BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Holton Ahlers threw a Birmingham Bowl-record five touchdown passes and accounted for a game-record six TDs to help East Carolina beat Coastal Carolina 53-29 in the TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl at Protective Stadium.
Ahlers, selected the game MVP, threw for 300 yards on 26-of-38 passing, rushed for 37 yards and a touchdown and caught a pass for 14 yards for the Pirates (8-5).
Coastal Carolina quarterback Grayson McCall, the three-time Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year who entered the transfer portal this month, wasn’t as fortunate.
Presumably, McCall’s final play in a Coastal Carolina uniform came on a 9-yard touchdown run. He was hit while tumbling into the end zone and never returned to the game. Jarrett Guest replaced him in the first half and played most of the second half. McCall’s run gave Coastal Carolina (9-4) a 14-10 lead. By halftime, though, Chanticleers were in a 24-14 hole.
Coastal Carolina was fortunate to only be down 10 at halftime. East Carolina had six drives in the first half with four finishing in scores. One ended with a fourth-down stop by Coastal Carolina and the other finished with the Pirates running out the final 35 seconds of the half.
Ahlers was accurate on throws of all depths, connecting on 17 of 22 passes for 213 yards with touchdown passes of 27 and 11 yards to Isaiah Winstead. ECU running back Keaton Mitchell was also effective, carrying the ball 10 times for 107 yards with a 1-yard touchdown run.
McCall, who missed three games with an injury late in the season, played well before the injury. He was 11 of 14 for 75 yards and carried the ball four times for 12 yards. His 25-yard pass to Ivy Turon set up a 1-yard scoring run by Reese White.
East Carolina quickly extended the lead to 31-14 in the third quarter. Coastal Carolina’s Braydon Bennett fumbled on the first play of the second half and East Carolina’s Jireh Wilson recovered at the Coastal Carolina 27. Six plays later, Ahlers found Jaylen Johnson for a 2-yard touchdown pass. Ahlers had a 14-yard reception on the drive on a pass from C.J. Johnson.
Coastal Carolina answered quickly, moving 79 yards on three plays with White gaining 32 yards on the first two plays and Guess hitting Tyler Roberts in stride on a 47-yard touchdown pass.
East Carolina scored the next 14 points on a 1-yard run by Ahlers and a 15-yard pass from Ahlers to C.J. Johnson. Ahlers capped off his night with a 1-yard touchdown pass to Shane Calhoun and a two-point conversion pass to Mitchell.
