East Carolina University
Tulsa
Gameday: ECU Heads West To Face Tulsa On Saturday At 8 P.M. (ET)
November 03, 2016 | Football
| East Carolina Game 9: Tulsa | |
| Date | Saturday, Nov. 5 |
| Time | 8 p.m. (ET) |
| Location | Tulsa, Okla. (H.A. Chapman Stadium) |
| Tickets | Buy Tickets |
| Live Game Coverage | Radio: WNCT 107.9FM | TuneIn Radio Online | Television: ESPNews/Watch ESPN |
| Internet Options | Live Stats |
| Official Web Sites | East Carolina | Tulsa | American Athletic Conference |
| Game Notes | East Carolina (PDF) | Tulsa (PDF) | The American (PDF) |
| 2016 Football Statistics | East Carolina | Tulsa |
| ECU Football Central | Roster | Fact Book (PDF) | The American | NCAA Football | College Scoreboard |
| Official Social Media Sites | |
| East Carolina | Tulsa | The American | |
| East Carolina | ECUScoreboard (In-Game Updates) l Tulsa | The American | |
| Twitter Hashtags | #ECUPirates | #ECUndaunted | #ECUFootball | #ReignCane | #AmericanRising | #ECUvsTulsa |
| East Carolina | The American | |
GREENVILLE, N.C. – East Carolina will make its longest road trip of the season when it travels to Tulsa on Saturday for an 8:00 p.m. (ET) American Conference matchup against the Golden Hurricane. The tilt at H.A. Chapman Stadium will also mark the first of three consecutive contests against AAC West Division foes with home battles against SMU (Nov. 12) and Navy (Nov. 19) to follow. While ECU will be looking to make it seven in a row over the Golden Hurricane (and four straight in Tulsa), the Pirates are also hoping to snap a four-game 2016 road skid.
EAST CAROLINA RECORDS AND STREAKS
- Qualified for 10 bowl appearances since 2000 (three of the last four years) ...
- Has won 30 of the last 35 games when scoring 30 or more points ...
- Has lost 21-straight games when scoring 20 or less points (19-14 vs. UCF in '09/last win) ...
- Has won 19 of the last 22 games when gaining 200 or more rushing yards ...
- Has racked up 400 or more yards in eight-straight games (only once in previous six games) ...
- Has won 29 of the last 31 games when leading at the half ...
- Has lost seven of the last nine conference games ...
- Has lost six of the last seven (and eight of 10) regular season road games ...
- Has won six-straight games against Tulsa ...
- Has won 10 of the last 15 games played in the month of November ...
THE SERIES
East Carolina owns an 8-5 advantage in a series which dates back to 1984 ... The Pirates currently enjoy a six-game win streak, which began with a 27-24 triumph in the 2008 Conference USA Championship Game at Chapman Stadium in Tulsa ... ECU has won three-straight and four of six overall games played in Oklahoma, while also capturing three in a row (and four of seven) at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
OUR TAKE(AWAY) ON RECENT SUCCESS VS. TULSA
During its current six-game win streak against the Golden Hurricane, East Carolina has forced a total of 21 turnovers (3.5 tpg) - seven (7) of which have been cashed in for touchdowns ... The Pirates initiated their takeaway frenzy in the 2008 C-USA Championship Game with seven (five interceptions) before adding four each in contests during the 2009 and 2013 seasons ... Recently, ECU has netted a "pick-six" in three-straight games.
PLAYING THE "WILD" WEST ... THE FIRST OF THREE-STRAIGHT
East Carolina owns a 2-1 mark (1-0/home, 1-1/road) against the "other side" since the league began divisional play in 2015 ... The Pirates downed SMU and Tulsa, but lost to Navy last season (and plays the Golden Hurricane, Mustangs and Midshipmen in consecutive weeks on Nov. 5, Nov. 12 and Nov. 19, respectively) ... On the flipside, ECU is 2-7 against foes in its own East Division so far with a 44-7 triumph against UCF in the 2015 road finale and a 41-3 win vs. Connecticut last week representing the lone two victories.
AMERICAN, NON-LEAGUE STATISTICAL COMPARISONS
In its four American Athletic Conference contests (1-3) this year, ECU has averaged 27.8 points, 139.5 rushing yards, 343.3 passing yards and 482.8 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 54-76 (.415) when playing away from Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium ... Before an 0-4 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 25 road contests dating back to 2012 (8-8 in conference play, 3-6 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 four programs that are either currently ranked or earning votes in the two major Top 25 polls (Associated Press/USA Today Amway Coaches) - Virginia Tech (23/21), USF (RV/RV), Tulsa (RV/RV) and Navy (--/RV). Collectively, the Pirates' opponents this season are a combined 54-44 (.551) after the first nine weeks of action.
CHARTING THE PIRATES MONTH-BY-MONTH
In all, ECU is 3-2-0 in August, 123-112-2 in September, 161-153-4 in October, 137-117-5 in November, 9-9-0 in December and 1-4-0 in January ... The Pirates open play in November, a month in which East Carolina has captured 10 of the last 15 contests ... On the road however, ECU has dropped three of the last five (dating back to 2013).
MANY FIRST-TIME STARTERS SO FAR
There have been a combined 16 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 nine on defense as OLB Kiante Anderson, DE Justin Brown, SS Bobby Fulp, OLB Kendall Futrell, CB Colby Gore, OLB Pat Green, DE Mike Myers, CB Corey Seargent and SS Devon Sutton 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 (10 times by three different players - Zay Jones/6, Jimmy Williams/3 and Quay Johnson/1) in seven of eight 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 ... Most recently, Jones bounced back from a 69-yard effort at Cincinnati with a team-high 185 yards vs. Connecticut.
