Pirates dominate Tar Heels, again

By Allen Etzler
Published in Sports on September 20, 2014 11:53 PM

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aetzler@newsargus.com

GREENVILLE -- East Carolina University's football program has spent years in the shadows of "big brother" University of North Carolina.

But as the final moments waned and the leftover crowd of the school-record 51,082 fans in attendance rose to their feet and chanted "our state!" it became clear that little brother isn't going to take a back seat anymore.

The Pirates ran roughshod over the Tar Heels and won 70-41 to become the first ECU team to beat UNC two years in a row in school history Saturday evening.

"I've always been a little brother in my family," Carden said. "I know what it's like to get beat up by the old guys and I know what it's like to beat them. That's always a little sweeter."

ECU (3-1 overall) set a school record with 789 total yards and came within four points of the record for points in a game. It was the Pirates fourth straight win against an ACC school.

Hours before the game, ECU head coach Ruffin McNeill announced that wide receiver Cam Worthy had been suspended for two games for a student conduct code violation, which opened the door for freshman Trevon Brown's first career start.

Brown immediately made his impact felt with a 55-yard touchdown catch on the third play of the game, and finished with five catches for 117 yards.

"Trevon is doing a great job of learning his way and learning the skills," McNeill said. "I attribute that to Shane (Carden). Trevon keeps working at his game and he believes in watching film. I love to see him catch it, but I love to see him block downfield. I'm proud of his contributions to the team."

Brown's downfield blocking helped spurn a career day for another Pirate -- running back Breon Allen.

Allen had just one carry for five yards against the Tar Heels last year. Moving from role-playing rusher to premier back, Allen rushed for a career-high 211 yards and two touchdowns. It was the first multi-score game of his career.

The senior recalled the last time he had over 200 yards being his senior year of high school.

"It was the first game of my senior verse a team called St. John's Country Day out of Jacksonville," Allen said. "I had nine carries for 268 yards and about five touchdowns ... this is a thousand times better."

He was hoisted up by his teammates to celebrate with the crowd as he was named the ECU player of the game.

Leading the Pirates' up-tempo offense that reeled off 97 plays at more than eight yards a clip, Carden threw for 438 yards and accounted for six touchdowns -- four passing and two rushing. The senior recorded back-to-back 400-yard games for the first time in his career.

Zeek Bigger led a strong defense with a career-best 17 tackles. The defensive captain made sure there would be no letdown after the offense scored 21 straight points in the second quarter. He took an interception back 46 yards for a touchdown on UNC's first possession of the second half to blow the game open.

"We were out-coached and outplayed," UNC head coach Larry Fedora said simply.

The offense the Tar Heels were able to create stemmed mainly off of trick plays. In the first quarter wide receiver Ryan Switzer took a toss out of the backfield and threw a touchdown to TJ Thorpe. It was the junior Thorpe's first snap of the season and Switzer's second ever pass. Both have gone for touchdowns.

Despite the overpowering performance for the Pirates, Allen wasn't sure if he was ready to call it "our state."

"I'll leave that up to you to decide," he said.

For a night, at least, North Carolina was the Pirates' state.