East Carolina University
Cincinnati
Gameday: ECU Returns To Conference Play At Cincinnati
October 20, 2016 | Football
| East Carolina Game 7: Cincinnati | |
| Date | Saturday, Oct. 22 |
| Time | 7 p.m. (EDT) |
| Location | Cincinnati, Ohio (Nippert Stadium) |
| Tickets & Parking | Game Tickets |
| Live Game Coverage | Radio: WNCT 107.9FM | TuneIn Radio Online | Television: CBS Sports Network |
| Internet Options | Live Stats |
| Official Web Sites | East Carolina | Cincinnati | American Athletic Conference |
| Game Notes | East Carolina (PDF) | Cincinnati (PDF) | The American (PDF) |
| 2016 Football Statistics | East Carolina | Cincinnati |
| ECU Football Central | Roster | Fact Book (PDF) | The American | NCAA Football | College Scoreboard |
| Official Social Media Sites | |
| East Carolina | Cincinnati | The American | |
| East Carolina | ECUScoreboard (In-Game Updates) l Cincinnati | The American | |
| Twitter Hashtags | #ECUPirates | #ECUFootball |#Bearcats | #AmericanRising | #ECUvsCIN |
| East Carolina | The American | |
GREENVILLE, N.C. – After closing out the unofficial first half of a schedule that included games against three Power Five opponents and preseason American Athletic Conference East Division favorite USF, East Carolina will open the second stanza by visiting Cincinnati for a league clash at Nippert Stadium Saturday night. The Pirates will try to pick up their first AAC win of the 2016 campaign and bounce back from four-straight setbacks suffered against South Carolina, Virginia Tech, UCF and USF after posting earlier triumphs against Western Carolina (Sept. 3) and NC State (Sept. 10). ECU's home tilt versus Navy was rescheduled from Oct. 13 to Nov. 19 because of flooding associated with Hurricane Matthew.
EAST CAROLINA RECORDS AND STREAKS
- Qualified for 10 bowl appearances since 2000 (three of the last four years) ...
- Has won 29 of the last 34 games when scoring 30 or more points ...
- Has lost 20-straight games when scoring 20 or less points (19-14 vs. UCF in '09/last win) ...
- Has won 19 of the last 21 games when gaining 200 or more rushing yards ...
- Has racked up 400 or more yards in six-straight games (only once in previous six games) ...
- Has won 28 of the last 30 games when leading at the half ...
- Has lost fi ve of the last six (and seven of nine) regular season road games ...
- Has lost six of the last seven conference games ...
- Has split its last six American Athletic Conference road games ...
THE SERIES
East Carolina leads 12-7 ... The Bearcats have won five straight, including the first two meetings as American Athletic Conference members ... East Carolina has taken seven of the 10 matchups played in Greenville and has captured five of nine contests in Cincinnati ... The Pirates opened the series with seven-straight victories.
ECU & CINCINNATI COACHING "CONNECTION"
East Carolina Assistant Head Coach and secondary boss Rick Smith served as defensive coordinator and secondary coach at Cincinnati during the 1999 and 2000 campaigns ... His 2000 unit stood fourth nationally in turnovers gained (34) to help spark the Bearcats to a 7-5 record and an appearance in the Motor City Bowl.
THE EAST HAS BEEN A BEAST
East Carolina owns a 1-6 mark (0-4/home, 1-2/road) against American Athletic Conference opponents in its own East Division since the league began divisional play in 2015 ... The Pirates' 44-7 win against UCF in their '15 road finale represents the only triumph ... In all, ECU is 1-1 vs. UCF, 0-2 vs. USF, 0-1 vs. Cincinnati, 0-1 vs. Connecticut and 0-1 vs. Temple while competing as division mates ... On the flipside, East Carolina is 2-1 against foes in the West Division so far (wins over SMU and Tulsa, loss against Navy).
FEELING REFRESHED OR SHAKING OFF THE RUST?
The Pirates have taken advantage of "open" (scheduled or unscheduled) weeks when looking at a 10-year perspective - winning 10 of their last 13 contests following a bye since 2006 ... A closer look: 2006 (W/UVA), 2007 (W/TLN), 2008 (L/UVA, W/UCF), 2009 (no true off-week with three-straight non-Saturday games), 2010 (L/UNC), 2011 (W/UAB), 2012 (W/TLN), 2013 (W/UNC, W/FIU), 2014 (W/SMU, W/UConn, L/CIN) and 2015 (W/ UCF) ... Since 1965 (start of the modern era, East Carolina is 30-19 in games after a break.
