In a back and forth battle for first place in the American Athletic Conference, East Carolina University had No. 18 University of South Florida on its heels until the middle of the third, but failed to complete the upset by falling apart during the fourth quarter.
With both teams coming off of wins in the AAC, the battle for first place took place in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. After a day where the defense could not put together a stop, the Bulls pulled away for a 61-31 victory, after heading into halftime with a narrow 31-24 lead.
The Pirates, led by last week's AAC Player-of-the-Week, Thomas Sirk, seemingly went head to head with the Bulls’ quarterback Quinton Flowers.