Houston Cougars beat East Carolina Pirates 27-13 Tuesday, Sep. 30, 2003 Boxscore GREENVILLE, North Carolina (Ticker) -- Kevin Kolb tossed two touchdown passes to Brandon Middleton as Houston opened its Conference USA slate with a 27-13 triumph over winless East Carolina. Kolb completed 18-of-27 passes for 263 yards and Middleton had five receptions for 135 yards for the Cougars (4-1, 1-0 C-USA), who avenged last season's 54-48, triple-overtime loss to the Pirates. It was the first Conference USA contest for Art Briles, the first former Houston player to coach the team. East Carolina (0-5, 0-2) grabbed a 10-7 lead 2:40 into the second quarter on a one-yard plunge by quarterback Desmond Robinson, but the ensuing kickoff went out of bounds, giving Houston the ball at the 35-yard line. On the next play from scrimmage, Kolb tossed a 65-yard TD pass to Middleton. Middleton has had at least 100 receiving yards and a touchdown in four of the Cougars' five games. Houston harassed Robinson into 8-of-14 passing for 53 yards with two interceptions. Backup Paul Troth was incomplete on his first 10 attempts and finished 2-of-13 for 42 yards with an interception. Anthony Evans capped the scoring with a 48-yard run off an option pitch from Kolb with 8:36 remaining. Evans totaled 69 yards on eight carries for the Cougars, who outgained the Pirates, 437 yards to 200. East Carolina had won four of the first five meetings between the schools, including the previous three.