East Carolina University
South Carolina
Gameday: ECU Travels To South Carolina For Weekend Tilt
September 15, 2016 | Football
| East Carolina Game 3: South Carolina | |
| Date | Saturday, Sept. 17 |
| Time | 4:00 PM (EDT) |
| Location | Columbia, S.C. (Williams-Brice Stadium) |
| Tickets & Parking | Game Tickets | Parking Information |
| Live Game Coverage | Radio: WNCT 107.9FM | TuneIn Radio Online Television: SEC Network/WatchESPN (*must be a subscriber to SEC Net tier; check cable/satellite subscription specifics on your computer or mobile device) |
| Internet Options | Live Stats |
| Official Web Sites | East Carolina | South Carolina | American Athletic Conference |
| Game Notes | East Carolina (PDF) | South Carolina (PDF) | The American (PDF) |
| 2016 Football Statistics | East Carolina | South Carolina |
| ECU Football Central | Roster | Fact Book (PDF) | The American | NCAA Football | College Scoreboard |
| Official Social Media Sites | |
| East Carolina | South Carolina | The American | |
| East Carolina | ECUScoreboard (In-Game Updates) South Carolina | The American |
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| Twitter Hashtags | #ECUPirates | #ECUndaunted | #ECUFootball | #AmericanRising | #ECUvsSC |
| East Carolina | The American | |
GREENVILLE, N.C. – East Carolina will face the second of three-straight "Power Five" members on its 2016 schedule when the Pirates travel to Columbia Saturday to meet South Carolina at Williams-Brice Stadium for a non-conference matchup. The battle against the Gamecocks will also open a two-game road swing for ECU, which will visit Virginia Tech next week before returning home to open American Athletic Conference play against UCF on Oct. 1. Saturday's meeting will also mark the Pirates' sixth contest against a Southeastern Conference opponent in the last six years (and eighth in the last nine seasons dating back to the 2008 campaign).
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 18-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 20 regular season road games ...
- Has won 10 of the last 14 regular season non-conference games ...
- Has won six of the last eight regular season games against "Power Five" opponents ...
THE SERIES
South Carolina leads 13-5 ... Although the Gamecocks have won the last three meetings, the two programs have split the last 10 matchups ... Prior to South Carolina's recent run, the Pirates enjoyed success in the 1990s, capturing five of seven contests in a span from 1991 to 1999 ... After ECU's last win, a 21-3 decision on Sept. 18, 1999, the Pirates' stay in Columbia lasted an additional week because of the flooding associated with Hurricane Floyd in the Greenville area ... The Pirates were extended workout privileges on the South Carolina campus in preparation for its next game against Miami (Fla.) - a contest ECU won 27-23 in Raleigh.
EAST CAROLINA AGAINST THE SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE
East Carolina has compiled an all-time record of 6-27 (.182) against current members of the Southeastern Conference ... In addition to the Pirates' 5-13 ledger against South Carolina, ECU is 1-1 against Missouri, 0-3 vs. Florida, 0-3 vs. Auburn, 0-2 vs. Kentucky, 0-1 vs. Alabama, 0-1 vs. Georgia, 0-1 vs. LSU, 0-1 vs. Tennessee and 0-1 vs. Arkansas ... The Pirates have dropped seven straight and nine of their last 11 games against SEC opponents, recording their last win in 1999 (21-3 at South Carolina).
SOUTH CAROLINA AGAINST THE AMERICAN
South Carolina has posted a 26-14 (.650) all-time mark against current members of the American Athletic Conference ... The Gamecocks have faced East Carolina (13-5), UCF (5-0), Cincinnati (2-0), Memphis (2-2), Tulsa (1-0), USF (1-0), Temple (1-1), Houston (1-2), Connecticut (0-1) and Tulane (0-3) ... A 31-14 victory over UCF in Columbia last Sept. 26 represents South Carolina's last matchup against an AAC opponent.
PIRATE CAREER NUMBERS AGAINST THE GAMECOCKS
A total of three (3) East Carolina offensive skill players, four (4) defenders and one (1) special teams performer have recorded statistics in a previous battle against South Carolina during their careers ... A closer look: ILB Pat Green - 1 game (1 solo tackle); P Worth Gregory - 1 game (1 punt for 52 yards); WR Zay Jones – 1 game (8 catches for 46 yards); OLB Dayon Pratt - 1 game (1 solo tackle); DE Fred Presley - 1 game (3 tackles, 2 solo); RB Anthony Scott - 1 game (1 rush for 0 yards); ILB Ray Tillman - 1 game (1 assisted tackle); WR Jimmy Williams - 1 game (1 catch for 17 yards).
