East Carolina will be shorthanded as the Pirates continue defense of their Conference USA championship.

Safety Dekota Marshall and tight end Rob Kass suffered season-ending injuries in last week's loss to Virginia Tech, coach Skip Holtz said Monday.

"The game came with a price," Holtz said.

Marshall broke two bones in his lower left leg midway through the first quarter of the 16-3 loss to the 20th-ranked Hokies when he took a hard hit while on punt coverage. Holtz says Marshall had surgery over the weekend.

Kass injured his right knee in the second quarter when he fumbled after a catch and had several players fall on him.

Holtz also says defensive lineman Josh Smith is questionable with a shoulder injury and missed most of last week's practices.

The injury announcements weren't unexpected, but they do cast a pall over the end of the season for the Pirates (5-4, 4-1 C-USA).

After going 0-for-3 against the three power-conference teams on the schedule, they'll have to be content to chase their second straight league title. East Carolina enters the final three games of the season alone in first place in the East Division, one game ahead of the four-way logjam in second place.

"In spite of the injuries, I think this football team is very focused and hungry," Holtz said. "This team has its eyes on the prize."

The Pirates are preparing for yet another non-Saturday game. They visit Tulsa on Sunday night in a rematch of last year's C-USA championship game. The Golden Hurricane (4-5, 2-3) are coming off a loss to No. 13 Houston, which trailed by eight in the final minute but kicked a winning 51-yard field goal on the final play to win 46-45.

"There is more pressure playing in the conference games," Holtz said. "There is carryover between each game that you play. Each game weighs more and more and the pressure starts to mount. I think the team did a nice job handling the pressure a year ago and I think that will go a long way to helping us handle things this year."