East Carolina Pirates Fend off UCF Knights

The East Carolina Pirates just needed to get back to basics and face the winless Central Florida Knights to get back on track and keep the season headed toward a bowl berth.

There was no question as to what the Pirates were trying to do in this game. Blake Kemp sported his best numbers of the year. He 465 yards passing and four touchdown. That kind of passing around the field had been sorely lacking from the Pirates in the past few weeks. For this week at least, the job was Kemp’s.

A good bit of that production was contributed by Isaiah Jones. The top receiver for the Pirates had 181 yards receiving and two scores from Kemp’s total.

After three quarters, Coach Ruffin McNeill called off the dogs and let the final score stand at 44-7. The Pirate defense contributed three turnovers to the cause. It was a total team effort last night.

The Knights had few answers despite trying to play three different quarterbacks. Their most effective playmaker was their running back Taj McGowan. He averaged five yards a carry, but he could not help very much once the score became lop-sided as it did. The running game was not part of any quick comeback plan.

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The win against Central Florida means that everything is on the line next week against Cincinnati. The Pirates sit at five wins and need a sixth to gain some sort of bowl chance. It could be aided if the American champ breaks into the New Years bowls. That would open up another spot in the AAC aligned bowls.

Last year the Pirates were also looking at a big game against Cincinnati near the end of the season. That game was away and the Pirates were unable to deliver. This time they will get the Bearcats at home, and hopefully this game against Central Florida straightened out the kinks.

Next week against Cincy is the season finale.

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