ECU Heads To UCF For Thursday Night Tilt
November 17, 2015 | Football
Nov. 17, 2015
| East Carolina Game 11: UCF | |
| Date | Thursday, Nov. 19 |
| Time | 7:30 PM (EST) |
| Location | Orlando, Fla.(Bright House Networks Stadium) |
| Tickets & Parking | Buy Tickets | Parking Information |
| Live Game Coverage |  Radio: WNCT 107.9FM | ECU Pirates On Demand (Listen Live) TuneIn Radio Online (within the app search ECU or Pirate IMG Sports Network) Television: ESPN | WatchESPN |
| Internet Options | GameTracker |
| Official Web Sites | East Carolina | UCF | American Athletic Conference |
| Game Notes | East Carolina  | UCF | The American |
| 2015 Football Statistics | East Carolina | UCF |
| ECU Football Central | Gameday | Roster | Fact Book | The American | NCAA Football | College Scoreboard |
| Official Social Media Sites | |
| East Carolina | UCF | The American | |
| East Carolina | ECUScoreboard (In-Game Updates) l UCF | The American | |
| Twitter Hashtags | #ECUPirates | #ECUFootball | #ChargeOn | #AmericanRising | #USFvsECU |
| East Carolina | UCF | The American | |
GREENVILLE, N.C. -- East Carolina will close out its 2015 regular season road schedule when it travels to Orlando on Thursday for a 7:30 p.m. (EST) American Athletic Conference matchup against UCF at Bright House Networks Stadium. Bowl eligibility remains at stake for the Pirates, who are a pair of victories away from post-season qualification heading into the last two weeks of play. ECU also needs a triumph over the Knights to snap a three-game skid and avoid posting its first losing regular season slate since the 2011 campaign.
East Carolina's tilt against UCF marks the third and final non-Saturday contest this year and second-straight against the Knights, who defeated the Pirates on a time-expiring 51-yard Hail Mary pass play in 2014.
East Carolina Records and Streaks
- Qualified for 10 bowl appearances since 2000 (three-straight, eight of the last nine years) ...
- Has won 26 of the last 31 games when scoring 30 or more points ...
- Has lost 17-straight games when scoring 20 or less points (19-14 vs. UCF in `09/last win) ...
- Has won 18 of the last 20 games when gaining 200 or more rushing yards ...
- Has won 26 of the last 27 games when leading at the half ...
- Has won 10 of the last 19 regular season road games ...
- Has split its last four American Athletic Conference road games ...
- Has lost three-straight Thursday night games ...
The Series
East Carolina leads 9-4 ... The Pirates have enjoyed a pair of four-game winning streaks against the Knights, the latest from 2006 to 2009 ... UCF posted its first victory in the series during the two teams' initial Conference USA matchup in 2005 ... UCF has captured two straight in Orlando, but ECU has won six of eight (6-2) tilts played in Greenville.
`Canes, `Noles, Gators, Bulls, Knights, Owls And Panthers
The Pirates have dropped 28 of 42 all-time matchups (14-28) against FBS (formerly Division I-A) programs from the state of Florida ... ECU is 9-4 against UCF, 2-9 vs. Miami, 1-0 vs. Florida Atlantic, 1-0 vs. Florida International, 1-5 vs. USF, 0-3 vs. Florida and 0-7 vs. Florida State.
Formidable Setbacks
ECU's six losses this year have been against teams that currently sport a combined record of 43-16 (.729): Florida (9-1), Navy (8-1), BYU (7-3), Temple (8-2), UConn (5-5) and USF (6-4).
The American - Year Two
ECU has posted a 77-46 (.626) all-time mark against current members of the American Conference ... The Pirates currently own series records against Memphis (15-6), Cincinnati (12-6), Tulane (11-3), UCF (9-4), Temple (8-5), Tulsa (8-5), Houston (7-5), SMU (4-2) Connecticut (1-1), Navy (1-4) and USF (1-5).
