Virginia's Kevin Ogletree (right) breaks free of East Carolina's Joe Sloan and gets into the end zone for a 30-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Marc Verica on Saturday at Scott Stadium. The score sent the Cavaliers into halftime ahead 28-6.

Virginia's Clint Sintim (51) celebrates a fourth-quarter fumble recovery in the Cavaliers' win over East Carolina. UVa's defense forced two turnovers Saturday.

Kyle Green | The Roanoke Times

Virginia's Alex Field (left) sacks East Carolina quarterback Patrick Pinkney (15) in the third quarter as linebacker Jon Copper closes in. Pinkney was sacked six times.

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Cedric Peerman performed a high-wire act Saturday at Scott Stadium, and he never had to leave the ground.

"Throughout my five-year career here, I've never had to do that before," said Peerman, who had scoring runs of 79 and 60 on consecutive rushing attempts to lead Virginia past favored East Carolina, 35-20.

Peerman appeared trapped along the sideline on both plays, even surprising himself with his maneuverability.

"I can't remember one run when I've had to tightrope like that, much less two," Peerman said. "I didn't think I had stepped out of bounds, but when I looked up at the 'Hoo Vision, even I couldn't say for sure."

Peerman's first touchdown gave Virginia a 7-6 lead and his second propelled the Cavaliers to a 21-point, 213-yard second quarter that threatened to bury the Pirates.

UVa's final score of the first half followed a fourth-and-3 conversion and came in handy when East Carolina cut the deficit to 28-20 with a pair of second-half touchdowns.

Nobody in a Scott Stadium crowd of 52,398 could feel safe until a series of events that started when ECU quarterback Patrick Pinkney fumbled the football when he was sacked by UVa freshman Matt Conrath. Cavaliers senior Alex Field recovered at the Pirates' 24-yard line with 9:24 remaining.

The Cavs advanced the ball to ECU's 12-yard line, then sent out true freshman Robert Randolph for what would have been the first kick of his college career.

Holder Scott Deke took the snap from center but never placed the ball. Instead, he raised up and threw the ball to uncovered tight end John Phillips, who had been standing in the shadow of the UVa sideline.

"They were running guys in, running guys out and it was real rush, rush," East Carolina coach Skip Holtz said. "I should've smelled a rat and called a timeout. I should have called a timeout. That's not on the players."

Both teams went home with 3-3 records, East Carolina after its third straight loss and UVa after its second straight victory. The Cavaliers had been ranked 119th out of 119 Division I-A teams in scoring offense before beating Maryland 31-0.

That was the first game of a three-game UVa homestand that continues next Saturday with a visit from No. 22 North Carolina.

"Hopefully, we can make believers out of people," UVa linebacker Clint Sintim said.

Head coach Al Groh and his players were pleased with the turnout for a noon kickoff on a Saturday when many students had gone home for fall break.

Quarterback Marc Verica was intercepted on two of Virginia's first three series, the first when a ball slipped through the hands of fullback Rashawn Jackson, and the Cavaliers were fortunate to only be down 6-0 after ECU's Ben Hartman converted two of three first-quarter field-goal attempts.

The Cavaliers had 36 yards in total offense to show for three-plus series when Peerman went off tackle, cut to the sideline and streaked 79 yards on the final play of the quarter.

It was the longest run of Peerman's career and his 60-yarder, with 10:04 remaining in the second quarter, was the second-longest. He became the first UVa player since Johnny Papit in 1948 to have two runs of 60 yards or more in the same game.

"It helps to have playmakers," said Groh, noting that Peerman is still wearing a bulky brace on his right knee.

East Carolina held Peerman to 7 yards on eight second-half carries, but the damage was done. He finished with 16 carries for 173 yards and added a career-high eight receptions.

When it left the field at halftime, Virginia's defense had gone 10 quarters without allowing a touchdown at home, but ECU had the Cavaliers on the ropes in the third quarter. It didn't help Virginia that ECU's Dwayne Harris returned the second-half kickoff 59 yards to the Virginia 41.

Harris finished the game with 261 all-purpose yards, including six receptions for 128 yards.

Pinkney bothered Virginia with his scrambling, particularly on a 10-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Simmons that made it 28-20 with 10:35 remaining in the game, but it was not one of Pinkney's best days.

A 68.1-percent passer in East Carolina first five games, Pinkney was 3-of-15 in the first half. He finished 12-of-28 for 196 yards but was sacked six times.

For the second game in a row, Virginia had more than 200 yards passing and 200 yards rushing. Verica was 25-of-32 for 216 yards and is 50-of-66 (75.7 percent) in the last two games.

"Clearly, our offensive coaches, despite some opinions, can put together a fairly good game plan and call a fairly good game," Groh said.

"Everybody's sticking together and seeing there's some light at the end. It's a long way till we get out of the tunnel, but we're making good progress. The message is being picked up."