AMERICAN, NON-LEAGUE STATISTICAL COMPARISONS
In its two American Athletic Conference contests (0-2) this year, ECU has averaged 25.5 points, 100.5 rushing yards, 398.0 passing yards and 498.5 total yards per game ... By comparison, the Pirates booked 29.2 ppg, 155.8 rypg, 368.0 pypg and 523.8 ypg averages in their four non-conference tilts in 2016 (Western Carolina, NC State, South Carolina and Virginia Tech).
ON THE ROAD - CLOSE TO .500 SINCE 2012
Since becoming a conference member in 1997, East Carolina is 54-75 (.419) when playing away from Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium ... Before an 0-3 clip this year, a 2-4 ledger in 2015, a 3-4 mark in 2014 and a 5-2 record in 2013, the Pirates were a combined 15-21 from 2012 to 2008 ... From a regular season standpoint, the Pirates have won 11 of the last 23 road contests dating back to 2012 (8-7 in conference play, 3-5 in non-conference action).
ANALYZING THE 2016 OVERALL SCHEDULE
East Carolina's 2016 schedule consists of games against two conference divisional champions (Navy and Temple/American West co-champs and East champs, respectively), eight bowl participants (NC State, Virginia Tech, USF, Navy, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Tulsa, Temple) and five programs that are either currently ranked or earning votes in the two major Top 25 polls (Associated Press/USA Today Amway Coaches) - Navy (24th/25th), USF (RV/RV), Virginia Tech (RV/RV), NC State (RV/RV) and Tulsa (--/RV). Collectively, the Pirates' opponents this season are a combined 40-34 (.541) after the first seven weeks of action.
CHARTING THE PIRATES MONTH-BY-MONTH
In all, ECU is 3-2-0 in August, 123-112-2 in September, 160-152-4 in October, 137-117-5 in November, 9-9-0 in December and 1-4-0 in January ... The Pirates will try to regain their October productivity, a month in which ECU has won six of the last 11 ... In league play alone, the Pirates have taken six of the last 10 (and nine of the last 14) ... On the road, ECU has won four of the last seven (and five of the last nine) conference tilts.
MANY FIRST-TIME STARTERS SO FAR
There have been a combined 15 first-time starters in East Carolina's lineup so far this season - seven on the offensive side of the ball with TE Stephen Baggett, WR Deondre Farrier, WR Terrell Green, G Garrett McGhin, T Messiah Rice, T Justin Sandifer and RB Anthony Scott, and eight on defense as OLB Kiante Anderson, DE Justin Brown, SS Bobby Fulp, OLB Kendall Futrell, CB Colby Gore, OLB Pat Green, DE Mike Myers and CB Corey Seargent have each made their respective starting debuts ... While OG Will Dancy (2/North Carolina) and QB Philip Nelson (16/Minnesota) have also made their inaugural Pirate appearances, both did own previous collegiate starting experience before transferring into the ECU program.
SPREADING THE WEALTH & TRIPLE-TRIPLES
ECU has featured a 100-yard receiver (eight times by three different players – Zay Jones/5, Jimmy Williams/2 and Quay Johnson/1) in five of six games this season ... Williams (145), Jones (137) and Johnson (113) all surpassed the century mark against UCF on Oct. 1 - a first in school single game history ... The closest encounter prior to that came vs. North Carolina in 2014 (Trevon Brown/117, Jones/116, Justin Hardy/92).
ZAY'S STREAK
Senior WR Zay Jones has caught at least one pass in 41-straight games heading into the Cincinnati contest ... The streak, which began with a two-catch, 27-yard effort vs. North Carolina on Sept. 28, 2013, currently ranks fourth among all active receivers (Robert Davis/GSU, Corey Davis/WMU each have a 43-game run, Zach Pascal/ODU is at 42) ... His 18-catch, 145-yard effort vs. USF on Oct. 8 represented the 13th double-digit reception outing and 15th triple-digit yard total of his ECU career … In his last four games (SC/VT/UCF/USF), Jones has made 67 receptions for 587 yards – an average of 16.8 grabs and 146.8 yards per game.
PLAYING CLEAN
East Carolina has only been flagged 24 times (9th nationally) for 213 yards (8th) in 2016 ... The penalty total is the second-lowest recorded by the Pirates after six games in the last 10 years (22/'12), while the yardage is the fewest in the same span.
NOT WASTING ANY TIME
Although ECU averages 7.4 plays per touchdown drive so far in 2016, it has only taken 2:39 to reach the endzone ... In fact, only two drives have exceeded the 4:00 mark – the game-winner vs. NC State/6:02 and the first score vs. UCF/4:58 ... Eighteen of the 20 successful possessions have been under 3:59.