A Toll-Taking 10-Game Grind
Before enjoying its first bye (of the year) prior to the UCF game, ECU played 10-straight weeks to open the 2015 season - ranking among the nation's longest: 13 Consecutive Weeks - Colorado, Hawai'i; 12 Consecutive Weeks - Arizona, Florida Int'l, Massachusetts, North Texas; 11 Consecutive Weeks - Eastern Michigan, Marshall, Nebraska, Texas Tech, UL-Monroe, Wyoming; 10 Consecutive Weeks - Ball State, Boston College, UCF, Connecticut, East Carolina, Kansas, Louisiana Tech, Mississippi, Penn State, Western Kentucky, Wisconsin.
Feeling Refreshed Or Shaking Off The Rust?
The Pirates haven't taken full advantage of open weeks when looking at a 10-year perspective - winning only nine of their last 14 contests following a bye since 2005 ... A closer look: 2005 (L/WFU, L/TLS), 2006 (W/UVA), 2007 (W/TLN), 2008 (L/UVA, W/UCF), 2009 (no true off -week), 2010 (L/UNC), 2011 (W/UAB), 2012 (W/TLN), 2013 (W/UNC, W/FIU) and 2014 (W/SMU, W/UConn, L/CIN) ... Since 1965, East Carolina is 29-19 in games after a break.
On The Road - Wins In 10 Of The Last 19 (Regular Season)
Since becoming a conference member in 1997, East Carolina is 53-72 (.424) when playing away from Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium ... Before a 1-4 start this season, a 3-4 mark last year and a 5-2 record in 2013, the Pirates were 3-4 in 2012, 2-4 in 2011, 2-5 in 2010, 3-4 in 2009 and 5-4 in 2008 ... When the Pirates topped the Ohio 37-20 at the Beef `O' Brady's Bowl inside Tropicana Field to close out the 2013 campaign, it marked wins in five of seven "away" contests - ECU's top road ledger since 1991 (5-1) ... From a regular season standpoint, the Pirates have won 10 of the last 19 road contests dating back to 2012 (7-6 in conference play, 3-3 in non-conference action).
The Pirate Nation - 7.9 Million Strong
East Carolina has always been able to claim plenty of hometown support, even more so when playing at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium during the fall - establishing itself as a conference attendance leader on an annual basis ... In all, a total of 7,902,943 fans have seen the Pirates in action since 1963, and in the last seven-plus years, ECU has averaged 45,671 (2,100,880/46 regular season games) ... Since the completion of a 7,000-seat expansion project in 2010 that pushed Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium's capacity to 50,000, the Pirates have drawn 1,631,657 fans - recently cracking the 1.5 million mark when 50,514 watched ECU down Virginia Tech on Sept. 26 ... ECU set back-to-back school records in total attendance and season average attendance in 2011, breaking `10 marks (297,987/49,665) with 300,069 and 50,012 fi gures that year.
NOTE: ECU's student ticket allotment of 15,000 ranks ninth nationally, trailing only Texas A&M (31,000), Ohio State (28,333), Penn State (21,500), Florida (19,500), Alabama (17,500), Texas (17,000), Florida State (16,000) and Georgia (16,000).
Attendance Leaders
In addition to departing Conference USA as a six-time attendance champion - 2008 (42,016), 2009 (41,742), 2010 (49,665), 2011 (50,012), 2012 (47,013) and 2013 (43,985), as well as topping the American Athletic Conference during its first year of membership, East Carolina has also led all non-AQ BCS conference (now referred to as the "Group of Five") members in attendance the last three seasons and currently stand third after the first 11 weeks of play ... Overall, ECU ranks 56th nationally in average attendance (43,780) and 54th in capacity percentage (87.56) so far in 2015.
NOTE: The 40,712, 50,514 and 43,065 figures announced for the Pirates' first three contests this season marked the 11th, 12th and 13th-straight home games that East Carolina had surpassed 40K in attendance before the run was snapped on Oct. 22 when 39,417 watched ECU fall to Temple on a Thursday night.