ZAY'S STREAK
Senior WR Zay Jones has caught at least one pass in 43-straight games heading into the Tulsa 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 has a 45-game run, Corey Davis/WMU and Zach Pascal/ODU are at 44) ... His 19-catch, 185-yard afternoon vs. Connecticut last week represented his 15th double-digit reception outing and his 16th triple-digit yard total at ECU … In his last six games (SC/VT/UCF/USF/CIN/UCONN), Jones has made 97 receptions for 841 yards - an average of 16.2 grabs and 140.2 yards per game.
PLAYING CLEAN
East Carolina has only been flagged 33 times (8th nationally) for 282 yards (also 8th) in 2016 ... The penalty total is the second-lowest recorded by the Pirates after eight games in the last 10 years (31/2012), while the yardage is the fewest in the same span.
HITTING THE BIG ONES
East Carolina has produced 47 "big" plays (20+ yards) so far in 2016 - the second-highest total through eight games in school history (only trailing the 2014 squad's mark of 58).
PERFECT IN REDZONE RECENTLY
Despite still ranking near the bottom of FBS units in redzone efficiency (69.4 percent), the Pirates have rebounded strongly with a perfect 10-of-10 combined performance vs. USF (3-3), Cincinnati (2-2) and Connecticut (5-5) in their last three games ... ECU got off to a slow start by converting only six-of-16 RZ trips (37.5 percent) in contests against South Carolina, Virginia Tech and UCF.
HALFTIME MOTIVATION
ECU has been outscored 105-36 in the fi rst half of its last six contests, but countered with a combined 62-33 edge in the third quarter against the Gamecocks, Hokies, Knights, Bulls, Bearcats and Huskies ... Overall, the Pirates have owned the third period with a 90-36 ledger through the first eight outings this year, surrendering only four TDs.
AMPING UPTHE GROUND ATTACK
Since James Summers has assumed the full-time starting role at running back, East Carolina's rushing attack has improved ... Summers, who racked 114 yards at USF, 95 at Cincinnati and 84 vs. UConn, has helped the Pirates more than double their ground game production over the last three contests.
THIS AND THAT
INDIVIDUAL NOTES: OL J.T. Boyd (31 games) and FS Travon Simmons (21) own the program's longest starting streaks on their respective side of the ball entering the Tulsa game ... WR Zay Jones has caught multiple passes in 45 of 46 career games (none vs. VT in 2013) ... Of his 355 career receptions, 151 have gone for 10 or more yards (40 for 20-plus) ... Jones also completed his first career TD toss when he hooked up with QB Philip Nelson on a two-yarder vs. UConn (is 3-of-4 for 36 yards during career as a passer) ... Speaking of Nelson - his TD catch was the fi st by an ECU signal-caller since Shane Carden did it in the 2013 Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl ... In his last two games, WR Jimmy Williams has made 13 catches for 200 yards and three TDs ... His 31-yard scoring reception vs. UConn extended his 2016 team lead to six ... In his last three games (starts against USF, Cincinnati and UConn), RB James Summers has rushed for a combined 293 yards (97.7 ypg) on 58 carries (18-114/USF, 21-95/CIN, 19-84/UConn) ... He's also accounted for 18 career TDs (12/rushing, 6/passing) and became the first Pirate in the modern era to score via a pass, catch and run in the same game (vs. the Huskies) ... OLB Dayon Pratt made seven stops, including a personal-best 3.0 TFLs and one sack vs. UConn ... SS DaShaun Amos (eight) and CB Colby Gore (six) all registered career-high tackle totals vs. UConn ... Amos also tallied 2.0 TFLs and one sack during his fi rst start at strong safety, while Gore added an interception and his first career sack on a corner blitz during the fourth quarter .,. ILB Jordan Williams booked a team-high nine tackles (five solo) vs. UConn, which included a two-yard sack, while making his first start of the season ... PK Davis Plowman was perfect in two FG tries vs. UConn (39, 25-yarders) and has now made seven of his last eight attempts (3-4/USF, 2-2/CIN, 2-2/UConn) along with 10-straight PAT conversions (dating back to a first-quarter miss vs. NC State) ... He's booked seven career multi-FG games and 130 total points.
TEAM NOTES: The Pirates have thrown at least one TD strike in 59 of their last 65 games ... In 109 offensive possessions so far, East Carolina has been limited to a "three-and-out" on only 17 occasions (15 percent) ... ECU ended its five-game sackless streak with 4.0 vs. UConn - the most since netting four vs. Tulsa on Oct. 17, 2015 ... The Pirates have tallied just three rushing TDs in their last six games, compared to 11 by its opponents ... The Pirates currently own a possession time "edge" of 36:14, 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) ... ECU turned its first turnover-free day of the season vs. UConn and held the Huskies to three points - the fewest surrendered to an opponent since 2008 (24-3 vs. No. 8 West Virginia) ... ECU will enter the Tulsa contest with an active streak of 239 games of not suffering a shutout - a school record ... The last time the Pirates were blanked was on Oct. 4, 1997 (56-0 at Syracuse) ... 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 ... A total of seven (DB DaShaun Amos, OL J.T. Boyd, WR Jeff rey Coprich, OL Will Dancy, ILB Drayvon Fairley, P Worth Gregory, ILB Terrell Richardson) Pirates are competing as ECU graduates this season, which ranks in the top 20 nationally.
