North Carolina
0-2
East Carolina
1-1
ECU Downs Tar Heels, 41-19
September 8, 2018 | Football
GREENVILLE, N.C. — Freshman quarterback Holton Ahlers ran for two of East Carolina's four rushing touchdowns while Reid Herring threw for another score as the Pirates beat North Carolina 41-19 on Saturday.
Herring threw for 290 yards while directing a turnover-free performance for ECU (1-1), which was coming off a dispiriting home loss to Championship Subdivision opponent North Carolina A&T. That increased the pressure on third-year coach Scottie Montgomery to show progress after 19 losses in 25 games — enough so that Montgomery noted this week's game was "very critical for our coaching career."
Jordon Brown ran for UNC's only touchdown, while Freeman Jones kicked four field goals. But the Tar Heels converted 5 of 16 third downs and managed 35 yards of third-quarter offense as the Pirates stretched a 21-19 halftime lead.
"We're 0-2, it's early in the season, our kids will keep fighting," UNC coach Larry Fedora said. "Our coaches will keep coaching and we'll get things going in the right direction."
UP NEXT
UNC: The Tar Heels play their home opener against No. 19 UCF, which was unbeaten last year, next Saturday.
ECU: The Pirates play another ACC team, traveling to No. 12 Virginia Tech next Saturday.
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Team Stats
NC 3, ECU 0
NC - Jones, F 32 yd field goal 6 plays, 60 yards, TOP 1:56
NC 3, ECU 7
ECU - SCOTT, Anthony 6 yd run (VERITY, Jake kick), 8 plays, 84 yards, TOP 3:43
NC 6, ECU 7
NC - Jones, F 44 yd field goal 10 plays, 54 yards, TOP 2:54
NC 13, ECU 7
NC - Brown, J 12 yd run (Jones, F kick), 7 plays, 71 yards, TOP 2:38
NC 13, ECU 14
ECU - AHLERS, Holton 1 yd run (VERITY, Jake kick), 16 plays, 86 yards, TOP 7:10
NC 16, ECU 14
NC - Jones, F 49 yd field goal 10 plays, 40 yards, TOP 3:09
NC 16, ECU 21
ECU - BROWN, Trevon 22 yd pass from HERRING, Reid (VERITY, Jake kick) 7 plays, 86 yards, TOP 1:44
NC 19, ECU 21
NC - Jones, F 42 yd field goal 9 plays, 64 yards, TOP 3:42
NC 19, ECU 28
ECU - PINNIX, Darius 48 yd run (VERITY, Jake kick), 3 plays, 55 yards, TOP 1:11
NC 19, ECU 35
ECU - AHLERS, Holton 21 yd run (VERITY, Jake kick), 11 plays, 96 yards, TOP 4:56
NC 19, ECU 38
ECU - VERITY, Jake 44 yd field goal 4 plays, 7 yards, TOP 1:21
NC 19, ECU 41
ECU - VERITY, Jake 25 yd field goal 10 plays, 26 yards, TOP 5:10