Tops In The American
As previously mentioned, ECU opened competition in the American Athletic Conference last fall and immediately took command of the attendance title ... The Pirates' average of 44,786 easily ranked ahead of UCF (37,812), Memphis (33,851), USF (30,694), Cincinnati (29,686), Houston (28,311), Connecticut (28,218), Tulane (25,892), Temple (23,370), SMU (21,528) and Tulsa (19,647). East Carolina ranks third in 2015, trailing only Temple and Memphis.
Analyzing The 2015 Schedule
East Carolina's 2015 schedule consists of games against two conference champions (UCF and Cincinnati/American co-champs), six bowl participants (Florida, Navy, Virginia Tech, BYU, UCF, Cincinnati) and four programs either currently ranked or earning votes in the two major Top 25 polls - Florida (8/8), Navy (19/19), Temple (RV) and BYU (RV). Collectively, the Pirates' opponents this season are a combined 66-53.
Charting The Pirates Month-By-Month
In all, ECU is 3-2-0 in August, 121-110-2 in September, 160-150-4 in October, 136-116-5 in November, 9-9-0 in December and 1-4-0 in January ... The Pirates continue play in November, a month in which East Carolina has captured nine of the last 13 contests ... On the road however, ECU has dropped three of the last four (dating back to 2013).
Shutout-Free ... 228 And Counting
ECU will enter the UCF contest with an active streak of 229 games of not suffering a shutout -- a school record (previous mark was 110 set from `71 to `81) ... The last time the Pirates were blanked was on Oct. 4, 1997 (56-0 at Syracuse) ... ECU's 229-game run currently ranks 14th among all active FBS streaks and is the 24th-longest in the all-time annals ... Florida currently sits atop the active leaderboard with 342 (began in 1988).
Introducing This Year's First-Time Starters
There have been a combined 12 first-time starters in East Carolina's lineup so far this year - six on the offensive side of the ball with QB Blake Kemp, OT Brandon Smith, OG Christian Matau, RB Shawn Furlow, QB James Summers and WR Brandon Bishop, and six more on defense with NT Demage Bailey, ILB Jordan Williams, OLB Joe Allely, ILB Devaris Brunson, OLB Yiannis Bowden and SS DaShawn Benton each making a starting debut.
Reaching Paydirt Quickly
Although ECU averages nearly seven plays per touchdown drive in 2015, it only takes 2:43 to reach the endzone ... In fact, only two drives have exceeded the 5:00 mark all year (vs. Towson, Temple) - 29 of the 33 successful possessions have been under 3:59.
Second Down, Less Than Five To Go
ECU has enjoyed solid production on first down this year, averaging 5.3 yards per snap ... The Pirates have had 314 first down plays, gained 1,666 yards, moved the chains on 68 occasions and reached the endzone 11 times ... In their last six games combined, the Pirates have collected 1,018 yards (6.5 ypp) and 36 first downs on "1st-and-10" snaps.
Uncharted Offensive Territory
First down production aside, the inability to convert on third down has slowed ECU's offense the last three games ... The Pirates did not score an offensive TD in five-straight quarters (3rd/4th vs. Temple, 1st/2nd/3rd vs. UConn) and have been limited to 44 points - the lowest scoring total in back-to-back-to-back (3) games since Sept. 8, 15 and 22 of 2012 (10/South Carolina, 24/Southern Miss, 6/North Carolina) ... As a point of comparison, East Carolina amassed 988 points and 13,015 yards during the previous two seasons (2013 and 2014) - per-game averages of 38 points and 500.6 yards, respectively.
Conversion Inversion On Third Down
After standing first nationally (44-80/55.0%) in third-down conversions during its first five games this year, ECU has managed just a 32.9% (25-76) success rate in its last five contests ... In their last two outings (UConn/USF), the Pirates were just 8-of-29 (27.6%).
Impressive Damage Control
After Navy (2), Virginia Tech (2) and SMU (2) collectively converted all six East Carolina turnovers into points (four TDs, two FGs), the Pirate defense has done some impressive damage control in their last five games ... Despite gaining a combined 10 takeaways against ECU, BYU (FG), Tulsa, Temple, UConn and USF scored only three points.