EAST CAROLINA-SOUTH CAROLINA COACHING STAFF CONNECTIONS
East Carolina defensive line coach Deke Adams served in the same capacity on the South Carolina staff during the 2013, 2014 and 2015 seasons ... Gamecock tight ends coach Pat Washington spent a month on the ECU staff under former coach Ruffin McNeill ... Washington was hired as the Pirates' outside receivers coach and run game coordinator on January 10, 2012 before resigning in February to take another position at Kentucky.
BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK "POWER FIVE" CHALLENGES
By facing NC State (last week/Sept. 10), South Carolina (this week/Sept. 17) and Virginia Tech (next week/Sept. 24), ECU will battle against members of the "Power Five" (formerly known as automatic-qualifying BCS opponents) in successive games for the 11th time since 2005 - 1-2 in 2005 (Duke/WFU/WVU), 1-1 twice in 2006 (WVU/UVA and NCSU/USF), 1-1 in 2007 (VT/UNC), 2-0 in 2008 (VT/WVU), 0-2 in 2009 (WVU/UNC), 0-2 in 2010 (VT/UNC), 0-2 in 2011 (SC/VT), 1-1 in 2013 (VT/UNC) and 2-1 in 2014 (SC/VT/UNC) ... Looking ahead to the 2017 season, the Pirates will play at West Virginia (Sept. 9) and host Virginia Tech (Sept. 16) in back-to-back weeks, while also welcoming BYU to Greenville on Oct. 21.
ROAD OPENERS
East Carolina will try to snap a two-game road opener losing streak when it travels to South Carolina Saturday ... After defeating North Carolina 55-31 in 2013, the Pirates followed by falling to South Carolina (2014) and Florida (2015) in successive "away" game lid-lifters ... Since 2000, ECU is 4-11 in road openers.
ON THE ROAD - WINS IN 11 OF THE LAST 20
Since becoming a conference member in 1997, East Carolina is 54-72 (.429) when playing away from Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium ... Before a 2-4 ledger last year, a 3-4 mark in 2014 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 clip since 1991 (5-1) ... From a regular season standpoint, the Pirates have won 11 of the last 20 road contests dating back to 2012 (8-6 in conference play, 3-3 in non-conference action).
CHARTING THE PIRATES MONTH-BY-MONTH
In all, ECU is 3-2-0 in August, 123-110-2 in September, 160-150-4 in October, 137-117-5 in November, 9-9-0 in December and 1-4-0 in January ... Although the Pirates are 2-0 this season (and have won 15 of their last 24 overall September games), ECU has posted a recent 8-9 record against non-conference foes in the ninth month.
SHUTOUT-FREE ... 233 AND COUNTING
ECU will enter the South Carolina contest with an active streak of 233 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 232-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 347 (began in 1988).
INTRODUCING THIS YEAR'S FIRST-TIME STARTERS
There have been a combined 10 first-time starters in East Carolina's lineup against Western Carolina and NC State to open the season - five on the offensive side of the ball with TE Stephen Baggett, G Garrett McGhin, T Messiah Rice, T Justin Sandifer and RB Anthony Scott, and five more on defense as DE Justin Brown, SS Bobby Fulp, CB Colby Gore, OLB Pat Green and CB Corey Seargent each made their respective starting debuts ... It is worth nothing however that two additional starters - OG Will Dancy (2/North Carolina) and QB Philip Nelson (16/Minnesota) – made their inaugural Pirate appearances against the Catamounts and Wolfpack, but did own previous collegiate starting experience before transferring into the ECU program.
REDSHIRT REMOVAL 101
A total of eight (8) players had their redshirts removed and experienced action as true freshmen so far ... Although only two games are in the book for the 2016 campaign, the total is only one short of the highest number of single-season redshirt "burns" in the last 10 years (9/2014) ... First-year head coach Scottie Montgomery elected to play OLB Kendall Futrell, CB Colby Gore, OG Cortez Herrin, RB Hussein Howe, DE Jalen Price, DS Anthony Ratliff, OT D'Ante Smith and DE Alex Turner thus far.
RECENT PIRATE SIGNAL CALLER DEBUTS
Nelson's 398-yard passing effort against Western Carolina ranked as the second-highest total among recent starting debuts of East Carolina quarterbacks - just eight yards shy of Patrick Pinkney's 406-yard effort against North Carolina in 2007 ... He's also authored two perfect quarters this year, going 7-of-7 (137 yards, 2 TDs) in the third period vs. WCU and 7-of-7 (68 yards) in the fourth stanza against NC State.
