Miami Gets Taken by Storm

With all that East Carolina had been through the last two weeks, a 20-point deficit didn’t look like that much to overcome.

David Garrard’s 27-yard touchdown pass to Keith Stokes with 4:51 left capped a fourth-quarter rally and led hurricane-battered East Carolina to a 27-23 victory over No. 9-ranked Miami Saturday night.

The Pirates (4-0) have not been able to return to their Greenville, N.C., campus since the flooding and associated problems caused by Hurricane Floyd two weeks ago. Saturday’s game was moved to Raleigh, 85 miles west of the East Carolina campus. The school may not reopen until Wednesday.

“There is a lot of tension from the long week,” East Carolina Coach Steve Logan said, “but we turned that tension into passion in the second half.”

Garrard got East Carolina going in the second half by completing 20 of 27 passes for 222 yards. He finished 30 for 46 for 328 yards.

“I really wanted to get a win to go home with because I knew it’s going to be a lot of troubles when we get back there,” Garrard said. “This will help build us a little bit and the guys will be a little more happier going back home.”

Miami (2-2) led, 23-3, following Andy Crosland’s 47-yard field goal with 12:13 left in the third quarter.

Jamie Wilson, whose first-quarter fumble led to a Miami touchdown, ran 23 yards for a touchdown with 9:43 left in the third quarter. Wilson then capped an 84-yard drive with an 18-yard touchdown run with 11:59 to play, cutting Miami’s lead to 23-17.

Kevin Miller kicked a 39-yard field goal with 9:30 left to make it 23-20. By then, the Miami offense showed no semblance of the unit that had run up 301 yards through three quarters.

“They didn’t do nothing different,” Miami wide receiver Reggie Wayne said. “We just didn’t come out and play. They got the momentum going on their side and that’s all it took.”

Garrard’s decisive touchdown pass to Stokes capped a 79-yard, 10-play drive. When time ran out, East Carolina fans ignored pleas to stay off the field and tore down both goal posts. Security officers kept fans from taking both sets of uprights and crossbars out of Carter-Finley Stadium.

“This will be a big win if we go ahead and validate it the rest of the season,” Logan said. “That’s why I tried to get the kids to come down almost immediately and not get carried away.”

East Carolina did not cross midfield until late in the first half when it went from its 15 to the Miami 21 and got a 38-yard field goal from Miller 1:37 before halftime.

Miami running back Clinton Portis, replacing injured starter James Jackson, ran for 133 of his 147 yards in the first half.