Rush Defense - A Tale Of Three Seasons
It's been a tale of three seasons in regards to ECU's rush defense ... The Pirates surrendered 230.0 ground yards per game in the first four outings, allowed only 113.5 ypg over the next four before UConn and USF recently combined for 462 (231.0 ypg).
Creating Havoc & Limiting Pass Success
East Carolina has been credited with 16 quarterback pressures (i.e. hurries) against Tulsa (season-high nine), Temple, UConn and USF in successive games ... ECU has also knocked down 24 passes in its last six games (14 in first four), which with the pressure, has helped lower opponent pass production.
The Fourth Quarter Challenge
ECU enjoyed an 154-63 edge in the fourth quarter a year ago (+91 ranked first nationally), but is -21 (72-93) through 10 games this year ... Furthermore, in the last four outings, the Pirates are -31 (17-48) in the final 15 minutes of play.
American, Non-League Statistical Comparisons
In its six American Athletic Conference contests (2-4) this year, ECU has averaged 24.0 points, 148.2 rushing yards, 231.8 passing yards and 380.0 total yards per game ... By comparison, the Pirates booked 31.3 ppg, 123.5 rypg, 298.5 pypg and 422.0 ypg averages in their four non conference tilts in 2015 (Towson, Florida, Va. Tech and BYU).
Zay's Streak
Junior IR Isaiah Jones has caught at least one pass in 33-straight games heading into the UCF contest ... The streak, which began with a two-catch, 27-yard effort vs. North Carolina on Sept. 28, 2013, currently ranks 15th among active receivers ... His 10-catch, 106-yard effort vs. Temple on Oct. 22 represented the sixth double-digit reception outing and eighth triple-digit yard total of his ECU career ... Additionally, Jones has 13 career touchdown receptions and the Pirates are 11-2 when he snares a scoring catch (only losses have come against Florida and BYU on Sept. 12 and Oct. 10, respectively, this year).
The Pirates' Double-Option
Junior East Carolina quarterbacks Blake Kemp and James Summers have each contributed in their own unique way over so far this season ... A closer look:
- Blake Kemp (4-2/starter) - Currently ranks 5th in completion percentage and 27th in completions per game (21.3) ... Of his two relief appearances, effort at BYU stood out with a career-high 371 air yards and two touchdowns ... Completed 77.8 percent of his throws (28-of-36) and engineered two fourth-quarter TD drives operating in the "two-minute drill" (85 yards/1:52, 63 yards/2:36) to erase a 17-point deficit and put the Pirates in a position to even game with 4:01 left.
- James Summers (0-4/starter) - Opened last three games, but top effort has been off the bench such as posting the second-highest single-game QB rush total in school history (169 yards, most since 1979) vs. Virginia Tech.
Non-Saturday Mayhem
East Carolina is 18-23 in non-Saturday games since 2000 ... Oddly, the Pirates have fared better on the road (12-11; 6-12 at home) ... Under Ruffin McNeill, ECU is 7-8 when deviating from the normal Saturday routine ... While the Pirates have split six overall Thursday matchups since 2010, East Carolina will try to snap a three-game losing skid when it faces UCF this week (setbacks to Cincinnati and UCF in `14, loss to Temple in `15).
On This Day In Pirates' History (7-3)
Nov. 19, 1932 - NC State (freshman) 28, East Carolina 0
Nov. 19, 1938 - Appalachian State 18, East Carolina 6
Nov. 19, 1949 - East Carolina 6, Atlantic Christian 2
Nov. 19, 1960 - East Carolina 22, Richmond 7
Nov. 19, 1966 - Southern Miss 35, East Carolina 14
Nov. 19, 1983 - East Carolina 10, Southern Miss 6
Nov. 19, 1988 - East Carolina 49, Cincinnati 14
Nov. 19, 1994 - East Carolina 30, Memphis 6
Nov. 19, 2005 - East Carolina 34, Marshall 29
Nov. 19, 2011 - East Carolina 38, UCF 31
