Florida spoils Carden’s record day in 28-20 win over ECU in Birmingham Bowl
A record day for East Carolina quarterback Shane Carden ended in heartbreak on Saturday as the Pirates fell 28-20 to Florida in the Birmingham Bowl. The ECU senior completed 34 passes for a bowl record 427 yards, but Florida countered with four sacks and two critical interceptions to withstand the onslaught.
Despite being harassed by Florida’s defensive front most of the game, the Pirates offense had a chance to tie the game in the final two minutes when Carden’s final pass was picked off in the end zone by Vernon Hargreaves, and Florida was able to pick up the first down it needed to run out the clock.
“We had opportunities, but Florida’s players did a great job of making plays,” ECU coach Ruffin McNeill said. “I tell our guys to go full speed every play, because you never know when the big play will happen that will determine the outcome. Coming into this game, a lot of people probably didn’t think it would be this close, but we had opportunities that we just couldn’t take advantage of.”
For much of the game, the stats sheet seemed to point to an ECU advantage, with the Pirates running 101 plays to Florida’s 71, and rolling up 32 first downs to the Gators 15. An early lead disappeared, however, when Florida’s Brian Poole returned a Carden pass 29 yards for a touchdown to tie the game 7-7. The Pirates would never lead again.
“We just didn’t execute the way we needed to,” Carden said. “They have a good defense, but we’ve played good defenses before. They were fast, but nothing we couldn’t handle. We’ve played other great defenses this year, like South Carolina, Virginia Tech, and a couple of good teams in our league, so we know what we can do when we go out and execute.”
Offensively, Florida was paced by a career day from Adam Lane, who rushed for 109 yards on 16 carries, while quarterbacks Jeff Driskel and Treon Harris combined for 171 yards on 13-of-28 passing. Harris completed an 86-yard pass to Ahmad Fulwood in the third quarter for the longest play of the game and the longest play of the Gators’ season.
That play put Florida up 28-14, but the Pirates defense kept the Gators from scoring the rest of the game, and ECU climbed back within striking distance with a pair of 24-yard field goals from Warren Harvey.
Despite the interceptions, ECU proved its worth against Florida, shutting down the Gators in the fourth quarter, and the offense climbed back within striking distance. Senior receiver Justin Hardy finished the game with a bowl record 11 passes for 160 yards and a touchdown, marking his 17th career 100-yard game. Cam Worthy also broke the 100-yard mark with six catches for 108 yards and a touchdown.
“I take my hat off to Florida,” Hardy said. “They have a great defense, but as Shane said, we have seen some great defenses already this year. There was nothing different.”
The Pirates finished the day with 536 yards of total offense – another Birmingham Bowl record.
“I can’t say enough about East Carolina,” Florida interim head coach D.J. Durkin said. “The story of the game really came down to turnovers. We kind of let them back into the game with turnovers, and ultimately, on defense, that was the difference for us in the game.”
With 3:28 to go in the fourth quarter, Carden led the Pirates 53 yards to the Florida five-yard line before Hargreaves’ interception effectively sealed the game.
“As good as we moved the ball the whole game, we didn’t execute in the red zone when we needed to in the second half,” Carden said. “We were scoring field goals to stay in it when we should have been scoring touchdowns. We could have had that touchdown to give us a chance, but an interception in the end zone can’t happen. They were blitzing a lot, and we were hitting inside verticals, but on that play I didn’t have a lot of room to put it outside, and their guy made a play.”
In spite of the loss, the performance by Carden and Hardy was indicative of what fans will likely remember from this era of ECU football. The bowl game marked Carden’s ninth 400-yard passing game, with 28 of his 86 career TDs going to Hardy. Hardy’s 121 receptions on the season place him second in the FBS.
“You never want to go out with a loss,” Hardy said. “It will take some time to get over this one, but life goes on.”
“These seniors have done so much for this university that is beyond measurement,” McNeill said. “Look at the body of work what these guys have done their entire careers. They left a blueprint and a mold that I will use as long as East Carolina keeps me.”
This story was originally published January 3, 2015 at 4:00 PM.