Tulsa
Golden Hurricane

"I never thought that would be the goal," said senior linebacker Mike Bryan. "It is very important for me to not have a losing season my senior year. It's already a disappointment or a bust or whatever you want to call it. So it's a big disappointment. It would be a major disappointment to end up 5-6 or 5-7. It would be a disappointment to me and a disappointment to everybody here at this university."

Injuries to the receiving corps and a thin offensive line finally took its toll as Tulsa?s offense imploded in the fourth quarter. Three straight scores by the ECU defense turned a six-point Pirates? lead into a rout.

Kinne, lacking protection all night, was intercepted twice with both returned for scores. He also fumbled, which was scooped up by an ECU defender and returned for a touchdown.

"When we scored before halftime, I felt like our guys were spirited," Graham said. "We did some stupid things there in that first half that hurt us. What's killed us is turning the football over and making stupid mistakes. We have to get this thing going back in a positive direction."

SEASON RECAP:

East Carolina 44, Tulsa 17 -- The Golden Hurricane (4-6, 2-4 Conference USA) have lost five in a row. The Pirates led 23-17 after three quarters and closed out the game with 21 unanswered points. The offense had its worst game in several weeks, as Tulsa gained a season-low 30 yards rushing on 31 carries and G.J. Kinne had two interceptions returned for scores by East Carolina. The Pirates outgained Tulsa 517-266 in total yards.

--The Golden Hurricane had not had an interception returned against them for a touchdown all season until Sunday, when East Carolina did it twice.

GAME BALL GOES TO: WR Damaris Johnson -- There wasn?t much that Johnson didn?t do Sunday. He had more than 300 all-purpose yards for the second time in his career and made 14 catches for 135 yards, including a nine-yarder for a touchdown.

KEEP AN EYE ON: P Michael Such -- Four of his six punts on Sunday dropped inside the 20-yard line, and he still was able to average 44.2 yards per punt. Such had a long punt of 52 yards. Save for racking up 45 points two weeks ago against Houston, the Tulsa offense has sputtered over the past several weeks, and Such consistently has kept opponents from working on a short field. He is averaging more than six punts per game with a 43.5-yard average on the season.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "It's a little bit hard to comprehend. I've never felt this before. It's a weird feeling. We're taking it the best we can, and there's not much we can do about it. But this five-game losing streak is unbelievable. It's hard for me to comprehend. It's like I'm going to wake up anytime now. It's a bad dream. But no, it's reality. We're going through a tough time right now. We'll get out of it, though." -- Tulsa LB Mike Bryan on the team?s five-game losing streak.

ROSTER REPORT:

--WR A.J. Whitemore did not dress out for the second straight week after suffering a concussion the week of the Houston game.

--WR Slick Shelley did not play for the second game in a row after getting injured in the first quarter against Houston.