GREENVILLE — D’Eriq King threw for two touchdowns and ran for another and Houston’s defense mostly stifled East Carolina in a 42-20 win on Saturday night.
King threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Courtney Lark, and then ran for an 8-yard touchdown and the Cougars (5-1, 2-0 Conference USA) led 14-0 before the midway mark of the first quarter. With 68 seconds before halftime, King threw a 6-yard touchdown to Romello Booker for a 21-3 lead.
With five minutes left in the third, Ed Oliver sacked Reid Herring, forced a fumble and Emeke Egbule scooped it up and ran it five yards into the end zone for a 28-6 lead. East Carolina didn’t reach the end zone until 5:15 left to play. The Cougars’ defense held East Carolina to 41 yards rushing on 31 carries.
Trevon Brown led East Carolina (2-4, 0-3) with 13 receptions for 153 yards and a touchdown.