[9] East Carolina was heavily favored to win the game, including predictions from all six CBS Sports panelists, ESPN writers, Bleacher Report, and Dr. Saturday, a feature from Yahoo Sports,[10][11][12][13] as Ohio had fallen apart in the latter half of the season, and ECU's offense was very explosive offensively.
"[10] The Bobcats continued their recent winning ways, finishing 7–5 overall and 4–4 in-conference (tied with the Akron Zips for third place in the MAC East Division).
[18] The Bobcats' leading receiver was second team all-conference honoree Donte Foster,[21] who caught 63 passes for 858 yards and 6 touchdowns.
[18][21] Ohio's offensive line was anchored by fifth-year seniors Jon Lechner, a right guard, and Ryan McGrath, a right tackle.
[24] Broadcast on ESPN, Beth Mowins handled the play-by-play duties, Joey Galloway was the analyst, and Paul Carcaterra was the sideline reporter.
On ESPN Radio, the game's broadcasters were Eamon McAnaney (play-by-play), Anthony Becht (analyst), and Ian Fitzsimmons (sideline).
Ohio achieved a few first downs, however quarterback Tyler Tettleton threw an interception to Michael Dobson, setting ECU up with good field position around midfield.
On the ensuing possession, ECU drove down the field on 5 plays for 55 yards, with the drive culminating in a 5-yard pass from Shane Carden to Cam Worthy, taking a 7–0 lead.
When ECU regained possession of the ball, they embarked on a drive that was highlighted by a 39-yard rush by Vintavious Cooper, as well as a 15-yard pass to Justin Hardy on which he broke the career receiving yard record, but failed to score when Ohio stopped ECU on a fourth down conversion attempt in the red zone.
[25] At the end of the first quarter, Ohio embarked on a drive during which they gained 26 yards on a flea flicker pass from Tettleton to Daz'mond Patterson, gained 15 more thanks to a personal foul on ECU, and then scored on a 17-yard swing pass from Tettleton to Patterson, making the score 14–7 ECU.
As happened in the first quarter, ECU stalled in the red zone on their ensuing drive, failing to convert a fourth down, but Ohio went three-and-out, thus negating their momentum.
After exchanging punts, ECU advanced into Ohio territory on a drive highlighted by a 37-yard pass from Carden to Worthy, but that was decimated once deep in Ohio's territory by a chop block penalty, ultimately forcing the Pirates to settle for a 29-yard field goal attempt that Harvey missed wide right.
[27] Early in the quarter, Ohio took its first lead of the game when Yazdani made a 28-yard field goal that culminated a 6-play, 69-yard drive.