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Dominique Davis and East Carolina put on quite a fourth-quarter show. Now, they can start thinking about a bowl game.
Davis threw for 331 yards and five touchdowns, and the Pirates snapped a two-game skid with a 54-42 comeback victory over UAB on Thursday night.
ECU (6-4, 5-1 Conference USA) scored 20 consecutive points in 4:06 during the fourth quarter, giving the Pirates the six wins needed to qualify for a postseason game.
''It was very important for us to become bowl-eligible,'' coach Ruffin McNeill said. ''We played very well as a team tonight. We have our spirit back.''
Davis set school records for yards (3,077) and touchdowns (31) in a season, breaking the marks held by Jeff Blake.
The Pirates gave up 76 points last week in a loss to Navy, and yielded another 35 through the first three quarters against UAB (3-7, 2-4). But the Blazers managed only a single touchdown in the fourth quarter, while ECU scored 27 points.
''Our defense did a good job there towards the end,'' McNeill said. ''We made the plays when we had to make them.''
ECU trailed 42-34 with less than 9 minutes to play, but an 11-yard touchdown pass from Davis to Michael Bowman made it 42-40. A 2-point conversion attempt was no good.
After the Blazers went three-and-out, Dwayne Harris had a 56-yard punt return to the UAB 11. Two plays later, Davis hit Jon Williams with an 11-yard scoring pass. Davis then successfully ran for the 2-point conversion, giving ECU a 48-42 lead with 5:48 remaining.
The Blazers lost a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, giving ECU the ball on the UAB 28. That set up a 10-yard touchdown pass from Davis to Harris with 4:12 left.
''We made some mistakes there at the end, especially with the fumble,'' UAB coach Neil Callaway said. ''No single play loses the game, but at the same time, that didn't help us by any means.
''We had a hard time slowing them down. I knew it would be a struggle. They're explosive offensively, and we are a banged-up defensive football team.''
The teams combined for 1,037 yards in total offense, with 11 players scoring touchdowns.
Davis' touchdown passes went to five different receivers. Williams led the way with five receptions for 115 yards. He also carried the ball 14 times for 82 yards and a touchdown.
UAB quarterback Bryan Ellis threw for 418 yards and five touchdowns, two of them to Jeffery Anderson. Mike Jones had 110 yards receiving for the Blazers.
A 22-yard touchdown pass from Ellis to Pat Shed gave UAB a 21-10 lead with 5:18 left in the first half. ECU responded with two touchdowns in the final 3 minutes of the half to take a 24-21 halftime lead.
The Pirates' final score of the half was set up by a 77-yard pass from Davis to Williams, who was running wide open along the left sideline after UAB was late taking the field following a timeout. That led to a 9-yard touchdown run by Williams with 40 seconds left in the half.
''I thought our kids showed a lot of character,'' McNeill said. ''We talked about that last night. We said that in a fight when you get knocked, you can stay down or you can pick yourself up and keep swinging. I promised my boys that I would never quit on them, and they promised they would never quit on me.
''I'm proud of my boys and our coaches. This was a good win for us.''
