The East Carolina Pirates (2-7, 1-4 AAC) were never able to establish a consistent performance and their up-and-down play ended in a crushing loss to Houston, 52-27.
Thomas Sirk started the game after exiting ECU's win two weeks ago against Brigham Young University. On the first play of the game, a flea-flicker, Sirk had Davon Grayson wide open down field but overthrew him by a good 10 yards, missing an easy touchdown. After that, the Pirates were forced into a quick three-and-out, followed by an interception on Sirks next drive. He was benched and replaced by Gardner Minshew, who completed a career and program-high 52 passes for 463 yards and three touchdowns, while doing his best to single handedly drag the Pirates back into this ball game.