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East Carolina Pirates make UNC Tar Heels walk the plank, 70-41

By Michael Owens

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Well, shiver me timbers and blow me down.

Ok, I’ll stop with the puns, but what isn’t stopping is the East Carolina Pirates offense as they dominated their way to a record-breaking 70-41 win over the North Carolina Tar Heels.

Even without receiver Cam Worthy for today’s game (and next week, too), ECU made a huge statement going into conference play next week.

The win marks the first time that the Pirates have beaten the Heels in back-to-back years, in front of a record-breaking home crowd and is their second straight win against an opponent from the ACC.

Things weren’t so lopsided at first, though. After Shane Carden led the Pirates to a touchdown drive in the opening minutes of the game, UNC got a field goal and then used some trickery to take a 10-3 lead when Ryan Switzer found T.J. Thrope wide open.

https://vine.co/v/OWlAh9naLwp

UNC would get another field goal, but Breon Allen took back the lead for ECU after four play, 56-yard drive to put the home team up at the end of the first quarter.

The Heels took the lead back on a fake field goal early in the second quarter that caught everyone in Greenville by surprise, and put them up 20-14.

via @FanSidedGIF / Twitter

The Pirates came right back on their next drive, as Carden conducted an eight play, 75-yard drive in just over two minutes, and found Trevon Brown in the end zone for the second time to make it a 21-20 game.

via @FansidedGIF / Twitter

Then, the entire complexity of the game changed.

ECU scored twice before halftime, first on a 44-yard run by Breon Allen, and the other on Carden’s third touchdown pass, this time to Brandon Bishop to make it a 35-20 game at halftime.

The home team continued to open things up and expose the Tar Heels’ defense, but played a good bit of defense on their own.

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    • In the opening minute of the third quarter, Pirate linebacker Zeek Bigger picked off a pass from Marquise Allen and ran it back for a score, making it 42-20.

    The points continued to roll in for East Carolina in the second half, as Carden carved through the defense, being a part of three more touchdowns on the way to the win.

    The Pirates set a new school record in total offense, putting 789 (yes, 789) yards on the Heels.  Carden himself totaled for over half of the total offense, passing for 438 yards and 4 touchdowns and also rushing for two scores.

    Running back Breon Allen also had a brekout performance, rushing for 211 yards on the ground and two touchdowns of his own.

    The win for the Pirates is also significant because it could put them into the polls for the first time in six years.

    ECU will have a bye next week before opening up AAC play at home against SMU on Oct. 4, while the Tar Heels will travel to Clemson next week.

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