Memphis Rallies Past ECU 41-34 in Overtime Behind Marcus Stokes

For a few years now, overtime against East Carolina has been a place where Memphis seasons go to get a little worse. The Pirates won 30-29 in overtime at Memphis in 2021, then needed four overtimes to win 47-45 in Greenville in 2022. ECU had won three straight in the series and 10 of the last 12 meetings coming into Thursday night.

At halftime, it looked like the streak was headed for four. Then the second half happened.

Memphis erased a 16-3 halftime deficit and beat ECU 41-34 in overtime on Thursday, Oct. 22, at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium. Marcus Stokes accounted for five touchdowns after the break, three through the air and two on the ground, and the Tigers' defense ended it with an interception in the back corner of the end zone. Memphis improved to 6-2 and 3-1 in the American. ECU fell to 3-4 and 1-2.

It was the third overtime game between these two programs in the last four meetings, and the first one Memphis has won.

A first half that belonged to ECU

The Pirates came out sharp. ECU held the Tigers to one first down and 29 yards in the first quarter. Perez opened the scoring with a 22-yard field goal at 10:24, and Ashton Gray punched in a 1-yard touchdown run at 3:01 for a 10-0 lead.

Philippe Laforge got Memphis on the board with a 31-yard field goal early in the second quarter, but Perez answered from 30 yards and then closed the half with a career-long 49-yarder as time expired. ECU led 16-3 at the break.

Memphis had 113 total yards, six punts and three points at the half, and it was 0-for-7 on third down.

Stokes takes over

It took Memphis 78 seconds of the third quarter to change the mood. Stokes hit Jermane Hayes for a 59-yard touchdown at 13:42, and the deficit was down to 16-10.

ECU pushed back. TJ Engleman Jr. capped a 75-yard drive with a 4-yard touchdown run, and Mitch Griffis found Landon Sides for the two-point conversion to make it 24-10 at 10:22.

Stokes found Jemyri Davis for a 20-yard touchdown at 6:36, on what was the Tigers' first third-down conversion of the night. Laforge added a 34-yard field goal at 1:30, and ECU's lead was 24-20 heading into the fourth.

The turning point: a fumble on a punt

Perez kept doing his job. His 40-yard field goal at 12:28 of the fourth quarter made it 27-20 and left him 4-for-4 on the night.

Then the game turned on special teams. Kyler Pearson fumbled on a punt, Memphis took over, and Stokes hit Davis from 4 yards out to tie the game at 27 with 9:50 left. On the next Memphis possession, Stokes led a 13-play, 80-yard drive and finished it himself with a 2-yard run at 3:31. Memphis led 34-27, its first lead of the night.

ECU still had an answer. Facing fourth-and-9 with about a minute and a half left, Griffis threw to Sides, who made a sliding catch for a 20-yard touchdown. The extra point tied it at 34.

"They got the call and I look up at the coverage and see they are playing over the top and a guy's outside, so I think 'Oh man, this is great,'" Sides said. He added that he "looked at Mitch and he put the ball where it needed to be."

Overtime, and the call ECU wanted back

Memphis needed two plays in overtime. Stokes ran it in for his fifth touchdown of the second half, and the Tigers led 41-34.

ECU got to first-and-goal at the 4. Then Griffis went to Sides on a fade to the back corner of the end zone, the two hand-fought for the ball with Ellis Ellis Jr., and Ellis came away with it. Interception, game over.

"I'd love to have that back," ECU head coach Blake Harrell said. "Don't ever put it in the official's hands to make a call one way or the other. We're at the 4-yard-line, first-and-goal at the four, you know that one's frustrating."

It was the second straight Thursday that ECU lost in overtime on a game-ending interception after blowing a two-touchdown lead. A week earlier, UAB beat the Pirates 30-17 on a pick-six in overtime.

The players who decided it

Stokes was the story. He finished 29-of-43 for 320 yards with three touchdown passes and added two rushing touchdowns. Davis had 91 receiving yards and two scores.

Perez was ECU's best player. He made all four of his kicks from 22, 30, 49 and 40 yards. "Really big night for him," Harrell said. "Without him we don't have a chance to win the game or play for overtime at the end."

Sides, a North Texas transfer, had a career night with seven catches for 130 yards and the tying touchdown. Engleman, who came in with four straight games of 99 or more rushing yards, ran 18 times for 92 yards and a touchdown. Crews Law, a former Memphis player, led ECU with 12 tackles, and Mike Montgomery had 11 for Memphis.

The quarterback question in Greenville

ECU's quarterback situation was messy again. Emory Williams started and went 5-of-13 for 61 yards before Griffis, a Texas Tech transfer who started the first three games of the season, replaced him after ECU's fifth series. Griffis's first pass was intercepted. He settled in after that, completing five passes of 20 or more yards, and finished 14-of-26 for 199 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions.

Harrell did not dodge it afterward. "That position there, we've got to be better at," he said. "That position has been hurting us."

The numbers that matter

The halves tell the whole story. Memphis had 113 yards in the first half and 371 in the second, finishing with 484 total yards to ECU's 421. After scoring three points in the first 30 minutes, the Tigers scored 38 the rest of the way, counting overtime.

Memphis won the passing battle 320-260, and the rushing totals were nearly even, 164 to 161. The Pirates were the cleaner team with flags, with 23 penalty yards to Memphis's 76, but they lost the turnover battle. ECU gave it away three times, two interceptions and the punt fumble, while Memphis lost one fumble. The ECU box score (opens in a new tab) has the full breakdown.

What it means

For Memphis, this is a win that fixes a lot. The Tigers were coming off a six-turnover loss at Tulane and trailed by 13 at home at halftime. They left 6-2, bowl eligible and still in the American race at 3-1. Next on the schedule was a home game against Army on Saturday, Oct. 31.

For ECU, the frustration is stacking up. Two straight weeks, two blown two-touchdown leads, two overtime losses on interceptions. "I'll say this about our group of young men," Harrell said. "I thought they came out and fought today. After last week, I was concerned about that, if they would have a hangover and affect this week."

He also put the loss on more than one snap. "Hats off to Memphis," he said. "They did some good things to get the win, but it doesn't come down to one play. It comes down to a bunch of plays throughout the course of the game. Defensively we just couldn't get a stop there in the second half."

Next on the schedule for ECU was a home game against Temple on Saturday, Oct. 31. Read the Pirates' full game recap (opens in a new tab) for more from Harrell and his players.

The last word

At 3-4, ECU has no room left, and Law knows it.

"We've got five more guaranteed," he said. "We've got to go win 'em all."

Then he named the problem. "It's time to put a complete game together."

Memphis, for one night, finally got the overtime ending in this series that it had been chasing.

Sources: ECU Athletics recap and box score, The Associated Press, Roundtable, NC Football News, The Daily Reflector and The Daily Memphian. More college football coverage on Undrafted.

Photos: ECU Athletics.