news-record.com

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Mikell Simpson was supposed to be the speed guy and Cedric Peerman the
grind-it-out, move-the-chains runner in Virginia's tailback rotation.

Try convincing the East Carolina Pirates of that.

Peerman reeled off touchdown runs of 78 and 60 yards Saturday as the Cavaliers continued their resurgence with a victory over the Pirates.

Both scoring runs gave Peerman a chance to showcase his speed. On the first one, Peerman beat one defender to the edge and broke a tackle at the sideline before outrunning the East Carolina secondary 78 yards to the end zone to erase a 6-0 deficit.

"I have to give him credit," said East Carolina defensive back Van Eskridge. "I tried to tackle him and he did a great job of keeping his feet in bounds."

The 60-yarder allowed Peerman to turn on the jets even quicker as tackle Eugene Monroe and the rest of the left side of the offensive line opened a huge hole. Peerman scored untouched.

"It was just a great job by the offensive line, and the receivers did a good job blocking downfield," Peerman said.

Virginia coach Al Groh wasn't surprised, noting that Peerman was a state champion in the 100-meter dash in high school, albeit in the state's smallest classification.

"Cedric Peerman clearly stood out on those big plays," Groh said. "Great effort plays that showed what kind of great speed he has, but when a guy gets to run that far, there are a lot of awards to pass out. There were an awful lot of good blocks to get him around the end there."

Peerman was slowed by a leg injury for the first three games of the season.

East Carolina 6 0 7 7 -- 20

Virginia 7 21 0 7 -- 35

ECU--FG Hartman 45

ECU--FG Hartman 35

UVa--Peerman 79 run (Reyering kick)

UVa--Peerman 60 run (Reyering kick)

UVa--Simpson 5 run (Reyering kick)

UVa--Ogletree 30 pass from Verica (Reyering kick)

ECU--Williams 1 run (Hartman kick)

ECU--B.Simmons 10 pass from Pinkney (Hartman kick)

UVa--J.Phillips 12 pass from Deke (Randolph kick)

A--52,398.

East Carolina Virginia

First downs 14 21

Rushes-yards 41-89 33-202

Passing 196 228

Comp-Att-Int 12-28-0 26-34-2

Return Yards 9 40

Punts-Avg. 7-38.3 6-34.3

Fumbles-Lost 3-2 2-0

Penalties-Yards 8-70 3-20

Time of Possession 30:50 29:10

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING--East Carolina, Williams 19-95, Harris 4-20, Whitley 2-12, B.Simmons 1-1, Team 2-(minus 13), Pinkney 13-(minus 26). Virginia, Peerman 16-173, Simpson 12-38, Team 1-0, Verica 4-(minus 9).

PASSING--East Carolina, Pinkney 12-28-0-196. Virginia, Verica 25-32-2-216, Deke 1-1-0-12, Ogletree 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING--East Carolina, Harris 6-128, B.Simmons 2-11, Taylor 1-37, Lee 1-10, Drew 1-7, Womack 1-3. Virginia, Peerman 8-26, J.Phillips 6-47, Ogletree 4-65, Covington 4-49, Devlin 2-16, Green 1-19, Jackson 1-6.