During an appearance Saturday morning on ESPN's College GameDay, Pat McAfee called East Carolina Pirates head coach Mike Houston "the softest coach I've ever seen in my entire life" just hours after Houston and Cincinnati Bearcats head coach Luke Fickell had a lengthy discussion at the conclusion of UC's 55-17 win against ECU at Nippert Stadium.
Fickell apologized and explained that the fourth-quarter fake punt with a 32-point lead was not a called play. Houston said he was "not going to forget tonight." ESPN2's Andre Ware said the fake punt sent a message. Matt Austin said "the team that's behind is not gonna like that play call.