GREENVILLE, N.C. — Coach Ruffin McNeill doesn’t care about impressing the committee that will decide if No. 18 East Carolina deserves a major bowl berth.
“We just want to win by one,” McNeill said, “and get up out of there.”
That’s not far from what happened Thursday night against Connecticut.
The Pirates needed a strong fourth quarter — and another huge performance from Shane Carden — to pull away from the pesky Huskies, 31-21.
Carden threw for a season-high 445 yards — his seventh career 400-yard performance — on 38-of-64 passing, and Breon Allen ran for two touchdowns.
They helped the Pirates (6-1, 3-0 American Athletic Conference) sidestep a major upset bid by four-touchdown-underdog UConn (1-6, 0-4) in East Carolina’s first prime-time, weeknight showcase game in its new league.
“We understand we’re going to take everybody’s best shot,” Carden said. “We want to win games, and that was a win.”
Warren Harvey kicked the go-ahead 31-yard field goal with 6:15 left, Carden threw touchdown passes of 13 yards to Justin Hardy and 10 yards to Bryce Williams, and Allen scored on runs of 1 and 9 yards.
Chandler Whitmer was 18 of 30 for a season-high 303 yards with two tying touchdown passes in the third quarter after rushing for a short score for the Huskies.
Miami manhandles Virginia Tech
BLACKSBURG, Va. — Duke Johnson ran for 249 yards and scored two touchdowns and Miami took advantage of Virginia Tech’s fumbles on three straight second-half drives in a 30-6 victory Thursday night.
The Hurricanes (5-3, 2-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) outgained Virginia Tech 255-36 in the first half in taking a 24-0 lead, then took the ball away on the Hokies’ first three drives of the second half. The first takeaway came at Miami’s 1 as Deon Bush stripped Marshawn Williams and made the recovery, too.
Virginia Tech (4-4, 1-3) lost for the second week in a row and for the fourth time in its last five Thursday night appearances. Its continuing offensive struggles drew boos before halftime and the fumbling sent fans heading for the exits.