PirateIllustrated.com - SMU Outlasts ECU 28

October 10, 2009

Mark Lindsay
PirateIllustrated.com Publisher

DALLAS - Bo Levi Mitchell and SMU outlasted East Carolina 28-21 in Gerald Ford Stadium Saturday night. Mitchell completed 17 of 29 for 266 yards and two touchdowns.

Even though ECU held the Mustang running game to a meager 28 net yards rushing,
SMU scored on a blocked field goal, an interception and two Mitchell TD passes.

With several Pirate players suffering from the flu including running back Brandon Jackson who didn't make the trip and senior running back Dominque Lindsay who rushed for 144 yards on 24 carries, ECU quarterback Patrick Pinkney fought off the chills among several in quaranteened rooms to pass for 181 yards, connecting on 21 of 34 attempts with one interception in an admirable performance.

ECU's best opportunity early in the contest came at the 5:15 mark in the opening quarter when defensive pass interferrence was called against SMU on ECU receiver Dwayne Harris in the Mustang endzone. That put the Pirates in the redzone and on third down Giavanni Ruffin ran to the half yard line, but an illegal proceedure penalty with 3:07 and a blocked Ben Hartman kick killed the drive.

The Pirates got on the scoreboard on a Dwayne Harris ten-yard scamper to the left behind Cory Dowless and Giavanni Ruffin out of the wildcat formation. That put ECU out front 7-0 with just under eleven minutes to play before intermission to cap a 10 play 65-yard drive.

Brian McCann's block and 63-yard return of a Ben Hartman field goal attempt with four minutes in the half evened the ballgame at 7 apiece - a score that would hold through halftime.

The Pirates racked up 194 yards in total offense in the first half, led by Dominque Lindsay's 102 yards rushing and paced by Patrick Pinkney who tallied up 76 yards in passing at half on 10 of 12 attempts. Jamar Bryant hauled in four catches in the first half while SMU quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell completed 8 of 16 for 96 yards at intermission. ECU limited SMU to only 111 yards offensively in the first half.

Lindsay's 102 yards at halftime was the most by any Pirate in a half since Chris Johnson's first half performance against Boise State in the Hawaii Bowl.

ECU controlled 19 minutes of clock in the first half over 35 minutes of the contest all told but it was giving up the big play on special teams and then Mitchell going up top that was story on this day.

Bo Levi Mitchell's 96-yard touchdown pass over Levin Neal to wide receiver Aldrick Robinson gave the Mustangs a 14-7 lead on their first series in the third quarter.

On the ensuing kickoff, East Carolina's Giavanni Ruffin fumbled, giving the football right back to the Mustangs with ten and a half minutes to go in the third quarter. The SMU drive stalled at mid-field but Rock Dennis the picked off a long Patrick Pinkney pass on the following play for a 53-yard touchdown to give SMU a commanding 21-7 lead midway through the third.

Norman Whitley returned to the lineup for the first time this season on the folllowing drive and along with Dwayne Harris and Darryl Freeney who both made quality runs after the catch helped lead ECU on a long, time consuming drive. Giavanni Ruffin ultimately scored on student body left from the one-yard line to narrow the lead to seven at 21-14 with about a minute and a half to go in the third quarter.

Emmanuel Sanders 45-yard punt return set the Mustangs up on their own 47-yard line with 10:49 left in the game. On third and 13 Bo Levi Mitchell's pass was incomplete but Van Eskridge took a late shot to the head of the SMU receiver that kept the Mustang drive alive with 6:25 to go.

SMU worked the clock to just under five minutes to play when Mitchell found Terrence Wilkerson for a 27-yard post pattern that seemingly put the game out of reach at 28-14 but Dwayne Harris reversed field and carried the ensuing kickoff back for a 77-yard touchdown run with 4:42 remaining to cut the lead to seven.

Pirate linebacker Nick Johnson hammered SMU running back Zach Line on third down with three minutes left and jarred the football loose when Van Eskridge fell on the fumble to give ECU the ball with a chance to win the game on the final drive of the game.

Darryl Freeney's fourth down catch with 1:51 moved the sticks for ECU and redeemed Dominque Lindsay who dropped a wide open flair pass on third down but with :47 seconds to go Pinkney's fourth down pass to Jamar Bryant was overthrown out of the back of the endzone to end the ECU threat.

Jamar Bryant returned to action for East Carolina at his traditional wideout spot after missing last week's game with a concusion. Bryant joined Dwayne Harris with five catches. Darryl Freeney, Alex Taylor, Dominque Lindsay and Giavanni Ruffin had a pair of receptions in a losing cause for the Pirates.

SMU improves to 3-2 and 2-0 in Conference USA while the Pirates fall to 3-3 on the season and 2-1 in league action.

East Carolina - SMU Box Score

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