GREENVILLE, N.C. (AP) - Shane Carden tossed five touchdowns and threw for 308 yards as East Carolina trounced Memphis 41-7 Saturday in Conference USA action.
Despite posting minus-9 yards rushing in the first half, East Carolina (4-3, 3-1) outgained Memphis (1-5, 1-1) 236-105 before the break as the Pirates built a 17-0 advantage. Shane Carden was 16 of 21 for 245 yards with two passing scores in the half.
Justin Hardy was Carden's favorite target, pulling in five passes for 126 yards and a score in the first half. Hardy caught just one ball in the second half - an 11-yard touchdown.
Carden's other first-half score went to Justin Jones for 39 yards. That duo would hook up twice more in the second half, as Jones reeled in scoring catches of 14 and 4 yards.
Marcus Rucker caught seven passes for 88 yards for Memphis, which has lost seven straight to East Carolina.
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| Scoring Summary |
| ECU | Justin Hardy 67 yd pass from Shane Carden (Warren Harvey kick) |
| ECU | Justin Jones 39 yd pass from Shane Carden (Warren Harvey kick) |
| ECU | Warren Harvey 37 yd FG |
| ECU | Warren Harvey 45 yd FG |
| ECU | Justin Hardy 11 yd pass from Shane Carden (Warren Harvey kick) |
| ECU | Justin Jones 14 yd pass from Shane Carden (Warren Harvey kick) |
| ECU | Justin Jones 4 yd pass from Shane Carden (Warren Harvey kick) |
| MEMP | Jai Steib 3 yd run (Tyler Spurlock kick) |
| Team Stats | ||
| MEMP | ECU | |
| First Downs | 16 | 21 |
| Third Down Efficiency | 4-16 | 7-14 |
| Fourth Down Efficiency | 3-3 | 0-0 |
| Plays-Net Yards | 69-281 | 65-369 |
| Rushes-Yds | 43-115 | 32-61 |
| Passing Yds | 166 | 308 |
| Kick Return Yds | 99 | 19 |
| Punt Return Yds | 16 | 47 |
| Passes | 16-26-0 | 25-33-0 |
| Punts | 8-263 | 4-171 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 2-2 | 5-2 |
| Penalties-Yds | 7-70 | 2-20 |
| Time of Poss. | 33:41 | 26:19 |
| Individual Stats |
| RUSHING |
| MEMP: Jai Steib 13-38, Carl Harris 6-37, Eric Mathews 6-25, Brandon Hayes 8-14, Jaquise Cook 2-9, Tevin Jones 2-1, Jacob Karam 6--9 |
| ECU: Vintavious Cooper 16-96, Brad Wornick 1-4, Michael Dobson 4-1, Hunter Furr 2-0, Shane Carden 9--40 |
| PASSING |
| MEMP: Jacob Karam 14-23-153-0, Eric Mathews 2-3-13-0 |
| ECU: Shane Carden 25-33-308-0 |
| RECEIVING |
| MEMP: Marcus Rucker 7-88, Keiwone Malone 4-29, Jai Steib 1-21, Jesse Milleson 1-12, Reggie Travis 1-11, Alan Cross 1-3, Carl Harris 1-2 |
| ECU: Justin Hardy 6-137, Justin Jones 5-80, Reese Wiggins 3-20, Danny Webster 3-15, Derrick Harris 2-15, Andrew Bodenheimer 2-8, Jabril Solomon 1-11, Michael Dobson 1-9, Antonio Cannon 1-7, Lance Ray 1-6 |
| Standings | |||
| Team | Standings | Conference | Overall |
| Memphis | 3rd Conference USA East | 4-4 | 4-8 |
| East Carolina | 1st Conference USA East | 7-1 | 8-5 |
