football
GREENVILLE, N.C. – East Carolina will look to rebound from its first loss of the 2024 season on Saturday night when it concludes the non-conference portion of its schedule with a trip to Lynchburg, Virginia, and a meeting with Liberty at sold-out Williams Stadium.
Kick-off is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. and the match will be streamed live on ESPN+, with Matt Warner (live commentary), Joe Jaunch (analyst) and Emily Austen (sideline).
The Pirates are under the leadership of a sixth-year head coach Michael Houston.
East Carolina (2-1) set off fireworks early but couldn’t deliver on the big finish, suffering a 21-19 loss to in-state rival and Sun Belt Conference favorite Appalachian State last Saturday. In a high-energy, electric atmosphere the likes of which Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium hadn’t seen in two years, the Pirates jumped out to a 16-0 first quarter lead before critical errors derailed the club’s attempt to take a 3-0 lead for the first time since 2008.
Jake Garciawho completed 18 of 28 passes for 226 yards, put ECU on the scoreboard on the third snap of the game when he Winston Wright, Jr. behind the App State defense for a 65-yard pass. The Pirates, aided by one of two targeting penalties by App State on the night, then ran a 12-play drive on their second possession before Conrad kicked a 48-yard field goal for a 10-0 lead. Shavon Revel, Jr. increased the lead to 16-0 three plays later by intercepting a pass from Aguilar and running 45 yards into the end zone.
But the methodical Mountaineers controlled the second quarter, running 168 yards to ECU’s 63 and scoring three points – a 6-yard touchdown pass and a two-point conversion throw from Aguilar to Eli Wilson and two field goals from Michael Hughes to make it 16-14. App State continued to play keep-away in the second half and ended up with an advantage in time of possession (39 minutes to 21 minutes), plays (83-58), first downs (25-15) and total yards (505-324).
Liberty (3-0) remained undefeated with a 28-10 Conference USA victory over UTEP last Saturday. Running back Billy Lucas scored a career-high three rushing touchdowns and put the Flames’ first 21 points on the scoreboard. He finished the game with 21 carries for 104 yards. Quarterback Kaidon Salter was efficient at quarterback, completing 15 of 19 passes for 228 yards and a touchdown. Liberty finished the night with a season-low 415 offensive yards, which the Flames matched with 150 yards in the final quarter.
Records, winning streaks and trends in East Carolina
- The Pirates have won two of their first three games in a season for the second time under Houston. The other time that happened was in 2022, when ECU finished with an 8-5 record and defeated Coastal Carolina 53-29 in the Birmingham Bowl.
- East Carolina currently ranks 42nd nationally in total defense (432.0 yards allowed per game), 52nd in total defense (302.0 yards allowed per game) and 29th in scoring defense (12.7 points allowed per game).
- 18 different ECU defenders have recorded at least a half tackle for loss through the first three games. Overall, the Pirates have recorded 36.0 tackles for loss (-109 yards) and rank first in the nation in tackles for loss per game (12.0).
- East Carolina’s defense has scored five touchdowns since the start of the 2023 season (2/App State ’23, 1/UTSA ’23, 1/Norfolk State ’24, 1/App State ’24)
- The Pirates have forced at least one turnover in 42 of their last 46 games (and 53 of their last 60).
The series
Saturday’s meeting with Liberty will be the first in program history. East Carolina’s last game against a current member of Conference USA ended in victory when the Pirates defeated host Florida International 34-13 in a league game on Nov. 2, 2013, in Miami, Fla. ECU joined the American Athletic Conference one season later.
On the way
Since giving up its independent status in 1997, East Carolina is 68-103 (.398) when playing away from Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. This season, the Pirates are 1-0 after a 20-14 win at Old Dominion. A year ago, ECU finished the year 1-5 on the road and has a 4-2 road record in 2022 (wins at South Florida/Boca Raton, Fla., BYU, Temple and Coastal Carolina/Birmingham, Ala., and losses to Tulane and Cincinnati). Outside of the league, ECU ended a seven-game losing streak when it defeated Old Dominion 24-21 on Sept. 28, 2019, but has played just seven road games outside the AAC since then (3-4).
Comparison of the results of four games in 10 years
East Carolina’s 21-19 loss to App State dropped its record to 2-1 for the second time in the last three years. A win at Liberty would give the Pirates a 3-1 record for the first time since 2014, when they were 8-5 overall and played Florida in the Birmingham Bowl.
Against opponents outside the conference
The Pirates have posted a non-league regular season record of 46-63 (.422) since 1997, including a 2-1 clip in 2024. Last year, ECU was 1-3 in non-league games and posted a 3-1 record in 2022, picking up wins over Old Dominion, Campbell and BYU while losing the first home game to NC State. In 2021, the Pirates split their four non-league games, losing to Appalachian State and South Carolina early in the season before bouncing back and picking up wins over Marshall and Charleston Southern. During his first season as head coach at ECU in 2019 Michael Houston led the Pirates to a 3-1 record – the program’s first non-conference win since 2014. East Carolina has won 11 of its last 20 non-conference games since 2019.
A starter log
DL Chad Stephens enters the Liberty contest after starting 22 consecutive games as a member of the defensive unit. OL Hampton Ergle currently has the longest offensive start streak with 16 before Saturday’s game. Against Norfolk State, ECU had 10 first-time starters in Pirate uniform: LB Zakye BarkerOIL Darius BellLB Craig by RyheemQB Jake GarciaDB Gavin GibsonTE Julia KellyDB Devon KingOL Emmanuel Poku, WR Anthony SmithWR Winston Wright, Jr.
1999 Pirates honored at UTSA game
East Carolina University athletic officials have announced that the 1999 Pirate football team will be recognized at the UTSA game on Saturday, Sept. 28, at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. The 1999 season was one of perseverance after Hurricane Floyd left catastrophic damage in Eastern North Carolina on Sept. 16. ECU had started the season 2-0 with wins over West Virginia and Duke before traveling to South Carolina. Prior to the Pirates’ 21-3 victory in Columbia, S.C., Floyd made landfall and over the next 12 hours, 15 to 20 inches of rain fell across much of Eastern North Carolina. Unable to travel home, the Pirates remained in Columbia and prepared for their home game against the ninth-ranked University of Miami Hurricanes. With parts of the city still suffering from the effects of the flooding, the game was moved to Raleigh, NC and Carter-Finley Stadium. Trailing 23-10 after the third quarter, ECU rallied from a 20-point deficit to defeat the Hurricanes and improve to 4-0. The 1999 team finished 9-3 overall, played TCU in the 1999 Mobile Alabama Bowl and received the Disney’s Wide World of Sports Spirit Award at the 1999 annual Home Depot College Football Awards.
Graduates 2024
OIL Hampton ErgleOIL Dustyn HallDS Alex HarperRB Rahjai HarrisLB Noah HolmesDB Jordan HuffTE Julia KellyP Lukas LarsenDl Jaden McKenzieDB Kingston McKinstryOIL Parker MooreTE Tyler SavageDL Chad Stephens and WR Winston Wright, Jr. all graduated before the 2024 season.
Next
East Carolina returns to Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium for its American Athletic Conference opener against UTSA on Saturday, Sept. 28. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on ESPN+.
