GREENVILLE, N.C. (AP) - East Carolina quarterback Shane Carden ran for two touchdowns and threw for a score to overcome three interceptions, leading the Pirates to a 28-18 win over Texas-El Paso on Saturday night.
Carden, who was 28 of 40 for 258 yards, ran for a 6-yard score in the first quarter and threw a 3-yard scoring pass to Justin Hardy that gave the Pirates (3-2, 2-0 Conference USA) their first lead of the game at 14-10 going into halftime.
East Carolina would lead the rest of the way, as Carden's 8-yard TD trot marked the only score of the third. Vintavious Cooper's 24-yard rushing touchdown put the Pirates up 28-10 with 4:56 to play. Cooper finished with 128 yards rushing on 18 carries.
The Miners (1-4, 0-1) got their late touchdown on Autrey Golden's 96-yard return on the ensuing kickoff. Nathan Jeffery led all rushers with 134 yards for UTEP.
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| Scoring Summary |
| UTEP | Jordan Leslie 2 yd pass from Nick Lamaison (Steven Valadez kick) |
| ECU | Shane Carden 6 yd run (Warren Harvey kick) |
| UTEP | Steven Valadez 29 yd FG |
| ECU | Justin Hardy 3 yd pass from Shane Carden (Warren Harvey kick) |
| ECU | Shane Carden 8 yd run (Warren Harvey kick) |
| ECU | Vintavious Cooper 24 yd run (Warren Harvey kick) |
| UTEP | Autrey Golden 96 yd kick return (Jordan Leslie 2pt pass from Nick Lamaison) |
| Team Stats | ||
| UTEP | ECU | |
| First Downs | 17 | 25 |
| Third Down Efficiency | 2-13 | 7-14 |
| Fourth Down Efficiency | 1-1 | 0-0 |
| Plays-Net Yards | 66-302 | 79-475 |
| Rushes-Yds | 36-151 | 39-217 |
| Passing Yds | 151 | 258 |
| Kick Return Yds | 171 | 41 |
| Punt Return Yds | 0 | 1 |
| Passes | 10-30-3 | 28-40-3 |
| Punts | 6-248 | 6-215 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 1-1 | 2-1 |
| Penalties-Yds | 3-24 | 7-56 |
| Time of Poss. | 27:2 | 32:58 |
| Individual Stats |
| RUSHING |
| UTEP: Nathan Jeffery 27-134, Xay Williams 2-10, Nick Lamaison 5-8, Autrey Golden 1-0, Team 1--1 |
| ECU: Vintavious Cooper 23-151, Shane Carden 9-63, Michael Dobson 5-9, Team 2--6 |
| PASSING |
| UTEP: Nick Lamaison 9-27-143-3, Carson Meger 1-3-8-0 |
| ECU: Shane Carden 28-40-258-3 |
| RECEIVING |
| UTEP: Michael Edwards 6-130, Malcolm Trail 1-14, Devin Patterson 1-8, Jordan Leslie 1-2, Xay Williams 1--3 |
| ECU: Justin Hardy 11-95, Vintavious Cooper 4-52, Derrick Harris 4-33, Reese Wiggins 3-18, Michael Dobson 3-13, Jabril Solomon 2-46, Andrew Bodenheimer 1-1 |
| Standings | |||
| Team | Standings | Conference | Overall |
| Texas-El Paso | 5th Conference USA West | 2-6 | 3-9 |
| East Carolina | 1st Conference USA East | 7-1 | 8-5 |
