GREENVILLE
East Carolina's players were well aware that they hadn't scored a second-half touchdown this season.
Dwayne Harris solved that problem. Harris scored two touchdowns, including a 3-yard catch midway through the fourth quarter, to help East Carolina defeat Central Florida 19-14 yesterday.
"We hear it from everybody," said Harris, whose team had been outscored 41-5 in the second half. "We hear it from the coaches, the fans. The media asks about it every week. For us to go out in the second half and play the way we did is great."
Harris was a threat all over the field for the Pirates (2-2, 1-0 Conference USA), who defeated the Knights for the fourth consecutive season. Harris, a wide receiver, made 10 catches for 121 yards and rushed the ball three times on direct snaps for 27 yards and a touchdown.
Patrick Pinkney was 27 for 40 for 293 yards and an interception for the Pirates, who survived five fumbles while amassing a season-high 403 yards of total offense.
Brett Hodges, who threw one touchdown pass and four interceptions, was 21 for 34 for 266 yards for Central Florida (2-2, 0-2). The Knights went scoreless for more than 53 minutes after taking a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter, committing five turnovers in the game.
The Pirates' defense limited the Knights to 137 yards in the second half, 80 of which came late in the fourth quarter on the Knights' lone scoring drive after halftime. The Pirates drew inspiration from a pregame speech by defensive-tackles coach Thomas "Rock" Roggeman, who is fighting cancer.
East Carolina players carried Roggeman off the field after the victory.
"What Coach Rock is going through, that's an inspiration to us," Pinkney said. "He's fighting for his life, and that's more than the game of football."
Running back Jonathan Williams of ECU lost a fumble inside UCF's 15-yard line that led to the game's first touchdown, a 19-yard run by the Knights' Brynn Harvey midway through the first quarter.
UCF had other opportunities to score, but couldn't convert until Hodges found Kamar Aiken in the end zone with 1:06 remaining to cut East Carolina's lead to 19-14.
The Knights recovered the onside kick, but Van Eskridge intercepted Hodges' first pass of the ensuing possession to seal the win for the Pirates.
"The defense just really got after it," said Coach Skip Holtz of East Carolina. "They put a lot of pressure on the quarterback today."
Trailing 10-7 late in the first half, UCF missed an opportunity when Hodges threw an interception on third-and-goal from the East Carolina 4. Hodges, flushed from the pocket by linebacker Nick Johnson, threw a short pass over the middle that was picked off by defensive tackle Jay Ross.
UCF also had a field goal blocked in the second quarter, and kicker Nick Cattoi came up short on a 45-yard attempt early in the fourth.
"We all had a part in coming up short today, whether fumbling or throwing picks or not getting stops on third down," UCF coach George O'Leary said. "It's a tough loss because we left a lot of points in the red zone."
The Pirates also weren't perfect in the red zone, coming up with 12 points on five trips inside the UCF 20. But Harris' 25-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter allowed them to bypass that troublesome territory and take a 10-7 halftime lead they never relinquished.
"Dwayne Harris is a good athlete," Holtz said. "You give him the ball in space and make them tackle him. He can make a lot of things happen."
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