Senior kicker T.J. Lawrence had two chances late in the fourth quarter to win the game for the Cougars, but he missed two field goals in the final two minutes of Saturday’s game as Houston fell 37-35 to East Carolina before 20,719 at Robertson Stadium.
Lawrence missed a potential game-winning 30-yard field goal attempt with eight seconds left in the game, which ensured the Cougars their second loss of the season as they dropped to 2-2 overall and 1-1 in Conference USA.
The loss ended Houston’s six-game home winning streak, the longest winning streak in the history of John O’Quinn Field at Robertson Stadium. It was also the Cougars’ first loss to a C-USA team in eight games.
Lawrence’s first chance to be the hero came with 1:55 left in the game. He missed wide-left on a 37-yard field goal that would have put the Cougars ahead by one.
"I take all the blame for the loss," Lawrence said. "The defense did everything they could. The offense did their job. I should have made the field goal. We do that al the time in practice, but when it came down to it I just didn’t take care of business."
The Cougars defense responded by making some huge plays, forcing East Carolina (2-3, 1-1 C-USA) to punt with 1:41 left in the game to give the offense a chance to score.
The defense made another key stop earlier in the game when senior linebacker Brendan Pahulu sacked East Carolina sophomore quarterback Rob Kass in the fourth quarter. The sack forced the Pirates into fourth-and-11 and put them out of field goal range.
The Pirates were forced to punt with 7:33 left in the game.
Following Pahulu’s defensive stop, sophomore quarterback Blake Joseph led the Cougars on a 10-play, 76-yard drive, which was capped by a 4-yard touchdown run by senior running back Anthony Alridge.
A 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by senior wide receiver Donnie Avery cut the Pirate’s lead to 37-35 heading into the fourth quarter.
Avery finished with three touchdowns (two receiving, one on the kickoff return) and 350 all-purpose yards, the second-highest single-game total in UH history.
Avery’s kickoff return for a touchdown produced the last points scored in Saturday’s game.
Houston was forced to play from behind for much of Saturday’s game, but seemed to regroup when Joseph entered the game in the second quarter in place of starter Case Keenum.
However, the Cougars committed three turnovers, and that proved costly.
"Turnovers is what killed us," Joseph said. "We can’t keep turning the ball over; we’re a better team than that."
The Cougars scored with nine seconds left in the first on a 5-yard touchdown pass from Joseph to Alridge. The Cougars took a 21-20 lead into the locker room at halftime.
East Carolina sophomore defensive lineman C.J. Wilson blocked a Lawrence field goal attempt late in the second quarter, and junior defensive lineman Zach Slate returned it 50 yards to the Houston 11-yard-line.
East Carolina converted great field position into seven points on a 1-yard touchdown run from junior running back Brandon Simmons to give the Pirates a 20-14 lead.
Pirates senior running back Chris Johnson also contributed to the Pirates with 147 rushing yards on 24 carries, an average of 6.1 yards-per-carry in the game, the highest of any player on both teams.
The Cougars scored when Joseph connected with senior wide receiver Donnie Avery on a 36-yard pass on fourth down and put the Cougars ahead 14-13.
