GREENVILLE, N.C. -- Preston Stone threw three touchdown passes and the SMU defense held East Carolina to only one touchdown in a 31-10 victory against the Pirates Thursday night at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
 

The Mustangs improved to 4-2 overall and 2-0 in the American Athletic Conference with the win, their first road victory in three tries this season. 

Stone who completed 19 of 38 passes for 276 yards, helped the Mustangs to an early 14-0 lead with a pair of TD passes in the first quarter. He added an insurance score with 2:29 left in the fourth period when he hit tight end R.J. Maryland for a 43-yard touchdown.

The Mustangs' defense, meanwhile, forced East Carolina to punt 11 times and had two key fourth-quarter takeaways that helped put the game away. Kobe Wilson began the period by ripping the ball from Pirate quarterback Alex Flinn after Flinn had run for a 14-yard gain, setting up Collin Rogers' 50-yard field goal that gave East Carolina a 17-10 lead.

The backbreaker came midway through the fourth quarter when Jonathan McGill picked off a Flinn pass and returned it 34 yards for a touchdown, giving the visitors a 24-10 cushion.

Wilson finished with a game-high seven tackles and the forced fumble to lead an SMU defense that had five tackles for loss, 10 pass breakups and an interception while limiting the Pirates to 3.8 yards per play.

East Carolina got a strong performance from freshman wideout Chase Sowell, who had seven receptions for 120 of the Pirates' 290 total yards.