East Carolina takes advantage of 5 Pittsburgh turnovers, wins 23-17 in the Military Bowl

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Chaston Ditta threw two second-half touchdown passes, and East Carolina overcame an inadvertent whistle that negated a long touchdown in a 23-17 victory over Pittsburgh in the Military Bowl on Saturday.

ECU faced fourth-and-1 from its own 32 in the third quarter when Marlon Gunn Jr. shed a couple of tacklers and went all the way to the end zone. That would have put the Pirates up 17-7, but the play was called back because of a whistle, and Gunn was credited with a 14-yard gain instead.

Two plays later, Ditta fumbled on a sack by Pitt’s Rasheem Biles, who recovered the ball and returned it 23 yards to the end zone to give the Panthers a 14-10 lead.

The Pirates rebounded quickly when Ditta threw a 72-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Smith, and ECU led the rest of the way. The Pirates won the Military Bowl for a second straight year after beating N.C. State in 2024.

“Some folks were upset we were coming back to Annapolis two times in a row, but if we come up here and get wins every time, I’ll come back every year,” ECU coach Blake Harrell said.

Down by six in the fourth, Pitt was driving when Mason Heintschel’s pass was intercepted by Kevon Merrell — the Panthers’ fifth turnover of the game — and run back 70 yards to the Pitt 15. A field goal pushed the lead to nine.

The Panthers managed a field goal with 1:23 left to make it a one-possession game, but an onside kick was unsuccessful. Pitt had enough timeouts to force a punt, and the Panthers took over at their own 20 with 57 seconds left.

An offensive pass interference penalty derailed that last-ditch drive.

Ditta started this game after ECU quarterback Katin Houser announced recently he was entering the transfer portal. The Pirates (9-4) also lost their offensive and defensive coordinators, but they took advantage of four Pitt fumbles.

The Panthers (8-5) also turned the ball over on downs twice.

“You turn the ball over five times, and then two on downs, that’s a total of seven if you count turnovers on downs,” Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi said. “It’s hard to win any football game against any opponent, period.”

The first quarter was played almost entirely in Pitt territory, but ECU’s Nick Mazzie was well short on a 51-yard field-goal attempt. The Pirates then recovered a fumble at the Pitt 27 but ended up turning the ball over on downs themselves.

ECU led 3-0 when Pitt finally produced a successful drive, taking a 7-3 advantage when Heintschel threw a 22-yard scoring pass to Raphael Williams Jr. with four seconds remaining in the half.

The Panthers started the second half with the ball, but a fumble by Heintschel gave ECU possession, and on the very next play Ditta found Smith for a 47-yard touchdown.

Pitt: It was the final game for defensive coordinator Randy Bates, who is retiring after more than four decades in coaching. His defense gave up a couple of big plays but also produced a touchdown of its own. Holding ECU to 23 points was pretty good considering the Pirates started seven drives in Pitt territory.

“Field position, we might have lost that by 200 yards,” Narduzzi said.

ECU: It was a stellar performance by the defense, which had four takeaways — the other was on special teams — and four sacks.

Pitt: Heintschel is a freshman, and so is Ja’Kyrian Turner (93 yards on 16 carries Saturday), so despite this loss the Panthers could have a lot to look forward to.

ECU: The Pirates have a lot to replace, but this effort was a positive sign.

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