GREENVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Senior fullback Nelson Smith ran for a career-high 157 yards and two touchdowns and led Navy to a 27-23 victory over East Carolina on Saturday afternoon at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. With the win, the Mids improve to 3-0 in the American Athletic Conference and sit alone in first place.

Smith bested his career high for the second-consecutive game after gaining 120 yards in a win over Temple last week. Junior fullback Jamale Carothers added 82 yards and another score for the Midshipmen. The two fullbacks accounted for 239 of Navy's 288 rushing yards and three of the four touchdowns.

Rahjai Harris, who rushed for 115 yards the week before, had 172 yards and an 80-yard TD for the Pirates (1-3, 1-2). ECU freshman Mason Garcia made his first start in place of Holton Ahlers, who, along with a handful of other Pirates, had to sit following COVID-19 contract tracing.

Navy quarterback Dalen Morris, who scored his first-career rushing touchdown in the first half, was knocked out of the game on a late hit with 10 minutes left in the third quarter.

Tyger Goslin took over for Morris and shortly afterward Smith's 29-yard score gave Navy a 20-13 lead. The Midshipmen added their second fourth-down touchdown on Carothers' 3-yard TD on the final play of the third quarter, a drive that began at the 50 after Tobe Okafor dropped Garcia for a 5-yard loss on fourth down. Okafor, who made his first-career start, also blocked a first-half field-goal attempt by Jake Verity.

On ECU's ensuing possession, Harris raced 80 yards for a score and Verity added his third field goal to close the gap to 27-23. But Navy ate up over six minutes on the clock and ECU could do nothing with its final 23 seconds.

ECU limited attendance to 7 percent capacity at 50,000-seat Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium and had 3,500 fans in attendance.

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