Live blog: Appalachian State at East Carolina

GREENVILLE, N.C. East Carolina finally found a way to stop third-team Appalachian State quarterback Travaris Cadet and held on to win 29-24 on Saturday at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.

Defensive end Scotty Robinson sacked Cadet on second down, and Cadet threw too high for Coco Hillary at the East Carolina 40-yard line on fourth down with 16 seconds remaining.

The Pirates led 29-7 early in the fourth quarter before Cadet came off the sideline to lead Appalachian State to 17 straight points.

Jason Vitaris kicked a 43-yard field goal for Appalachian State, cutting East Carolina's lead to 29-24 with 3:24 remaining.

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Cortez Gilbert's interception of Patrick Pinkney has given Appalachian State the ball at midfield trailing East Carolina 29-21 with 6:34 remaining.

The Pirates had led 29-7 early in the fourth quarter.

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Incredibly, Appalachian State is within one score after trailing by 22 points early in the fourth quarter at East Carolina even without Armanti Edwards.

Sophomore third-team quarterback Travaris Cadet has led the Mountaineers to two straight touchdown drives to cut the deficit to 29-21 with 8:41 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Cadet's 1-yard scoring run capped a 62-yard drive.

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Travaris Cadet, a sophomore from Miami who's Appalachian State's third-team quarterback, gave the Mountaineers a lift on his first drive.

Cadet engineered a 12-play, 55-yard drive that included a 4-yard pass on fourth-and-1. Devon Moore capped the drive with a 2-yard scoring run, and Appalachian State trailed East Carolina 29-14 with 13:47 remaining in the third quarter.

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It's never a good sign when your punter is kicking the ball backward, away from the line of scrimmage.

That's all Appalachian State's Sam Martin could do after he couldn't secure a high snap in the end zone midway through the third quarter. Martin booted the ball out of the back of the end zone for a safety that stretched East Carolina's lead to 29-7.

It was the Pirates' first safety since 2002, a span of 78 games.

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For a moment, it appeared that Appalachian State was going to make a game of it.

But East Carolina's Nick Johnson intercepted DeAndre Presley's pass after an interception by Jared Reine gave the Mountaineers the ball down 17 points.

The Pirates drove for a 25-yard Ben Hartman field goal and a 27-7 halftime lead.

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Appalachian State showed up after all.

After going more than 18 minutes without a first down, the Mountaineers drove 71 yards in 11 plays for a 3-yard touchdown run by quarterback DeAndre Presley, cutting East Carolina's lead to 24-7 with 8:12 remaining in the second quarter.

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A year after edging the best of the ACC (Virginia Tech) in its season opener, East Carolina is crushing the best of the FCS.

Dominique Lindsay's 21-yard touchdown run with 13:21 remaining in the second quarter made the score 24-0 in the Pirates' favor over Appalachian State.

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The rout is on, and SEC transfers are the ones doing the damage for East Carolina.

Alabama transfer Reyn Willis caught a 27-yard touchdown pass from Patrick Pinkney with 4:31 remaining in the first quarter to increase the Pirates' lead to 17-0 over Appalachian State.

Kentucky transfer Brandon Jackson ran 39 yards for East Carolina's first touchdown.

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Kicker Ben Hartman, who missed much of the preseason with a hip injury, is back for East Carolina.

Hartman, who's expected to be one of the top place-kickers in the nation this season, kicked a 26-yard field goal to increase the Pirates' lead to 10-0 with 10:05 remaining in the first quarter against Appalachian State.

Key play on the drive was a 41-yard run by Dominique Lindsay. Earlier...

Brandon Jackson won't ever forget his first carry at East Carolina.

Jackson, a Kentucky transfer who once was one of the top recruits out of Oregon ran 39 yards over right tackle for a touchdown to give the Pirates a 7-0 lead over Appalachian State with just 1:31 expired in the game.

Ken Tysiac