The combination of an open date, Thursday night prime-time TV appearance and "blackout" could not stir up quite the recipe to get East Carolina back in the win column.

SMU rode the brief hot hand of quarterback Preston Stone to two first-quarter touchdowns and converted a pair of second-half turnovers into points on the way to a 31-10 American Athletic Conference win before a Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium crowd of 33,444 and ESPN audience.

ECU (1-5, 0-2 AAC) mustered very little on offense despite running 16 more plays and a nearly nine-minute advantage in time of possession, punting 11 times to go along with the two costly turnovers. The Pirates came up empty on their final 10 possessions, including all nine in the second half, after drawing within 14-10.

"We obviously have a lot of things we've got to clean up and do better, and that's what is getting us," fifth-year head coach Mike Houston said. "A lot of the same issues that have gotten us in several games continue, and those issues will continue to be addressed, and we'll continue to search for people that will come through and make those plays."

One of the biggest searches remains at quarterback, where both Alex Flinn and Mason Garcia have taken snaps in each game. Flinn started for the fourth straight game but exited after two series, completing 2 of 4 passes for 7 yards.

He returned after three series in the third quarter and finished 6 of 13 for 38 yards through the air and added 14 yards on four carries.

Garcia directed a pair of scoring drives, completing 12 of 26 passes for a career-high 155 yards and rushing for a team-high 38 yards on 12 carries, including a 6-yard touchdown run.

"We had planned to play Mason the third or fourth series; we had talked about it coming into the game," Houston said. 'He knew that; Alex knew that. I thought the way the game started it was the right decision to go with Mason at that time, and I thought he gave us a great spark."

Despite who directed the offense, the Pirates' season-long drought of hitting big plays continued. Garcia's 45-yard pass to Chase Sowell accounted for the only play of more than 15 yards on the night. ECU came into the game with just 12 plays of 20-plus yards on the year and has not registered a touchdown-scoring play of more than 11 yards.

All told, the Pirates managed 97 yards on the ground on 38 carries, an average of 2.6 per try. Sowell emerged as the lone bright spot on offense with his second-straight seven-reception game for a career-high 120 yards.

"We were extremely explosive last year, and now we're not as explosive," he said. "If we can get some better consistency with our execution, there is some explosive plays there. We've got to execute better and all be on the same page."

ECU's defense, meanwhile, did enough to keep the score within striking distance until the fourth quarter. After surrendering two early touchdown passes, the Pirates put the clamps on Stone and the Mustangs (4-2, 2-0 AAC) for the better part of two quarters.

Stone, effective at scrambling and dodging pressure, put the Mustangs up 14-0 with touchdown passes of 21 yards to Key'Shawn Smith and 24 yards to Roderick Daniels, connecting on seven straight tosses after and 0-for-3 start. The first score capped a 69-yard drive highlighted by a diving 39-yard grab by Smith – the first big play after a sluggish start by both offenses.

The sophomore quarterback then misfired on 14 of his next 21 passes before finishing 19 of 38 for 276 yards, capping the night with a 43-yard touchdown pass to RJ Maryland with 2:29 to play. The Mustangs found no headway in the running, gaining only 58 yards on 23 carries.

"We prepared for it all week, talked about it all week," defensive back Shavon Revel said of the defensive effort. "I feel like we played that good."

As the defense settled in, Garcia helped engineer a rally to get ECU within 14-10. A 14-play, 44-yard drive ended in Andrew Conrad's career-best 49-yard field goal, then Garcia barreled in from 6 yards to finish off a season-long 81-yard drive.

The two teams traded punts on the first seven possessions of the second-half – there were a combined 20 punts on the night – before the Mustangs seized control with 10 points off a pair of turnovers. The first came when Kobe Wilson stripped the ball from Flinn at the end of a 14-yard run – a play that was revealed by a review.

Collin Rogers, who missed earlier from 38 yards, booted a 50-yard field goal for a 17-10 lead. Then with 7:22 to play, Jonathan McGill picked off a Flinn pass and sprinted 34 yards to make it 24-10.

That interception thwarted any thoughts of a comeback.

"The receiver saw it one way, and the quarterback saw it another," Houston said. "It's an option route. Obviously, they've got to be on the same page. You can't throw that pick. It's 17 to 10. It's very much a ball game, so that one hurt."

And it followed a script of nearly every game this season except the opener at No. 2 Michigan. The Pirates have faltered in the second half after leading or being within one score.

"That's the difference between winning and losing, finishing ballgames and playing when the pressure's on," Houston said. "We've been able to do that a lot in the past, but we haven't been able to do that this year. We've got to find a way to do that, and we have a great opportunity next Saturday."

ECU hosts new AAC member Charlotte for Homecoming at 2 p.m. on Oct. 21.