East Carolina Releases 2006 Football Schedule
February 09, 2006 | Football
Feb. 9, 2006
GREENVILLE, N.C. - Eight contests against bowl participants, including home games against Nokia Sugar Bowl winner West Virginia and Virginia, highlight East Carolina's 2006 complete football schedule released Thursday by Conference USA.
In addition, the Pirates will open the season against the nation's top-ranked rushing attack when they meet Navy in Annapolis Sept. 2 before closing the year by renewing their 23-game rivalry with Atlantic Coast Conference member North Carolina State at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh Nov. 25.
East Carolina's schedule will also feature a six-week stretch of five consecutive games at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, a first in school history. On the back end, the Pirates will play four of their last five games on the road.
Of the eight bowl opponents on ECU's schedule, seven recorded victories in December and January. In addition to the Midshipmen (Poinsettia), Cavaliers (Music City), Wolfpack (Meineke Car Care) and Mountaineers, who posted a 38-35 win over Georgia, the Pirates will also face off against Conference USA post-season winners Memphis, Southern Miss and Tulsa.
"Needless to say, I'm excited about our non-conference schedule and the opportunity to spend nearly a month and a half of the season without leaving Greenville," ECU Head Coach Skip Holtz said. "Unfortunately, it comes with a price of having to play four of our last five games on the road during a critical stretch of the year. We obviously need to be ready to play early and get off to a fast start with Navy, West Virginia, Virginia and two tough Conference USA games right out of the chute."
After opening the season against Navy's triple-option scheme, East Carolina will begin C-USA play a week later when it visits UAB. After meeting the Blazers, the Pirates will open an unprecedented five-game homestand beginning Sept. 16 when they host Memphis and ending Oct. 21 when they welcome SMU to Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
East Carolina's matchup against West Virginia, which finished the 2005 season ranked No. 5 in the Associated Press and No. 6 in the USA Today Top 25 polls and owned a 20-15 win over the Pirates last September, is scheduled to be televised nationally by ESPN or ESPN2. After an off week, the Pirates will face their first of two ACC opponents when Virginia makes its first-ever visit to Greenville Oct. 7.
The Pirates will close out the long home stretch by hosting defending C-USA champion Tulsa Oct. 14 before meeting the Mustangs a week later. ECU will then follow by playing four of its last five away from Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, which include road games against long-time rival Southern Miss (Oct. 28), UCF (Nov. 4), Rice (Nov. 18) and N.C. State with a home battle against Marshall (Nov. 11) featured in the middle.
The trip to Carter-Finley Stadium will be East Carolina's first since 1997 and will renew a series with N.C. State that dates back to 1970. Although the Wolfpack lead the series 14-9 and handed the Pirates a 52-14 loss during their last meeting in 2004, ECU has captured four of the last six meetings since 1987.
