PROVO, Utah — Brigham Young quarterback Tanner Mangum led a gutsy final drive by the Cougars to top East Carolina on Saturday, 45-38.

Mangum left the game in the third quarter with an apparent knee injury. After Beau Hoge led four failed drives for the Cougars (4-2), the last of which ended with an interception by the Pirates, Mangum was cleared to enter the game again and took full advantage.

The 22-year-old true freshman drove the ball 75 yards on 10 plays and burned three minutes and 42 seconds off the clock. He handed the ball to Algernon Brown for a 9-yard dash to end the drive and end effectively end the game.

ECU (3-3, 1-1 American Athletic Conference) took the ball back with 19 seconds left and completed three short passes before ending the game on a failed hook-and-ladder.

Blake Kemp was the head of ECU’s offensive attack after he came in for James Summers in the second quarter. Kemp threw for 371 yards and two touchdowns while playing mostly from behind.

BYU led the game 38-21 at its largest to start the fourth quarter. Kemp led a quick six-play 85 yard drive, capped off by a short two-yard powerful touchdown run by Chris Hairston to put ECU within 10. The defense responded with its third straight three-and-out while facing Hoge at quarterback.

Kemp marched the Pirate offense down the field on the responding drive 63 yards on six plays, ending with a short touchdown on a curl route by junior receiver Isaiah Jones. The quick score made it a 38-35 BYU lead with 6:02 remaining in the game. BYU’s back up Hoge threw an interception on the ensuing possession and left ECU in a perfect position to take the lead.

The drive stalled out on the 16-yard line and the game was tied at 35 on a Davis Plowman field goal from 34 yards out. The next drive for the Cougars yielded the rushing touchdown to reach the eventual final score, 45-38.

Summers earned his first start for the Pirates a led a scoring drive in the first quarter, but was largely ineffective. Summers had 10 carries and finished with 55 rushing yards – 34 of which came on a long touchdown run on the second drive of the game – and just 14 passing yards on 2-for-6.

The ECU defense got a big push from senior linebacker Montese Overton, who tied for the team-lead with nine tackles and picked up two sacks. Redshirt freshman Yiannis Bowden continued a good stretch of play as he notched a sack and three other tackles, as well as the clutch interception that set up a game-tying field goal late.

Josh Hawkins tied Overton for the team-lead in tackles after being targeted often by Magnum in the passing game. Magnum finished the game with 332 yards and three touchdowns and found a favorite target in Devon Blackmon. Blackmon hauled in a big reception on third-and-11 on the final drive that moved the ball down to the 24-yard line and set up the game-winning touchdown.

Brown was elusive for the ECU defense, despite two fumbles in the game. He rushed for 134 yards and plunged into the end zone three times, including the game-winning score for the Cougars.