ECU boots Navy on final snap, welcomes No. 3 Cincinnati on Friday

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — East Carolina won’t be sneaking up on No. 3 Cincinnati when they collide Friday in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.

The Pirates beat Navy 38-35 with an Owen Daffer 54-yard field goal as time expired Saturday, winning its fourth straight American Athletic Conference game. ECU has won seven of its last nine overall, is 7-4 for the year and 5-2 in the AAC.

Maquel Haywood scored on a 98-yard kickoff return that gave Navy (2-8, 2-5 American) a 35-27 lead with 8:33 remaining.

East Carolina’s Holton Ahlers answered with a 28-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Snead about three minutes later to tie it at 35. The Midshipmen punted with 1:24 to play, and Ahlers connected with Snead on a 46-yard pass on the next play.

East Carolina then let the clock run before Daffer’s game-winning kick.

Ahlers was 27-of-32 passing for 405 yards and threw three touchdown passes. Snead had 137 yards in receptions, his second straight 100-yard effort. Keaton Mitchell carried the ball 18 times for 94 yards and had a 10-yard touchdown run for the Pirates, becoming the first 1,000-yard rusher in the program since Tay Cooper in 2013 and just the 17th ever.

Tai Lavatai threw a pair of short-yard touchdown passes for Navy. Carlinos Acie had 155 yards rushing that included a 90-yard touchdown run.

The four straight AAC wins are the most for ECU since joining the league. The seven wins are the most since 2014, and the 3-3 road record is also the best since 2014.

Under head coach Mike Houston, ECU has four of its last five in November.