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RALEIGH, North Carolina (Ticker) -- Call it "The Rally in Raleigh." Unbeaten East Carolina scored the last 24 points to shock 13th-ranked Miami, 27-23, in a game moved to Carter-Finley Stadium due to Hurricane Floyd. David Garrard threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Keith Stokes with 4:51 left to cap the improbable comeback and the school's first 4-0 start since 1977. "We're eligible to go 12-0, but we're also eligible to go 4-7," said East Carolina coach Steve Logan, whose team opened the season with wins over West Virginia, Duke and South Carolina. Jamie Wilson added TD runs of 24 and 18 yards for the Pirates, who stunned Miami (2-2) for the second time in three years. They won 31-6 at the Orange Bowl in 1996, the last meeting and only other win in 10 games against the Hurricanes. Miami represented the highest-ranked opponent East Carolina has defeated, surpassing the 12th-ranked Hurricanes of 1996. Ravaged conditions on campus due to the Floyd forced the Pirates to practice at South Carolina after they defeated the Gamecocks last week. Today's game was played at North Carolina State. "This week and this win brought us together as a team," Stokes said. "No matter what we went through, when it comes to the game, the Pirates come to play. We got this win for us and our fans." The Hurricanes suffered their second straight heartbreaking loss. They relinquished a lead in the final two minutes last week before dropping a 27-23 decision to second-ranked Penn State. Garrard completed 30-of-46 passes for 328 yards, one touchdown and an interception. He gained another 29 yards on 11 carries while occasionally running an option. "East Carolina kept us off balance by using the option," Miami coach Butch Davis said. "They could both run and throw the ball against us and that hurt us all over." In his first start, Clinton Portis ran 27 times for 147 yards --a Miami record among true freshman -- but played sparingly in the second half. Stokes completed the comeback by taking a pass over the middle on 2nd-and-8 and running past several would-be tacklers before finding the end zone. "Coach called the right play at the right time and fortunately we scored," Stokes said. Wilson, who had 71 yards on only eight carries, sparked the comeback with his two TD runs. Freshman Kevin Miller's third field goal, a 39-yarder with 9 1/2 minutes left, got the Pirates within 23-20. Miller, who missed a 27-yard attempt late in the third quarter, got East Carolina on the board with 97 seconds left in the first half. His 38-yarder cut Miami's lead to 20-3. "The field goal before the half was huge," Logan said. "It helped our momentum going into the second half." The Pirates again dominated the second half. They averaged 174 yards in the first half and 236 in the second before totaling 109 and 331, respectively, tonight. Miami managed 235 of its 389 yards in the first two quarters, when Portis carried 22 times for 133 yards. "This team should have definitely not gotten complacent at halftime," Davis said. "We came into this game knowing that ECU was very dangerous entering the game 3-0." Despite their second-half woes, the Hurricanes still had a chance to win, moving 58 yards on 13 plays on their final drive. But quarterback Kenny Kelly overthrew a wide-open Santana Moss near the end zone on third down before misfiring on 4th-and-15. Miami built its 20-0 lead on a 21-yard TD pass from Kelly to Reggie Wayne, a four-yard scoring run by Portis and a pair of field goals by Andy Crosland. Kelly completed only 15-of-37 passes for 159 yards, a TD and interception.
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