BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) -- UAB finally has a victory over a ranked opponent after seven tries and nearly four years.

Playing for an injured starter, redshirt freshman Thomas Cox ran for two second-half touchdowns and threw for another Saturday to lead the Blazers to a 36-17 win over East Carolina (No. 17 ESPN/USA Today, No. 18 AP).

Rodregis Brooks, who was taken off the field on a stretcher in the first half after apparently hurting his neck, came back and scored on a 91-yard interception return. He set up another score with a 59-yard punt return.

"I give our offense a lot of credit," said UAB coach Watson Brown. "In the last two weeks we have just had injury after injury."

East Carolina, averaging 172 yards a game on the ground, managed only 9 rushing yards on 32 attempts against a UAB defense that got tougher as the day went on.

UAB (4-5, 3-2 in Conference USA), which had lost six previous games against ranked opponents, looked outmanned early as East Carolina (7-2, 3-2) jumped to a 17-6 lead at halftime.

But the Blazer defense toughened after the break, pushing the Pirates backward and forcing mistake after mistake.

"We thought that we had everything under control at halftime," said East Carolina coach Steve Logan. "In the second half, it was one thing after another, which was a lot to their credit."

Playing because starter Daniel Dixon sprained an ankle during practice last week, Cox took advantage of the Pirates' miscues and good field position. He threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to Ernest Cox and ran for scores of 5 and 3 yards.

Jake Arians added field goals of 41, 33 and 22 yards for the Blazers.

East Carolina lost a gamble on its first drive of the second half.

Facing fourth-and-10 from their own 39, the Pirates faked a punt but Andrew Bayes' pass to Erik Hines fell incomplete near the sideline. UAB capitalized when Cox threw the scoring pass to Ross, but the 2-point try failed.

A fumble by East Carolina quarterback David Garrard at the UAB 31 led to the 41-yard field goal by Arians, who made it 17-15.

The Pirates took the ball at their own 20 and wilted under a relentless rush by UAB. Scrambling out of the pocket, backup quarterback Richard Alston fumbled and UAB's Eric Lampley recovered at the Pirates 5. Cox scored on the next play to put UAB ahead for good.

Brooks, who leads the nation in interceptions with eight, took control after that. Carried off the field as a precaution after suffering an apparent neck injury in the second quarter, doctors cleared him to play after X-rays showed he wasn't badly hurt.

""It was kind of scary," said Brooks, injured making a tackle. "At first it did not bother me. Then the pain started shooting down my left arm and body."

There was another problem: Trainers had to cut away Brooks' jersey to examine him, and the team didn't have a spare. So Brooks returned to play wearing last season's jersey, which his mother had worn to the game.

"I was proud to have a shirt to give to my son," said Cathey Brooks.

Brooks' long punt return in the third quarter set up Cox's 3-yard scoring run on a bootleg. Proving he was OK, Brooks ran through the entire East Carolina defense and jumped into the end zone after intercepting Garrard's pass at the UAB 9.

East Carolina scored touchdowns on a 29-yard pass from Garrard to Arnie Powell and a 25-yard fumble recovery by Kevin Monroe. Brantley Rivers added a 26-yard field goal.