Houston 52, East Carolina 27

The Cougars gain bowl eligibility with a win over the Purple Pirates of East Carolina yesterday.

The Good: It was D'Eriq King's first ever start at quarterback, and he proved that he deserved the start by completing 15 of 21 passes for 330 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. He also rushed for a touchdown. The Cougar ground game added another 142 yards; RBs Duke Catalon and Mulbah Car both had rushing touchdowns. East Carolina turned the ball over three times (one of which resulted in a pick six for the Coogs) and missed a field goal. The Cougar defense held the Pirates to only 36 rushing yards.

The Bad: As bad as ECU's secondary was, UH's pass defense wasn't much better. The Pirates scorched the Cougar defense for 468 passing yards and three touchdowns, and outscored the Coogs 17-7 at one point during the second and third quarters. Although the Cougars were able to end the game against a lesser opponent, their playcalling left a lot of people scratching their heads at times. I'm not impressed with either of HC Major Applewhite's coordinators at this point; some changes probably need to be made after the season is over.

The Ugly: Gonna go with John Royal, whose dispatch from TDECU for the Houston Press may have been his last:

TDECU Stadium was far from packed, and it is evident that the enthusiasm the Tom Herman-era Cougars generated among UH fans and Houstonians has dissipated. By the end of the game, the stands across from the press box, from the lower level up to the upper deck were nearly empty. The weather was hot and humid, and the team has not been very exciting, so that may have worked against attendance, but a bowl-bound UH football team should still be able to generate some level of excitement. 

The conditions in the stands were hot, humid and brutal, and the announced attendance of 29,810 was probably twice the amount of actual people in the stands for this game. A lot of people who had tickets for this game simply stayed home.

I know that the league and the networks dictate kickoff times. And, arguments about global warming aside, Saturday's brutal weather was unseasonable and unexpected. But an 11 am kickoff kept a lot of fans at home, devastated UH's normally-robust tailgating culture, and doubtlessly ruined the homecoming festivities a lot of colleges and alumni groups wanted to have. UH administration needs to use whatever power they have to push back against 11 am kickoff times in the future. They might work for the Big 10 or ACC, but they just don't work for Houston.

What It Means: The Cougars secure a winning season (they play only 11 games due to the fact that the UTSA game was canceled) and bowl eligibility with the win.

They get next Saturday off before they make a road trip to play Tulane. Because I can rarely turn down a opportunity to travel to New Orleans, I'll be there.