HOUSTON -- Alton McCaskill's 25-yard touchdown run for Houston on the first play of overtime stood up as the gamewinner as JoVanni Stewart pounced on a fumble on East Carolina's second play of the extra period, giving the Cougars a wild 31-24 win against the Pirates Saturday night at TDECU Stadium.

The game, which was delayed five hours and 20 minutes due to steady thunderstorms in Houston, Saw East Carolina erase a 24-10 deficit in the final seven minutes of regulation to force overtime. The Pirates won the toss and elected to play defense to start OT, and McCaskill broke through for 25 yards on the first play to put the Cougars back on top.

Needing a touchdown on its posession to stay alive, East Carolina got the ball to Ryan Jones on a pop pass on the Pirates' second play, but Houston's Donavan Mutin got a helmet on the ball to force a fumble, which was recovered by Stewart to end the game.

Houston won despite finishing with 256 total yards and 87 rushing yards, but the Cougar defense was equally stingy. Houston had three fumble recoveries, including the clincher in overtime, and held the Pirates to 82 rushing yards and 1-of-11 efficiency on third down.

The teams had combined for 27 points in the first quarter, but managed 21 through the rest of regulation. The Pirates had a 10-3 lead on a 40-yard scoring strike from Holton Ahlers to Jsi Hatfield, but the Cougars answered on Marcus Jones' 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, the third TD return of the season for the All-America and the 2020 American Athletic Conference Special Teams Player of the Year.

The win improved Houston to 6-1 overall and 4-0 in the American Athletic Conference, leaving the Cougars atop the conference standings heading into next week's showdown against 7-0/3-0 SMU.

East Carolina fell to 3-4 overall and 1-2 in The American.