East Carolina rips SMU

GREENVILLE, N.C. — Shane Carden and Justin Hardy have been the focus of East Carolina’s high-powered offense the past few seasons. Fittingly, they led the No. 22 Pirates into a new league Saturday with another big performance.

Playing in the program’s first American Athletic Conference game, Carden threw for 410 yards and four touchdowns while becoming the school’s all-time passing leader in a 45-24 victory against SMU. Hardy, meanwhile, had the first three touchdown receiving game of his career and continued his pursuit of the all-time receptions record in bowl subdivision history.

Carden, a fifth-year senior from Texas who was part of Coach Ruffin McNeill’s first recruiting class in 2010, set the career passing yardage record midway through the third quarter for the Pirates (4-1, 1-0), who finished with 581 yards.

“They announced it I think way too early,” Carden said. “They were announcing it and everybody was like, ‘Man, congrats.’ I was like, ‘Just stop, let’s go score right here. Let’s finish this game.’ ”

East Carolina was playing with a national ranking for the first time in six years. And while the Pirates didn’t turn in a dominating performance, they still remained in control against the Mustangs (0-5, 0-1).

In other games involving AAC teams, Rashard Higgins hauled in a career-high four touchdowns, including a 73-yarder, to lead Colorado State (4-1) to a 42-17 victory over Tulsa (1-3) in Fort Collins, Colo. Higgins finished with 6 catches for 178 yards, another career high, while Dee Hart ran for 143 yards on 11 carries and 2 touchdowns. ... Paxton Lynch threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more, leading Memphis (3-2, 1-0) to a 41-14 victory over Cincinnati (22, 0-1).