Six Home Games Highlight 2003 Football Schedule
February 07, 2003 | Football
GREENVILLE, N.C. -- Six home games plus a date at 2001 national champion Miami are among the highlights of East Carolina University's 2003 football schedule, released on Friday.
The Pirates will have at least two nationally televised contests in 2003 as part of Conference USA's agreement with ESPN.
New head football coach John Thompson will make his official debut with the Pirates on Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 1, with a televised Conference USA game at Cincinnati. The only other non-Saturday game on the schedule is a midweek matchup at home against Houston on either Tuesday night, Sept. 30, or Wednesday night, Oct. 1, which will also be televised by either ESPN or ESPN2.
The six-game home slate also includes non-conference tilts with West Virginia (Sept. 6) and North Carolina (Oct. 11), and C-USA games against Louisville (Oct. 25), South Florida (Nov. 8), and Southern Miss (Nov. 29).
The Oct. 11 game against in-state rival North Carolina is expected to be a hot ticket in Greenville as it will be the Tar Heels' first-ever visit to Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. The two teams met in front of a sell-out crowd in Chapel Hill in 2001, which was their first meeting in 20 seasons.
"We are happy to be able to have six home games as part of the 2003 football schedule," Director of Athletics Mike Hamrick said. "We feel this is as good a schedule as any we've ever had here with a competitive Conference USA slate plus four outstanding non-conference games. We are also pleased that ESPN has decided to televise two of our games which will provide outstanding exposure for our program."
Thompson, who was named the Pirates' head coach in December after spending last season as defensive coordinator at the University of Florida, echoed Hamrick's sentiments.
"We are looking forward to the Conference USA games and we've got a great non-conference schedule as well," Thompson said. "The lineup of home games is outstanding and I think it's great that we are able to have our players experience some unique road venues such as the Louisiana Superdome, West Point, and the Orange Bowl."
ECU season tickets can be ordered online at www.ECUpirates.com, the official web site of ECU athletics, beginning Thursday, Feb. 20. Individual tickets for all home games, with the exception of the Oct. 11 date with North Carolina, will also be available online on Feb. 20. Fans can purchase individual tickets, if available, for the ECU-UNC game after the conclusion of season ticket sales. Ticket order brochures will also be mailed in early March.
Start times for the 2003 schedule will be announced at a later date.
