East Carolina 37, Houston 35

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Team Stat Comparison
1st Downs	14	23
Total Yards	329	484
Passing	156	345
Rushing	173	139
Penalties	9-65	8-72
3rd Down Conversions	6-16	6-20
4th Down Conversions	0-0	2-2
Turnovers	2	3
Possession	24:59	35:01

Air/Ground Leaders
East Carolina Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Kass 6/12 110 1 0 Pinkney 5/14 46 1 1	Houston Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Joseph 24/29 250 2 0 Keenum 6/11 95 1 2
East Carolina Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Johnson 24 147 2 43 Lindsay 5 21 0 10	Houston Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Alridge 21 89 1 22 Ganaway 8 28 0 7
East Carolina Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Bryant 3 57 0 46 Lee 1 34 1 34	Houston Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Avery 9 189 2 64 Williams 6 53 0 36

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER				ECU	HOU
	TD	03:33	Donnie Avery 64 Yd Pass From Case Keenum (T.J. Lawrence Kick)	0	7
SECOND QUARTER				ECU	HOU
	TD	14:53	Chris Johnson 14 Yd Run (Ben Hartman Kick)	7	7
	TD	12:23	Dwayne Harris 20 Yd Pass From Patrick Pinkney (Two-Point Conversion Failed)	13	7
	TD	07:38	Donnie Avery 36 Yd Pass From Blake Joseph (T.J. Lawrence Kick)	13	14
	TD	02:15	Brandon Simmons 1 Yd Run (Ben Hartman Kick)	20	14
	TD	00:09	Anthony Alridge 5 Yd Pass From Blake Joseph (T.J. Lawrence Kick)	20	21
THIRD QUARTER				ECU	HOU
	TD	13:24	T.J. Lee 34 Yd Pass From Rob Kass (Ben Hartman Kick)	27	21
	TD	08:15	Chris Johnson 43 Yd Run (Ben Hartman Kick)	34	21
	TD	04:26	Anthony Alridge 4 Yd Run (T.J. Lawrence Kick)	34	28
	FG	00:10	Ben Hartman 33 Yd	37	28
	TD	00:00	Donnie Avery 100 Yd Kickoff Return (T.J. Lawrence Kick)	37	35

HOUSTON (AP) -- Chris Johnson rushed for 147 yards and two touchdowns to lead East Carolina to a 37-35 win over Houston on Saturday night.

East Carolina (2-3, 1-1 Conference USA) led 34-21 in the third quarter and held on late as Houston (2-2, 1-1) missed two field goals in the game's final two minutes.

Houston's Donnie Avery returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown to cut East Carolina's lead to 37-35 on the final play of the third quarter.

Avery also caught nine passes for 189 yards and two touchdowns.

But Houston's comeback fell just short as T.J. Lawrence missed a 37-yard field goal with 1:55 left. His 38-yard attempt with three seconds remaining went wide right.

East Carolina trailed 21-20 at halftime, but took the lead for the good on its first possession of the third quarter.

Rob Kass threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to T.J. Lee to put East Carolina ahead 27-21 with 13:24 left in the third.

Johnson scored his second touchdown of the game on a 43-yard run that gave the Pirates a 34-21 cushion.

Houston cut into the lead on a 4-yard touchdown run by Anthony Alridge with 4:26 left in the third.

Alridge rushed for 89 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries.

Houston's Case Keenum threw two interceptions in the first half that set up East Carolina's first two touchdowns.

Keenum, who threw a 64-yard TD to Avery in the first quarter, was replaced by Blake Joseph in the second quarter.

Keenum's second interception set up Patrick Pinkney's 20-yard touchdown pass to Dwayne Harris that gave the Pirates a 13-7 lead early in the second quarter.

Joseph, who was 24-of-29 for 250 yards, threw a 36-yard TD pass to Avery to put Houston ahead 14-13.

East Carolina took a 20-14 when C.J. Wilson blocked a 49-yard field attempt, and Zack Slate returned it to the Houston 11.

Two plays later, Brandon Simmons scored on a 1-yard run.

Joseph threw a 5-yard TD pass to Alridge to give the Cougars a 21-20 halftime lead.