TAMPA, Fla. -- Shane Carden led three long second-half touchdown drives and No. 19 East Carolina shrugged off a slow start to come back and beat South Florida 28-17 on Saturday night.
The Pirates (5-1, 2-0) overcame a 10-point halftime deficit to remain unbeaten in American Athletic Conference play and are off to their best start since 1999.
The flag is waving high for the Pirates tonight as they have a 4th quarter comeback to beat USF 28-17 and stay undefeated in conference play
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USF (2-4, 1-1) faded in the second half against a ranked team for the second straight game. The Bulls were tied 3-3 at the half before losing 27-10 at Wisconsin.
Carden completed 13 of 15 passes for 134 yards while leading scoring drives of 84, 86 and 79 yards on East Carolina's first three possessions of the second half.
Marquez Grayson's 24-yard TD run trimmed USF's lead to 17-14 late in the third quarter. Breon Allen's 4-yard scoring run put ECU ahead 21-17 early in the fourth.