East Carolina University
USF
Gameday: ECU Heads South To Face USF On Saturday At 12 Noon
October 06, 2016 | Football
| East Carolina Game 6: USF | |
| Date | Saturday, Oct. 8 |
| Time | 12 noon (EDT) |
| Location | Tampa, Fla. (Raymond James Stadium) |
| Tickets & Parking | Game Tickets |
| Live Game Coverage | Radio: WNCT 107.9FM | TuneIn Radio Online Television: ESPNews/WatchESPN |
| Internet Options | Live Stats |
| Official Web Sites | East Carolina | USF | American Athletic Conference |
| Game Notes | East Carolina (PDF) | USF (PDF) | The American (PDF) |
| 2016 Football Statistics | East Carolina | USF |
| ECU Football Central | Roster | Fact Book (PDF) | The American | NCAA Football | College Scoreboard |
| Official Social Media Sites | |
| East Carolina | USF | The American | |
| East Carolina | ECUScoreboard (In-Game Updates) l USF | The American | |
| Twitter Hashtags | #ECUPirates | #ECUFootball | #GoBulls | #AmericanRising | #ECUvsUSF |
| East Carolina | The American | |
GREENVILLE, N.C. – East Carolina will play its first American Athletic Conference road game of the 2016 season when it squares off against USF in a noon kickoff Saturday at Raymond James Stadium. The Pirates, who are in search of their first road win of the year after suffering 20-15 and 54-17 setbacks at South Carolina and Virginia Tech, respectively, will also try to move to 1-1 in league play following a 47-29 loss to UCF to start AAC action last week. ECU has captured conference road openers in three of the last four (and seven of the last nine) campaigns, including a 28-17 decision over USF in 2014.
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 won 28 of the last 30 games when leading at the half ...
- Has won 11 of the last 22 (.500) regular season road games ...
- Has lost five of the last six conference games ...
- Has won three of the last five American Athletic Conference road games ...
- Has won three of the last four (and seven of the last nine) conference road openers ...
THE SERIES
USF leads East Carolina 5-1 all-time in a series, which dates back to 2002 ... The 2003 and 2004 meetings were league contests while both programs were members of Conference USA, while the last two matchups (2014 & 2015) served as the Bulls' and Pirates' initial pair of American Athletic Conference encounters ... The Papajohns.com Bowl matchup in Birmingham was East Carolina's first against then Big East member USF at a neutral site ... The Pirates are 1-1 against the Bulls in Tampa, but winless (0-3) in Greenville.
ECU & USF COACHING "CONNECTIONS"
East Carolina Assistant Head Coach and secondary boss Rick Smith served in an identical role at USF in 2010, 2011 and 2012 before rejoining the Pirates' staff prior to the 2013 campaign ... While at USF under Skip Holtz, the 2010 Bulls defense ranked 17th nationally in total defense (317.9 ypg) and netted 15 interceptions – fourth on USF's current single-season list ... ECU Wide Receivers Coach Phil McGeoghan tutored Bulls' pass catchers under Jim Leavitt and Holtz from 2009 to 2011 before accepting a position with the Miami Dolphins ... Holtz captured two C-USA titles and made four bowl appearances as ECU's head coach from 2005 to 2009.
CANES, 'NOLES, GATORS, BULLS, KNIGHTS, OWLS AND PANTHERS
The Pirates have dropped 29 of 44 all-time matchups (15-29) against FBS (formerly Division I-A) programs from the state of Florida ... ECU is 1-5 against USF, 10-5 vs. UCF, 2-9 vs. Miami, 1-0 vs. Florida Atlantic, 1-0 vs. Florida International, 0-3 vs. Florida and 0-7 vs. Florida State ... East Carolina has lost five of the last six matchups against schools from Florida (posting its only win against UCF in last year's road finale).
LEAGUE, NON-LEAGUE STATISTICAL COMPARISONS
In its only AAC contest (0-1) this year, ECU produced 29 points, 33 rushing yards, 488 passing yards and 521 total yards ... 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 - BATTING .500 SINCE 2012
Since becoming a conference member in 1997, East Carolina is 54-74 (.422) when playing away from Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium ... Before an 0-2 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 22 road contests dating back to 2012 (8-6 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 two programs that are either currently ranked or earning votes in the two major Top 25 polls – Virginia Tech (25th/RV) and USF (RV/RV). Collectively, the Pirates' opponents this season are a combined 32-23 (.582) after the first five weeks of action.
