Greenville, NC -- (Sports Network) - Rob Kass threw three touchdowns to lead the East Carolina Pirates to a 35-12 win over the Tulane Green Wave in Conference USA action at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.

Kass connected on 12-of-18 passing for 177 yards for the Pirates (7-5, 6-2 CUSA) as they won for the third time in the last four outings. Also having a big game for the home team was Chris Johnson who produced 155 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 27 carries.

The Green Wave (4-8, 3-5) were paced by Matt Forte who posted a mere 120 yards and one score on 25 carries. The team had as many as four different players attempt a pass, all combining to convert 20-of-38 for 228 yards and a pick.

Tulane opened the game's scoring with a 40-yard field goal by Ross Thevenot midway through the first quarter.

ECU then surged ahead by a 7-3 score when Kass hit Dominique Lindsay with a six-yard scoring strike less than four minutes later.

Thevenot's 35-yard field goal with 1:20 to play in the first made the score 7-6 in favor of the visitors.

The Pirates then logged a pair of touchdowns in the second quarter, thanks to a five-yard run by Johnson and a 25-yard pass from Kass to Jamar Bryant to push the advantage to 21-6 at the break.

In the third quarter ECU posted its third straight touchdown on a seven-yard scamper into the end zone by Johnson, running the lead to 28-6.

Forte's three-yard TD run late in the forth, with a failed two-point attempt, was followed by a 33-yard TD run by Johnson to put the game out of reach and into the books as a 23-point win for East Carolina.

Forte entered the weekend ranked first in the nation with an average of 182.5 ypg on the ground, representing the only player in the country to have already eclipsed the 2,000-yard rushing mark for the season. Forte finished with 2,127 yards on the ground, a total that ranks him sixth in Division I-Bowl Subdivision history.