GREENVILLE, N.C. (AP) — BYU’s Evan Johnson had a goal-line interception followed by a short pick-6 on East Carolina’s next throw to help the Cougars beat the Pirates 34-13 on Saturday night.

Johnson’s takeaways highlighted the win for BYU (3-0), which had allowed just three points through wins against Portland State and Stanford.

The defense twice kept the Pirates (2-2) out of the end zone on drives that breached BYU’s 10-yard line. Johnson cut in front of a bad-decision throw by Katin Houser for a TD-preventing pick that ended one second-quarter drive, while BYU held ECU to a third-quarter field goal after taking a 20-3 lead.

“At the beginning, I thought defensively we took them out of their rhythm, out of their fast pace,” BYU coach Kalani Sitake said.

BYU freshman quarterback Bear Bachmeier accounted for two touchdowns in his first road game, hitting Carsen Ryan for a 20-yarder in the third and scoring on a 16-yard keeper in the fourth. LJ Martin broke free for a 41-yard TD with 3:44 left as a punctuating score.

BYU surrendered its first touchdown this year on Houser’s 2-yard run midway through the fourth, though the Cougars led 27-6 by that point.

“We’ve got to clean up some mistakes,” ECU coach Blake Harrell said. “We’ve got to clean up the penalties. And that’s us. That’s all of us together doing those things.”

The takeaway

BYU: The Cougars, the top vote-getter among unranked teams for the AP Top 25 poll, are 3-0 for the third straight year and fifth time in six seasons.

ECU: The Pirates had outscored Campbell and Coastal Carolina 94-3 since the season-opening loss at N.C. State. But things went poorly Saturday with seven false-start penalties along with the two turnovers.

Johnson’s big day

Johnson’s score stood out, coming only minutes after his goal-line pick and with BYU leading just 6-3.

ECU muffed a punt return to start from its own 1 with 59 seconds before halftime. On the next snap, Houser threw left toward Anthony Smith, only to see Johnson pounce on the route for an easy score.

“It was just something we saw on film the whole week,” Johnson said, adding: “The quarterback gave me the three-step (drop), and that was my opportunity to just time it and just know I’ve got to go make a play and get the ball.”

He needed only three strides to score, skipping in celebration before stopping briefly to wave into the camera lens of a photographer sitting behind the end zone.

Harrell said BYU “did a good job of disguising” their defensive look leading to Houser’s throw, which led to BYU taking “a pretty good swing there going the other way.”

Up next

BYU: The Cougars open Big 12 play by visiting Colorado on Sept. 27.

ECU: The Pirates open American Conference play by hosting Army in a short turnaround Thursday.

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