THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 25, 1994 TAG: 9409250177
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JULIE GOODRICH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: GREENVILLE, N.C. LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
A first quarter that looked so promising for East Carolina turned into 21 unanswered points for Syracuse, and the Pirates watched the game slip away in a 21-18 loss in their home opener Saturday at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
``I said earlier in the week that we'd use them as a measuring stick,'' said East Carolina coach Steve Logan, who saw the Pirates open with a 10-0 lead. ``I liked a few things that I saw, we just came up short.''
Down 21-10 with less than six minutes to play, East Carolina's sophomore quarterback Marcus Crandell hit tight end Scott Richards with a 20-yard touchdown pass, capping a 92-yard drive that broke a run of 21 straight points for Syracuse. The Pirates lined up for the two-point conversion with Crandell looking to throw to Larry Shannon. The pass fell incomplete, but Shannon had a Orangeman defender hanging all over him and was rewarded with a pass interference call, setting up another try from the 1 1/2-yard line. This time, Crandell handed off to fullback Junior Smith, who vaulted over the pile and into the end zone to bring East Carolina within a field goal.
The Pirates' defense held, setting up a last-chance effort for East Carolina to win the game. On third and 1 from their 49, the Pirates' wide receivers lined up in the wrong formation. Crandell couldn't throw the ball away and took a sack, losing 11 yards.
On fourth and 12, Crandell threw a nine-yard completion to Shannon.
``On third down, we should have had two pass plays to get the yardage. You don't take the sack there,'' said Logan. ``(Marcus) is only a sophomore, so he'll learn.''
After going nowhere in their first two possessions, the Pirates started to click on offense. A fumble by Syracuse wide receiver Sir Mawn Wilson gave East Carolina the ball at the Orangeman 45.
On the first play from scrimmage, Crandell hit Allen Williams down the right sideline for a 55-yard touchdown reception.
On the ensuing kickoff, Chad Holcomb surprised the Orangemen with an onsides kick, which Jerris McPhail caught on the fly 10 yards downfield to give the Pirates the ball at their 46.
East Carolina drove to the Syracuse 32 on a reception by Mitchell Galloway and a 15-yard facemask penalty, then lost the ball on a fumble by Smith. It was the first fumble lost by the Pirates this season.
An interception by Dwight Henry on the Orangemen's first play gave the ball back to East Carolina. Crandell found Galloway open near the left sideline for a gain of 13, and a late hit on Galloway out of bounds tacked on another 15 yards to give the Pirates a first down at Syracuse's 19.
East Carolina failed to convert on third and goal from the 3, settling for a 20-yard field goal by Holcomb and a 10-0 lead at the end of the first.
The Orangemen netted only 60 yards total offense in the first quarter, 15 on the ground. Quarterback Kevin Mason was 2-for-5 for 45 yards, including a 34-yard strike to wide receiver Marvin Harrison.
Syracuse recovered from the slow start to take a 14-10 lead at the half. Less than two minutes into the second quarter, tailback Malcolm Thomas scored from 12 yards out for Syracuse's first touchdown, capping an 8-play, 54-yard drive.
East Carolina's next possession ended with a 53-yard Matt Levine punt into the end zone. Syracuse didn't encounter much resistance defensively, travelling 80 yards in 2:43 to take the lead on 1-yard quarterback sneak by Mason. The touchdown was set up two plays earlier on Mason's 40-yard scamper on third and short.
Things didn't get much better for East Carolina in the third quarter. The Orangemen opened the period at their 30 and scored their third unanswered touchdown at 10:42 on a 1-yard keeper by Mason. Kirby Dar Dar rushed for 55 yards in the 12-play drive.
Smith tallied 70 yards on 18 carries and moved into second place ahead of Tony Baker on ECU's all-time career rushing leaders with 2,845 total yards. Smith needs just 44 yards to replace Carlester Crumpler as the Pirates' all-time leading rusher. by CNB