East Carolina runs its way to a 10 win season by beating Ohio in the Beef O’Brady’s Bowl
A touchdown pass to the quarterback in double coverage to seal the game? Why not, right?
East Carolina quarterback Shane Carden caught a fourth quarter touchdown pass to put the Pirates two possessions ahead of Ohio, though running back Vintavious Cooper was the star of the show in ECU's 37-20 win. It's the second 10 win season in ECU history.
Carden threw the ball backwards to the left side of the field and to receiver Cam Worthy and immediately sprinted towards the pylon. Despite Carden being shadowed by a defender and safety help floating over towards him, Worthy tossed the ball up anyway and Carden boxed out his defender for the score, which put the Pirates up 31-20.
Ohio took a 20-17 lead in the third quarter and had a chance to get a two-possession lead of its own after a gorgeously executed onside kick following the go-ahead field goal. Kicker Josiah Yazdani pooched the ball to Devin Bass without a Pirate in sight on the right sideline.
However, Ohio missed a field goal on that possession, and Cooper made them pay. After getting the ball back, ECU immediately marched down the field and Cooper scored on a 31-yard touchdown run to take back the lead for good.
ECU's passing attack entered the game 11th in the country, and the attention that Ohio had to pay to Carden's arm opened up lanes for Cooper between the tackles. Cooper finished with 198 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 25 carries.
The Pirates finish the season 10-3 while Ohio ends up at 7-6.
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is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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