GREENVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Shane Carden’s 1-yard touchdown run in the second overtime Friday lifted East Carolina over Marshall 65-59 and kept the Pirates’ Conference USA title hopes alive.
The Pirates (8-4, 7-1) will advance to play Tulsa for the league championship if Alabama-Birmingham beats Central Florida on Saturday.
Carden scored after East Carolina stopped a Marshall possession when Chrishon Rose forced a fumble by Essray Taliaferro and Derrell Johnson recovered it.
A 25-yard touchdown pass from Carden to Andrew Bodenheimer gave East Carolina a lead on the first play of overtime, but the Thundering Herd (5-7, 4-4) answered with a 4-yard Blake Frohnapfel scoring pass to Antavious Wilson after Taliaferro converted a fourth-and-1 with a 4-yard run.