ECU Announces 2004 Football Schedule
March 01, 2004 | Football
GREENVILLE, N.C. -- Five games to be played at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium plus a matchup against in-state rival North Carolina State in Charlotte, N.C., highlight East Carolina University's 2004 football schedule, released on Monday.
The Pirates, entering their second season under the direction of head coach John Thompson, will open their 2004 campaign on Sept. 4 at West Virginia.
The 2004 home opener is the following Saturday, Sept. 11, against in-state foe Wake Forest.
The Conference USA slate begins at home on Sept. 25 against Cincinnati. Other C-USA home dates are Oct. 9 against Tulane, Oct. 30 against Army, and Nov. 20 against Memphis.
The conference road schedule has the Pirates playing at Louisville on Oct. 2, at Southern Miss on Oct. 23, at Houston on Nov. 6, and at USF on Nov. 13.
The renewal of the popular ECU-NC State rivalry comes in the Pirates' final regular-season game on Saturday, Nov. 27, at the 73,258-seat Bank of America Stadium, home of the NFL's Carolina Panthers. The Pirates and Wolfpack last met in 1999, with ECU taking a 23-6 win in front of a Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium record crowd of 50,092.
"We feel like this is a great schedule for us," Thompson said. "It's a very well-balanced lineup with good timing on the open dates. We open with a tough non-conference opponent, close with a tough non-conference in-state rival, and in-between, there's a good mix of Conference USA road and home games. We couldn't be happier with the way it balanced out."
Six of the Pirates' 11 opponents played in bowl games last season.
Television plans for the Pirates' 2004 schedule have not been finalized. Likewise, start times and dates for Parents' Weekend and Homecoming will be announced at a later date.
