UAB arrived Thursday night searching for answers after a bruising 38-13 defeat at Memphis left the Blazers sitting at 3-3. A response was needed, but their matchup against East Carolina offered little reason for optimism as the clock ticked away. For nearly 58 minutes, UAB found itself chasing the game. A loss looked inevitable until the momentum swung the other way.

The Blazers mounted a late turnaround to secure a 30-17 victory, pulling off a win few could have seen coming. Here’s what happened: ECU led with 1:37 left; UAB had no timeouts and hadn’t scored a touchdown all night, just three Jonah Delange field goals. Then, quarterback Ryder Burton took the offense 93 yards in 10 plays. Things turned in their favor soon.

“UAB had 9 points with under a minute left in regulation and finished with 30,” CFB Kings reported via X. “UAB WINS IT IN OVERTIME. The Blazers pull off the rare 13-point overtime victory with a pick-six.”

East Carolina stood at 17 points, while UAB was at nine points with 36 seconds left in regulation.

The drive started at the Blazers’ own seven. Burton hit Ty Mims for 17 on third-and-four, then found CJ Smith for 21 and 12, and Mims for 20 to reach the red zone. On second-and-ten, he threw a swing pass to Braylon McReynolds, who ran it up the sideline for a 17-yard touchdown with 35 seconds left. UAB was still down 17-15, so Burton kept it himself on the two-point try, ran up the middle, and tied it at 17.

On third-and-goal, Burton beat a blitz with a screen to Rod Robinson II, who scored from six yards out to give UAB its first lead, 24-17. ECU needed a touchdown to keep the game going, but on the third snap of overtime, cornerback Delvon Gulley intercepted Emory Williams’ pass and returned it 80 yards for a touchdown. It was the first 13-point overtime win since Kansas beat West Virginia 55-42 in 2022.

“It wasn’t pretty early. It was hard,” head coach Alex Mortensen said, according to UAB Sports. “But just the character of this team to keep fighting, not get rattled – nobody blinked, and we just kept fighting back, both sides of the ball. What a great team win.”

The Blazers needed this win, as they are 4-3 and 2-1 in the American Conference and have won all four home games. They have already matched last year’s win total of four, with five games still to play. It’s also their first win over East Carolina since 2006.

UAB’s pass defense, which is second in the country, held ECU to 126 yards through the air. Burton came in completing 55% of his passes with five interceptions this year. Against ECU, he threw for a season-high 262 yards with two touchdowns and no turnovers.

UAB outgained the Pirates 361-317 and won the turnover battle 2-0. After trailing 14-0, it finished on a strong run.

The Pirates let it slip

ECU arrived at 3-2 with three straight wins over Old Dominion, N.C. Central and Rice after a 0-2 start. The program jumped ahead 14-0, helped by a fumble that freshman Dawson Quarterman scooped up for a touchdown. The Pirates fumbled three times in the first half and managed one first down in the second quarter. They still had an eight-point lead after Noah Perez’s 43-yard field goal early in the fourth.

“We need to go put a complete game together and not just show a little spurt here, a little spurt there,” the Pirates head coach, Blake Harrell, said, ahead of the UAB matchup during a press conference.

For East Carolina, the defeat will sting even more because the Pirates had spent most of the night in control, only to watch the game slip away when it mattered most. The collapse leaves them with plenty to dissect, especially their inability to execute down the stretch.

Their collapse is no surprise, however.

Let us go back to their previous games. ECU’s first half was almost forgettable against Rice. The matchup N.C. Central witnessed a drab third and fourth quarter for ECU.

Regardless, UAB now gets a 16-day break before heading to South Florida on October 31. East Carolina turns around with a trip to league-leading Memphis next Thursday after its first conference loss.