East Carolina vs. South Florida final score: Sloppy Pirates escape, 28-17

No. 19 East Carolina had to put together a second-half comeback Saturday to beat South Florida 28-17.

The 19th-ranked East Carolina Pirates didn’t panic Saturday night, coming back from a 10-point halftime deficit to beat the South Florida Bulls at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida Saturday night.

The Pirates (5-1) improved to 2-0 in the American Athletic Conference despite trailing 17-7 at the half, as their high-powered offense was stymied by penalties in the first half.

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East Carolina put together scoring drives of 84, 86 and 79 yards in the second half as the Bulls (2-4) faded in the second half against a ranked opponent for the second straight game. They were tied with Wisconsin 3-3 at halftime two weeks ago before losing 27-10.

Breon Allen scored on a 4-yard run to cap a 12-play, 86 yard drive for the Pirates early in the fourth quarter to put East Carolina up 21-17. Anthony Scott added a 20-yard touchdown run with 6:28 to go to ice it.

South Florida scored first on a 51-yard pass from Mike White to Andre Davis in the first quarter. ECU countered late in the period on a 35-yard pass from Shane Carden to Allen.

But the Bulls went up 17-7 by halftime. Marlon Mack had a 13-yard touchdown run and Marvin Kloss booted a 45-yard field goal with three seconds left in the half.

Allen finished with 124 rushing yards on 18 carries and also had four receptions for 50 yards. Carden threw for 250 yards on 24-of-33 passing with a touchdown and an interception.

The Pirates are off next week and return to host Connecticut at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium on Thursday, Oct. 23.