rushers with 159 yards and 4 touchdowns, and Shawn White trailed shortly behind with 150 yards and three scores on the ground.

After Jones’ eighth reception of the game, an ECU drive stalled out before a 43-yard field goal from senior kicker Davis Plowman to put the Pirates on top 17-7. The crowd was buzzing after Jones’ record-breaking banner dropped from the top of the Murphy Center, but the warm feeling quickly turned cold.

Worth scored a one-yard touchdown, White broke off a 41-yard score and he scampered in from eight yards out on the next Navy drive. The Midshipmen added a field goal before the half. Calvin Cass Jr. rushed into the end zone from 16 yards away, and Worth scored his third touchdown of the day to make it 38 unanswered points for Navy.

Of its 11 drives, Navy scored points on 10 of them and kicked just one field goal.

Senior defensive lineman Demetri McGill came up with four tackles and said the speed of Navy’s offense was the ultimate difference maker.

“It’s crazy fast down there,” he said after the loss. “They’re extremely disciplined and very well coached, too, so they’re always in the right spot at the right time.”

While the Navy offense went to work midway through the second half, the Pirate offense trended in the opposite direction. After the Midshipmen made it a 17-14 game, ECU’s next nine offensive plays totaled just 10 yards and resulted in three punts.

Senior wide out and Washington native Jimmy Williams, who made three receptions for 21 yards and a touchdown, said the offense may have gotten a little complacent after having strong drives early in the game.

“I feel like, honestly, we got comfortable,” Williams said, who is currently seeking a medical redshirt to stay on for another season. “We got comfortable. Like ‘Alright, we’re up so we’re not going to keep mashing the gas, keep mashing the gas.’ I just felt like some guys out there just didn’t have the same drive that they had, didn’t have the same energy or didn’t have the same want-to, to be honest.”

After a 10-play touchdown drive by Navy, junior linebacker Jordan Williams fumbled the ensuing kickoff and handed the ball back to the Midshipmen on the ECU 37-yard line. Worth scored his one-yarder on that drive and broke ECU’s back with the play.

“In the second half, they just started attacking the perimeter with a lot of quarterback follows and I just didn’t know what we could possibly do,” junior defensive back Travon Simmons said.

ECU did have a pair of second-half highlight-reel plays as James Summers took a carry 81 yards down the left sideline to break Navy’s run and make it a 45-24 game with 7:40 left in the third quarter. On the next ECU drive, quarterback Gardner Minshew, who made his starting debut with a 16-of-25 day for 238 yards and three touchdowns, connected with Jones on a 77-yard pass on the right sideline to respond to another Navy touchdown.

Navy clinched the AAC West Division with the win and will play in the conference title game on Dec. 3. After dropping the Senior Day contest, ECU will travel to Temple next week to take on the Owls in the season finale.