Michael Pratt threw a touchdown pass and No. 24 Tulane shut out East Carolina in the second half of a 13-10 American Athletic Conference victory Saturday in Greenville, N.C.
Pratt passed for 213 yards, Makhi Huges rushed for 105 yards on 25 carries and Valentino Ambrosio kicked two field goals for the Green Wave (8-1, 5-0 AAC).
The Pirates (1-8, 0-5), who entered the game ranked 129th in the nation in total offense, had just 190 total yards. Alex Finn completed 10 of 18 passes for 120 of the yards.
Tulane, which opened big halftime leads but had to hold on for narrow victories in their last two games, started much more slowly as ECU took an early 10-0 lead.
The Green Wave received the second-half kickoff and drove into scoring range, but Valentino Ambrosio missed a 31-yard field goal, leaving the score tied at 10 and it stayed that way through the end of the third quarter.
On the second play of the fourth, Ambrosio made a 26-yard field goal to give Tulane its first lead at 13-10.
ECU reached the Tulane 45 midway through the fourth quarter but turned the ball over on downs.
The Green Wave drove to a fourth and goal at the Pirates 5 and Pratt rushed for 1 yard and a first down, enabling Tulane to kneel out the clock.
The Pirates received the opening kickoff and drove to Andrew Conrad’s 27-yard field goal.
On ECU’s next possession, Gerald Green rushed 1 yard for a touchdown and a 10-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Green Wave got their offense going late in the half. Pratt threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to Lawrence Keys III and Ambrosio kicked a 21-yard field goal as time expired to even the score at halftime.
–Field Level Media