Houston overcomes weather and ECU in 31-24 win

Oct 24, 2021, 10:42 am

HOUSTON -- — Alton McCaskill ran 25-yards for a touchdown in overtime and Houston's defense forced a turnover in the extra session and the Cougars beat East Carolina 31-24 late Saturday.

The game, which was originally set to begin at 3 p.m. Central, was delayed 20 minutes due to lightning. At 3:20 p.m., it was delayed after a brief start and didn't resume until five hours later. It ended close to midnight in Houston.

It finally ended when JoVanni Stewart recovered Ryan Jones' fumble which was initiated on a tackle by Donavan Mutin after Jones took a short pass from Holton Ahlers.

Down 24-10, Ahlers ran it in from the 1 with 6:59 left in regulation before the Cougars (6-1, 4-0 American Athletic Conference) turned it over on their first play from scrimmage on the following drive.

Inheriting a short field, Ahlers threw a 13-yard scoring pass to Audie Omotosho with 5:43 left to force overtime. Ahlers threw for 278 yards and two touchdowns for ECU (3-4, 1-2).

Clayton Tune threw for 169 yards and two touchdowns for Houston.

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