GREENVILLE — Saturday represented the likely low-point of the East Carolina football team’s 2015 season in the form of an ugly 22-17 loss to South Florida.

With a nearly silent first half offensively and poorly played fourth quarter by the ECU (4-6, 2-4 American Athletic Conference) defense, the Pirates dropped their third straight game and moved under .500. McNeill felt his team was prepared, he thought his team would win, but again, it fell.

“I was disappointed because we practiced extremely well this week and I expected, and we expected, to have a very productive day,” said McNeill.

Quarterback James Summers took the start and played a full game behind center — the first such outing for an ECU quarterback since the 45-21 loss to Navy in the third game of the season. The offense faltered under Summers and slipped in the mud all evening. The Pirate offense was held to 29 yards and no first downs in the first half.

Summers stood stoic in front of the media after the loss. He said is just came down to execution.

“(The frustrations) were more with me and within myself,” Summers said outside of the ECU locker room just minutes after walking off the field from the loss. “I’ve got to do better with that and execute better. Same old stuff, just the stuff we have to clean up.”

ECU was put on the board late in the second quarter following a fumble recovery on the USF seven-yard line. Summers plowed in a run on the left side to make it a 12-7 game at the half. But the Pirate offense continued to struggle.

Summers’ behind center in the drizzling rain in Dowdy-Ficklen Saturday could have conjured memories of the JUCO quarterback’s home debut against Virginia Tech. Summers ran for 169 yards and two touchdowns on the ground while throwing for another that day. ECU won 35-28 and moved to 2-2 on the young season with the win.

There was a quite confidence in the players after the early-September home victory. There was still that aura around the team before the season-altering loss to Temple. ECU still had a viable chance at a conference championship game three weeks ago while sitting at 4-3 and 2-1 in conference.

Temple, Connecticut and South Florida retired the Pirates in order and with relative ease. The typically high-powered offense failed to put up 20 points for the third consecutive game this week, the first time since November of 2008 (ECU won two of those three matchups).

Jordan Williams came up with 10 tackles in the win. The sophomore was clearly frustrated following the loss. Williams repeatedly mentioned the importance of the bye week upcoming after ECU played 10 consecutive weeks. The step away will be important for the entire team to take a step back and freshen legs before the final two games of the season.

“We’re just looking forward to this bye week to get rested and just focus on us,” said Williams.

But the resounding message from the Pirates’ second leading tackle was a look of frustration from watching another game slip away in the fourth quarter.

Standing about a foot away from Williams was ever-confident senior linebacker Zeek Bigger who stands as the image of what could be for the Pirates.

“Well, it was a lot of fun but we came up short but we got two more,” Bigger said in his first statement following the loss.

ECU must win its final two games to finish bowl eligible. The Pirates will have a week off before heading out on the road to play Central Florida. ECU will then finish its season at home against Cincinnati Thanksgiving weekend.