Pirate Offense Shines in 34-Point First Half

East Carolina scored 34 unanswered first-half points, including two touchdowns on one-yard runs by Leonard Henry and another on a 71-yard punt return by Keith Stokes, as the Pirates stunned Texas Tech, 40-27, in the first Galleryfurniture.com Bowl on Wednesday night.

A crowd of 33,899 saw the first bowl game played in the Astrodome since the last Bluebonnet Bowl in 1987. East Carolina used an assortment of trick plays and fancy running by Stokes to build its lead.

Stokes returned the opening kickoff 37 yards and quarterback David Garrard capped the drive with a six-yard touchdown run.

The Pirates followed with an onside kick that was recovered by Marcellus Harris.

Although that surprise play didn’t result in any points, Stokes took Texas Tech’s next punt 71 yards for a touchdown and Henry scored on a one-yard run with 4:26 left in the first quarter, giving East Carolina a 20-0 lead.

Garrard connected with Derrick Collier for a 44-yard touchdown pass play and Henry scored on another one-yard run for a 34-0 lead in the second quarter.

Texas Tech rallied behind Kliff Kingsbury, who threw three of his four touchdown passes in the second half to cut the deficit.

The Red Raiders finally scored on a seven-yard touchdown pass from Kingsbury to Derek Dorris with 1:39 left in the second quarter.

Texas Tech kept charging in the second half as Kingsbury teamed with Darrell Jones for a 65-yard touchdown-pass play with 13:11 left in the third quarter to make the score 34-14.