ECU falls to Central Florida despite a big game from its new quarterback
East Carolina quarterback Holton Ahlers threw for 406 yards and sparked a second-half rally in his first career start, but No. 10-ranked Central Florida eventually overwhelmed the Pirates.
UCF beat ECU 37-10 to extend its national-leading winning streak to 20 on Saturday night at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
With ECU trailing 23-10 early in the fourth quarter, Ahlers was one play from directing a 99-yard touchdown drive, but he fumbled on a third-and-goal play at the 2. UCF’s Nate Evans scooped the ball for a crushing 94-yard touchdown return.
The sudden swing ended a comeback from a 20-3 halftime deficit. Trevon Brown had caught 29-yard touchdown pass from Ahlers that trimmed the deficit to 20-10 midway through the third period.
The Knights won despite playing without quarterback McKenzie Milton, who has been mentioned as an outside Heisman Trophy candidate. He had started 27 straight before he surprisingly didn’t take the field.
The junior was believed to be nursing an ankle injury, but UCF announced only that redshirt freshman Darriel Mack started in his place as a “game-time decision.” Milton can rest another 10 days before UCF (7-0, 4-0 AAC East) faces Temple (5-3, 4-0 AAC East) in a Thursday game on Nov. 1 in Orlando.
ECU (2-5, 0-4 AAC East) also has a bye next week before the Pirates’ next game Nov. 3 at home against Memphis (4-4, 1-3 AAC West).
Ahlers, a true freshman and hometown favorite from D.H. Conley High, gave the Pirates a 3-0 lead that stood until early in the second quarter. He hit Deondre Farrier for a 41-yard pass play that set up Jake Verity’s 39-yard field goal with 6:22 remaining in the first period.
Ahlers lost two fumbles and threw an interception among five ECU turnovers.
The 6-foot-3, 236-pounder finished 29-of-53 passing for 406 yards with two touchdowns and interception. He also ran 27 times for 69 yards for 475 all-purpose yards.
Ahlers directed one other fourth-quarter drive to UCF’s 8-yard line that ended with a fourth-down incompletion.
This story was originally published October 20, 2018 at 11:21 PM with the headline "ECU falls to Central Florida despite a big game from its new quarterback."