ZAY'S STREAK
Senior WR Zay Jones has caught at least one pass in 37-straight games heading into the South Carolina 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 (Georgia State's Robert Davis' 39-game run stands first) ... His 10-catch, 180-yard effort vs. Western Carolina in the opener Sept. 3 represented the ninth double-digit reception outing and 11th triple-digit yard total of his ECU career ... Jones has 16 career touchdown receptions and the Pirates are 13-2 when he snares a scoring catch (only losses were at Florida and BYU on Sept. 12 and Oct. 10, 2015, respectively) ... In his last four games (UCF/Cincinnati in '15, WCU/NCSU in '16), Jones has made 43 receptions for 558 yards - an average of 10.8 grabs and 139.5 yards per game.
"MO"TIVATIONAL PREGAME, HALFTIME SPEECHES
ECU has outscored its opponent a combined 47-3 in the first and third quarters so far this season under first-year head coach Scottie Montgomery ... The Pirates still haven't surrendered a point in the first period (19-0) and enjoy a 28-3 edge in the third quarter.
KEEPING THE FLAGS AT A MINIMUM
After ranking 110th (7.4) and 117th (8.4) nationally in fewest penalties per game during the 2015 and 2014 campaigns, respectively, ECU currently ranks 6th at the FBS level after only getting flagged a combined seven times (3.5) in its first two contests of 2016.
THIS AND THAT
INDIVIDUAL NOTES: OL J.T. Boyd (25 games) and FS Travon Simmons (15) own the program's longest starting streaks on their respective side of the ball entering the South Carolina game ... WR Zay Jones has caught multiple passes in 39 of 40 career games (none vs. VT in 2013) ... Of his 258 career receptions, 110 have gone for 10 or more yards (35 for 20-plus) ... QB Philip Nelson established new career highs in completions (33) and attempts (43) vs. NCSU ... He opened action against the Wolfpack completing his first four passes before his first incompletion (first quarter) snapped a streak of 12-straight on-target tosses dating back to WCU opener ... Nelson has accounted for seven of ECU's 11 TDs this season ... RB Anthony Scott is on pace to shatter ECU single-season records for receptions and TD catches by a RB ... Scott has 15 receptions in two games, an average of 7.5 rpg (record is 52/4.0 by Jonathan Williams in 2010) ... In regards to TD grabs, Scott already has three in 2016 - just three shy of the current standard of six set by Jerris McPhail (1993) and Chris Johnson (2007) ... WR Quay Johnson turned in personal bests vs. NCSU in receptions (13) and receiving yards (75), while topping the team with 122 all purpose yards (against the Wolfpack) ... OLB Dayon Pratt produced a career-high seven stops (six solo), logged a pair of TFLs, one sack (-8 yards) and forced a fumble against NC State … ILB Terrell Richardson matched a personal best with seven tackles (five solo) vs. the Wolfpack ... With a pair of three-pointers vs. NCSU, PK Davis Plowman extended his streak to five-straight games with a field goal made dating back to 2015 ... The pair of successful kicks also marked his third career multi-FG outing (3-3/TLS, 3-3/UCF in '15, 2-2/NCSU in '16) ... KOS Caleb Pratt has drilled five touchbacks in 16 kickoff s this year, pushing his career TB total to 36 (31/2015, 5/2016) ... He has logged at least one touchback in 11 of 14 career games (delivered multiple endzone landings on eight occasions).
TEAM NOTES: ECU will play 11-straight weeks to open the 2016 campaign (after playing 10-straight weeks to start the 2015 season) ... After suff ering through a three-game home losing streak to close out 2015, ECU has opened the 2016 campaign with two-straight victories at Dowdy Ficklen Stadium ... Phil Nelson's second-quarter interception vs. NCSU marked ECU's first offensive turnover since Oct. 30, 2015 - snapping a run of four "miscue-free" outings (last three games of '15, opener vs. WCU) ... ECU has pitched first-quarter shutouts in three-straight games (season-finale vs. Cincinnati in '15, first two games in '16) ... The Pirates have thrown at least one TD strike in 53 of their last 59 games ... ECU was 3-for-3 on fourth-down conversions vs. NCSU - the most since going 3-of-5 vs. Connecticut on Oct. 23, 2014 (span of 21 games) ... East Carolina has cashed in 9-of-10 redzone visits so far this year (7 TDs, 2 FGs) ... The Pirates' 52 points vs. WCU matched a school record for most tallies in a season opener and their 688 yards of total offense were the most ever compiled in an ECU opener (and ranks third in all games in program history) ... The 688 yards also currently stands as the seventh-highest single-game total racked up at the FBS level this season.
