...very happy for Holton Ahlers and Pirates nation; after last week's debacle, a loss would've cast MANY doubts on the state of the program. Hats off to the Temple q, but truly, the defensive performance was another head-scratcher. I'd thought until recently that the d had evolved into a quite decent unit, but... I will give Wilk credit for that huge, perfectly timed pass breakup on Temple's last possession. Coach Houston owes his Temple counterpart a steak dinner for punting the ball at midfield on a 4th and 1 late in the 4th. "This is a gift," I said to my wife at the time, and it sure as heck proved to be; if I was a Temple fan, I'd be VERY hot at their head coach for that inexplicable call. There's at least a 2 out of 3 chance that Temple would've got the yard, which would've come pretty darn close to putting the game away for Temple. Despite the win, I was inclined to be fairly critical in my comments after ECU only eeking by a lowly Temple, but then I see a lowly Tulsa beat Houston last night, and UCF needing a last second heroic catch to beat an even lowlier USF!! ...and I have to wonder if the TD call was right, besides. I think that the lesson is that there's a TON of parity in the American, and the difference it seems more often than not between a loss and a dub is razor thin. Hopefully Tulane will spank UCF next week as a parting gift. Hopefully ECU will draw a decent bowl opponent, preferably a team from a Power 5 conference, in which a win would be meaningful for both the program and the American. For next year, hopefully a) Mason Garcia is able to live up to his recruiting billing, b) the kicking game will become stabilized, c) the secondary will become stabilized, and d) Keaton Mitchell will not be recruited away (with all due respect to Harris and Gunn, both of whom are better than average.)

Congrats to the Pirates for awakening out of the Cincy game funk, at least the offense, and bringing home the "W". Very cool to watch the run game click so well, and KM end the regular season with a real statement! Also nice to see HA, for the most part, make good decisions. Also nice to see us on the "successful" side of special teams for a change. Sad for #41, who apparently has lost the kickoff duties to #99. It's got to be tough to go from returning best AAC kicker to the bench in less than 90 days. I hope he can rebound, going forward. Hatfield and the kick return team did well. When you force the opponent to change their kick strategy, you're doing something right. Coach Huston described the defensive effort as having a few "busts". Sorry Coach, there ain't enough lipstick in MACY'S to dress up that pig. When you get toasted for 500+, you've had a bad day, not a few "busts". Bottom line, Pirates got the "W". They could have easily folded the tent, with the defense doing so poorly. The "O", and Special Teams, came through. Well done.

I was just getting over pneumonia but felt I had to see this game. I knew that Houston had a good team. but felt that we had a good chance to win. What I saw was a good old fashion butt-kicking. It appears that they came to play - we were not ready. I pray that we can beat Temple. GOOO...PPIRATES!!

Coach Houston is saying all of the usual “Coach-speak” tropes you would expect him to say, given the circumstances. The biggest problem is both the DC and OC were beaten up as badly as the Pirate players. Anyone who watched the Pirate defense flounder around the field as the Cougars exposed every weakness of the Pirates understands what a knife’s edge the “D” lives on each game. More than any game this year, Houston exposed how much Ja’Quan McMillian is missed. It doesn’t matter what conference you’re playing in, you need a lock down cornerback. The Pirates don’t come close. This forces you to loosen up the entire secondary, making every third down an adventure. The fact we haven’t seen a new face on the field getting some reps tells me there isn’t a player on the roster that can fulfill that role… depressing. The offensive collapse is more puzzling, given the success of KM in the run game. Granted, KM did much of the work on his own, without holes being opened for him. The passing game strategy seemed ill fitting to the Houston defensive scheme. Several instances of poor execution didn’t help matters, either. Pirate Nation can only hope the entire team has a short memory, otherwise it will be a long afternoon in Philly without much brotherly love.

That’s when a quick release with accuracy talent shows up.

"...always throwing long to receivers who had little to no separation." This was a significant problem vs. Cinn. last week also; it looks like the lesson wasn't learned. Yesterday overall was a troubling head-scratcher, a regression in which the whole team except for KM laid an egg in a game that, had they won, and assuming a W vs. Temple, would likely have put ECU into a bowl with a decent opponent, but that won't happen now, a W next week or not, and after yesterday, a W cannot be assumed. Of many troubling aspects to the game, one of the them, though subtle, was Garcia not looking particularly good. Obviously a few snaps only say very little, but as the future of the program, and as a 3-star recruit who has already been around for a little while, it's not unreasonable to have hoped that he'd have looked a little more comfortable under center than he did. Whereas ECU undoubtedly expected to improve on last season, the best that they can do now is equal last season’s regular season record. Hopefully they can still bring some consolation by winning the two games remaining, but now I'm also asking if there should be concern about KM's longevity as a Pirate.

I agree about the passing. Don’t have all the details I assume we had but can someone who is close suggests or at least ask about routes that cross and attack the middle of the field more??!! We seem to always be throwing to a boundary and those are difficult and actually give the defenders an advantage as I see it with the sideline. Sidelines Never miss tackles!!!

A QB with time to throw and a solid game plan to expose our secondary, yes. We had neither. UH didn't need to send extra people to pressure HA & if you cannot block a defensive line, watch out.

Wow! Total beat down. The defense was totally exposed and the final score should have been worse. Thank God, Mr. Tune wasn’t perfect, or Houston would have hung 60 on the Pirates. KM was the only bright spot, many times making plus yardage out of nothing. The passing philosophy was puzzling, always throwing long to receivers who had little to no separation. Why not take the nickel and dime stuff to make first downs and keep the ball from a superior Houston offense. Maybe the Cincy game took the fight out of the team. This was a total failure but for KM’s effort. Let’s hope the Pirates can regroup, and quickly!

Amazing what a difference a QB makes.

Yes Sir, Godwin is also Top's.

Coach says that ultimately the Pirates ended up on the short end last Fri. because they didn't make a play or two; that cannot be disputed, but I don't think that it can be reasonably disputed either that the assassin hit on KM was decisive. ...agree with the assessment of Houston above; between him and Coach Godwin, ECU is rich in revenue sports coaching talent.

Love this man!!! Coach Houston is top shelf and exactly what we needed in Pirate Nation. So happy to have him and all that he brings to the table. Looking forward to even better things from here forward. I hope we'll embrace him and this staff for a long time. So proud of the turnaround. It's fun again and exciting to look for Saturdays in the fall and early winter. Hope to have a full house Saturday and a loud one too. Go Pirates!!!!!

Pass interference is a lot like holding; it happens a lot, and called inconsistently, but the bottom line is that the ECU wideouts simply could not get separation (understandably, given the speed they were facing), and when you're the visitor, anything that's not blatant simply cannot be expected to be called. More underneath slant and/or screen passes should've been made. The other problem was Holten Ahlers being dinged up, which led to him running less, and less aggressively (also understandably.) The foregoing notwithstanding, KM getting knocked out of the contest was the difference maker far and away above anything else.

There were many instances of pass interference against the Bearcats that were either unseen or ignored. One of witch had to have been the latter, because the flag was picked up after the fact. ECU did leave a lot on the table and made some significant mistakes, but I believe that they would have definitely come out with a 'W' had the game been reasonably officiated.