East Carolina Beats South Florida 20-17 on a 55-yard Kick at Zero
Andrew Conrad's 55-yard field goal came on the last play of regulation, and it was the difference between a 17-17 tie and an East Carolina win. The Pirates beat South Florida 20-17 at home, and the whole thing was tied twice before the kick made it a lead.
South Florida scored first on a 26-yard Luke Kromenhoek touchdown pass to Bryson Rodgers. Noah Perez answered with a 44-yard field goal and Nico Gramatica added a 30-yarder with 1:11 left in the half, so it was 10-3 Bulls. Emory Williams then threw 15 yards to Landon Sides with 31 seconds left to tie it at 10-10. Williams hit Sides from eight yards in the third quarter for the only lead change of the day, 17-10. Jason Collins Jr. tied it with a one-yard run at 9:42 of the fourth, and nobody scored again until the kick.
The stat line is close to a draw. East Carolina out-gained South Florida 361 to 329, threw for 223 against 179, and ran for 138 against 150. Neither team threw an interception, and each sacked the other three times. The one difference was a lost East Carolina fumble, and it did not matter. Kromenhoek went 17 for 21, which is a good line for a quarterback who still lost.
East Carolina is 5-4 and South Florida is 6-3. For fantasy, Sides was the story at 38.6 points on 14 catches and two touchdowns, even with a lost fumble. Williams had 18.5 and D.J. Crowther gave the losing side 18.3.