CRACKING THE REDZONE CODE CURSE?
After cashing nine of their first 10 redzone visits into points against Western Carolina (5-6) and NC State (4-4), the Pirates converted only six-of-16 RZ trips (37.5 percent) the following three contests against South Carolina, Virginia Tech and UCF ... ECU stopped the drought with a perfect 3-of-3 performance vs. USF in its last game.
SLOW STARTS = THIRD QUARTER ADJUSTMENTS
East Carolina has been outscored 88-19 in the first half of its last four contests, but countered with a combined 35-23 edge in the third quarter against the Gamecocks, Hokies, Knights and Bulls ... Overall, the Pirates have owned the third period with a 63-26 ledger through the first six outings this year, surrendering only three TDs.
MPRESSIVE DAMAGE CONTROL
Although opponents have forced 14 East Carolina turnovers in 2016, the Pirate defense has done some impressive damage control with stops on eight occasions (57.1 percent) ... Most recently, ECU has surrendered only three scores after its last 10 miscues – which includes a run of six straight stops in contests vs. South Carolina, Virginia Tech and UCF.
LUCKY GAME 7
The Pirates have won 10-straight Game 7s - dropping its last "second half opener" in 2005 (27-24 at Memphis in a game played, oddly enough, on Oct. 22).
THIS AND THAT
INDIVIDUAL NOTES: OL J.T. Boyd (29 games) and FS Travon Simmons (19) own the program's longest starting streaks on their respective side of the ball entering the Cincinnati game ... WR Zay Jones has caught multiple passes in 43 of 44 career games (none vs. VT in 2013) ... Of his 325 career receptions, 137 have gone for 10 or more yards (39 for 20-plus) ... He's also hauled down at least one pass in 23 of 24 quarters this season (none vs. WCU in the fourth quarter) ... WR Quay Johnson had a combined 22 grabs for 178 yards against the three Power Five opponents on ECU's schedule this year ... He opened the P5 slate with a personal best in receptions (13) before starting AAC play with a career-high 113 receiving yards vs. UCF (and following with another 31 at USF) ... QB Gardner Minshew has experienced action in relief of an injured Philip Nelson in back-to-back weeks ... His fi rst pass as a FBS signal-caller was a 75-yard TD strike to Quay Johnson vs. UCF before establishing career-highs in attempts (33), completions (22) and yards (220) to spark a comeback attempt at USF ... In just two games, he's tossed a pair of TD passes, but also has been picked off three times ... RB/QB James Summers registered his second career 100-yard rushing game with 114 yards on 18 carries vs. USF (169 vs. VT/2015 was other) and recorded a personal-best four catches for 28 yards ... Has accounted for 16 career TDs (11/rushing, 5/passing) ... OLB Dayon Pratt tallied a career-high 12 tackles (eight solo) against the Bulls ... His strip of USF RB Marlon Mack inside the ECU 10-yard line was his third forced fumble of the year, which currently stands 6th nationally (NCSU, UCF, USF) ... KOR Chris Love made his "debut" in that position at USF and picked up 103 yards on six returns (17.2 ypr) ... PK Davis Plowman tied a career-high with three FGs made at USF, including a personal-long of 49 yards ... He's booked fi ve career multi-FG games and 112 total points.
TEAM NOTES: The Pirates have thrown at least one TD strike in 57 of their last 63 games ... In 81 off ensive possessions so far, East Carolina has been limited to a "three-and-out" on only 14 occasions (17 percent) ... The Pirates have snapped a combined 193 plays the last two games (102 vs. UCF on Oct. 1 was a school single-game record) ... ECU has netted just one sack in 2016 - their fewest in a six-game span since 2010 ... ECU has been held "sackless" in four-straight outings, a first since that same 2010 campaign (four games - NC State, Marshall, UCF, Navy) ... The Pirates have tallied just two rushing TDs in their last four games (one each vs. UCF and USF), compared to 11 by its opponents ... The Pirates currently own a possession time "edge" of 30:34, a stark contrast to the last three seasons where ECU was a combined 1:10:20 (one hour, 10 minutes and 20 seconds) in the red (-45:20 in 2015, -7:26 in 2014 and -17:34 in 2013) ... A total of nine (9) players have had their redshirts removed in 2016 - OLB Kendall Futrell, CB Colby Gore, OG Cortez Herrin, RB Hussein Howe, QB Gardner Minshew, DE Jalen Price, DS Anthony Ratliff , OT D'Ante Smith and DE Alex Turner ... ECU will enter the Cincinnati contest with an active streak of 237 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).
