UAB Rallies Past East Carolina for Dramatic 30-17 Victory

Thursday, October 15

Birmingham, AL

6:30 p.m.

UAB

4-3 , 2-1

East Carolina

3-3 , 1-1

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	OT	Final F
East Carolina	7	7	0	3	0	17
UAB	0	3	6	8	13	30

Box Score (PDF)

Photo by: Ken Shepherd

UAB Rallies Past East Carolina for Dramatic 30-17 Victory

10/15/2026 11:12:00 PM | Football

Box Score Box Score (PDF) ECU Postgame Notes Season Stats

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Down 14 points early and eight points with just over a minute remaining, UAB authored its most dramatic comeback of the season Thursday night.

The Blazers drove 93 yards in 62 seconds to force overtime, scored on their opening possession of the extra period and then sealed a 30-17 Homecoming victory over East Carolina with Delvon Gulley's 80-yard interception return for a touchdown at Protective Stadium.

UAB improved to 4-3 overall and 2-1 in the American Conference, while East Carolina fell to 3-3 and 1-1. The Blazers remained unbeaten at home this season at 4-0. The overtime victory was UAB's first since November 10, 2018 against Southern Miss.

"It wasn't pretty early. It was hard," head coach Alex Mortensen said. "But just the character of this team to keep fighting, not get rattled — nobody blinked and we just kept fighting back, both sides of the ball. What a great team win."

East Carolina controlled the opening stages and built a 14-0 lead behind a pair of Emory Williams touchdown passes. Williams connected with Ray Ray Joseph Jr. for a 3-yard touchdown in the first quarter before finding Dawson Quarterman for another score early in the second.

Jonah Delange began chipping away at the deficit with a 41-yard field goal midway through the second quarter, sending UAB into halftime trailing 14-3.

The Blazers continued to climb back after the break. Delange connected from 26 yards with 6:44 remaining in the third quarter before drilling a 50-yarder with 1:26 left in the period to pull UAB within 14-9.

Mortensen credited defensive coordinator Todd Grantham and the defense for making adjustments after ECU's fast start.

"I think Todd had good adjustments, and the players did a good job keeping up with them," Mortensen said. "Sometimes our guys just need to settle into the game a little bit. Once they settled in and saw some of the pictures, they kind of got a handle on it as we went."

East Carolina stretched the lead back to eight when Noah Perez made a 43-yard field goal with 9:24 remaining, and the Pirates appeared poised to escape Birmingham with a win.

UAB had one final answer.

Taking possession at its own 7-yard line with 1:37 remaining, Ryder Burton directed a 10-play, 93-yard touchdown drive in just 1:02. Burton connected with Ty Mims for 20 yards to move the Blazers to the ECU 17 before finding Bam McReynolds for a 17-yard touchdown with 35 seconds remaining.

Burton then kept the ball on the two-point conversion and powered into the end zone to tie the game at 17-17.

"Ryder, man — great guts, toughness," Mortensen said. "We didn't protect him great the whole night, especially early, and his eyes stayed pretty darn steady. He took some shots and made some huge throws."

Mortensen also pointed to the offense's ability to respond late after struggling to find a rhythm for much of the night.

"Defense and special teams kept us in the game," Mortensen said. "Then the offense really delivered late. We started executing the way we're capable of down the stretch."

UAB carried that momentum into overtime.

After two incompletions to begin the possession, Burton found CJ Smith for 18 yards on third-and-10 to keep the drive alive. Two plays later, Burton hit Rod Robinson II for a 6-yard touchdown, and Delange's extra point gave the Blazers their first lead of the night at 24-17.

The defense finished it in emphatic fashion.

On East Carolina's third play of overtime, Gulley intercepted Williams at the UAB 20 and raced 80 yards for the game-ending touchdown, setting off the Homecoming celebration at Protective Stadium.

"Delvon Gulley obviously had a huge play at the end there in overtime to seal the game," Mortensen said. "Guys just focused, played the next play, six seconds at a time, and tonight it got us a win."

Burton finished 19-of-37 for 262 yards and two touchdowns without an interception. Smith turned in his best performance as a Blazer with eight catches for 119 yards, while Mims added three receptions for 47 yards. McReynolds and Robinson each caught touchdown passes.

Delange remained one of UAB's most reliable weapons, converting all three of his field-goal attempts from 41, 26 and 50 yards. He now sits alone at 4th place in the UAB record book with 48 made field goals.

Defensively, Jo Pierce posted a career-high 16 tackles, including 10 solo stops, 1.5 tackles for loss, a forced fumble and a pass breakup. Muaaz Byard added 15 tackles, while Gulley finished with five tackles, two pass breakups and the game-winning interception return.

"Jo Pierce shows up everywhere," Mortensen said. "Muaaz Byard is another guy with a great nose for the ball. Those guys are awesome."

UAB finished with 361 yards of total offense, including 262 through the air. The Blazers held East Carolina to 317 total yards and just 126 passing yards.

The Blazers are idle next week before returning to action on Saturday, Oct. 31, at South Florida. Kickoff time will be announced at a later date.

###