CHARTING THE PIRATES MONTH-BY-MONTH
In all, ECU is 3-2-0 in August, 123-112-2 in September, 160-151-4 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 10 ... In league play alone, the Pirates have taken six of the last nine (and nine of the last 13) ... On the road, ECU has won four of the last six (and five of the last eight) 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 (seven times by three different players – Zay Jones/4, Jimmy Williams/2 and Quay Johnson/1) in four of five games this season ... Williams (145), Jones (137) and Johnson (113) all surpassed the century mark against UCF last Saturday - 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 40-straight games heading into the USF 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 and Zach Pascal/ODU all have a 41-game run) ... His 17-catch, 137-yard effort vs. UCF last week represented the 12th double-digit reception outing and 14th triple-digit yard total of his ECU career … In his last seven games (UCF/CIN in '15, WCU/NCSU/SC/VT/UCF in '16), Jones has made 92 receptions for exactly 1,000 yards - an average of 13.1 grabs and 142.9 yards per game.
SLOW STARTS = THIRD QUARTER ADJUSTMENTS
East Carolina has been outscored 71-13 in the first half of its last three contests, but countered with a combined 28-16 edge in the third quarter against the Gamecocks, Hokies and Knights ... Overall, the Pirates have owned the third period with a 56-19 ledger through the first five outings this year, surrendering only two TDs.
NOT WASTING ANY TIME
Although ECU averages 7.2 plays per touchdown drive so far in 2016, it has only taken 2:38 to reach the endzone ... In fact, only two drives have exceeded the 4:00 mark - game-winner vs. NC State/6:02 and the first score vs. UCF/4:58) ... Sixteen of the 18 successful possessions have been under 3:59.
PLAYING CLEAN
East Carolina has only been flagged 22 times (11th nationally) for 194 yards (10th) in 2016 ... The penalty and yardage totals are both the third-lowest recorded by the Pirates after five games in the last 10 years (19-193/'12, 20-182/'11 rank first and second).
CRACKING THE REDZONE CODE
After cashing nine of their first 10 redzone visits into points against Western Carolina (5-6) and NC State (4-4), the Pirates have converted only six-of-16 RZ trips (37.5 percent) in the last three contests ... ECU has been stymied by three missed field goals, three interceptions, two fumbles and a pair of fourth-down stops.
THIS AND THAT
INDIVIDUAL NOTES: OL J.T. Boyd (28 games) and FS Travon Simmons (18) own the program's longest starting streaks on their respective side of the ball entering the USF game ... WR Zay Jones has caught multiple passes in 42 of 43 career games (none vs. VT in 2013) ... Of his 307 career receptions, 129 have gone for 10 or more yards (38 for 20-plus) ... He's also hauled down at least one pass in 19 of 20 quarters this season (none vs. WCU in the fourth quarter) ... QB Philip Nelson has directly accounted for 12 of ECU's 18 TDs this season (11 TD passes, one TD rush) ... 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 .. In his last two games, WR Jimmy Williams has caught 10 passes for a 324 yards - setting personal highs for yards (179 vs. Virginia Tech) and receptions (seven vs. UCF) in back-to-back weeks ... QB Gardner Minshew experienced his first action of the season, replacing an injured Philip Nelson in the third quarter vs. UCF ... His first pass as a FBS signal-caller was a 75-yard TD strike to Quay Johnson to pull ECU within 23-21 ... In all, Minshew completed 12-of-27 throws for 192 yards, but was also intercepted twice - including a pick that was returned for a score ... OLB Terrell Richardson (10/9 solo), ILB Cam White (10), SS Bobby Fulp (7) and ILB Devon Sutton (6) all produced career-high tackle totals vs. UCF ... CB Colby Gore picked off his first career pass, added a pair of pass breakups and tallied a personal best four tackles (three solo) vs. the Knights ... KOS Caleb Pratt has drilled 10 touchbacks in 28 kickoff s this year, pushing his career TB total to 41 (31/2015, 10/2016) ... He has logged at least one touchback in 14 of 17 career games.
TEAM NOTES: ECU will play 11-straight weeks to open the 2016 campaign (after playing 10-straight weeks to start the 2015 season) ... The Pirates have thrown at least one TD strike in 56 of their last 62 games ... ECU's 488 passing yards vs. UCF ranked as the second-highest air performance in school history (521 vs. Syracuse in 1992 stands first) ... Oddly, both notable passing performances resulted in losses ... In 69 offensive possessions so far, East Carolina has been limited to a "three-and-out" on only 11 occasions (16 percent) ... The Pirates were able to snap a school single-game record 102 plays vs. UCF last week (101 vs. Florida in 2015 Birmingham Bowl was existing standard) ... Although opponents have forced 13 ECU turnovers in 2016 , the Pirate D has rebounded with stops on eight occasions (61.5 percent) ... ECU has netted just one sack in 2016 – their fewest in a five-game span since 2010 (one in six contests) ... ECU has been held "sackless" in three-straight outings, a first since that same 2010 campaign (four games - NC State, Marshall, UCF, Navy) ... 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 USF contest with an active streak of 236 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).
