East Carolina University
Temple
Gameday: ECU Hosts Temple Saturday Afternoon
October 04, 2017 | Football
| ECU Game 6: Temple | |
| Date: | Saturday, Oct. 7 |
| Time: | 12 Noon (EDT) |
| Location: | Greenville, N.C. (Bagwell Field at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium) |
| Tickets & Parking: | Tickets | Parking | Things To Look For On Gameday l Rideshare Lot |
| Live Game Coverage: | Radio: WNCT 107.9FM | TuneIn Radio Online Television: ESPNU (Watch ESPN) |
| Internet Options: | Live Stats |
| Official Web Sites: | ECU | Temple | American Athletic Conference |
| Game Notes: | ECU (PDF) | Temple (PDF) | The American (PDF) |
| 2017 Football Statistics: | ECU | Temple l The American |
| ECU Football Central: | Roster | Fact Book (PDF) | The American | NCAA Football | College Scoreboard |
| Official Social Media Sites | |
| Facebook: | ECU | Temple | The American |
| Twitter: | ECU | ECUScoreboard (In-Game Updates) l Temple | The American |
| Twitter Hashtags: | #ECUPirates | #ECUGameday | #ECUndaunted | #ECUFootball | #AmericanFB |
| Instagram: | ECU | The American |
GREENVILLE, N.C. – It's Hall of Fame & Letterwinners Weekend as ECU will close a two-game homestand by hosting Temple for an American Athletic Conference contest at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium on Saturday beginning at 12 noon. After falling to division-leader USF last week, the Pirates hope to improve to 2-1 in league play for the eighth time in the last 11 years when they battle the Owls. Additionally, ECU will try to run its AAC home record in October to 5-2 when it meets Temple in Greenville for the seventh time in series history (and first on a Saturday playing date since 1995).
EAST CAROLINA RECORDS AND STREAKS
- Qualified for 10 bowl appearances since 2000 (three of the last five years) ...
- Has won 31 of the last 39 games when scoring 30 or more points ...
- Has won 19 of the last 22 games when gaining 200 or more rushing yards ...
- Has accounted for 400 or more yards of total offense in 14 of the last 17 games ...
- Has recorded at least one sack in five-straight (and in eight of the last 10) games ...
- Has won 30 of the last 32 games when leading at the half ...
- Has won 13 of its last 15 conference home games in October (since 2006) ...
- Has lost 25-straight games when scoring 20 or less points (19-14 vs. UCF in '09/last win) ...
THE SERIES
Officially, East Carolina leads the series 8-6 ... On the field, Temple has captured wins in seven of the 14 matchups, but the Owls' 45-28 victory in 1986 was later forfeited to the Pirates because of the utilization of an ineligible player ... The two teams have split six games in Greenville and ECU has triumphs in five of eight meetings in Philadelphia ... The series dates back to 1982 when the Pirates competed as an independent.
SCOTTIE MONTGOMERY AGAINST THE OWLS
Last year's 37-10 setback in Philadelphia was Scottie Montgomery's first-ever meeting against Temple ... He did not face the Owls during his seven-year tenure (2006-09, 2013-15) as a collegiate assistant coach at Duke.
GEOFF COLLINS AGAINST THE PIRATES
While Saturday's contest will be Geoff Collins' first against ECU as a head coach, he has faced the Pirates on three previous occasions ... As Florida's defensive coordinator in 2015, the Gators thwarted an ECU comeback attempt with a takeaway at the UF 30-yard line with 12 seconds left to hang on to a 31-24 win ... As linebackers coach at UCF, the Pirates recorded a pair of low-scoring victories over the Knights on the way to back-to-back C-USA titles under former head coach Skip Holtz ... In the previous three meetings, Collins has "held" ECU to 18.7 ppg.
DEFENSE & SPECIAL TEAMS SPARK OWLS' SERIES RESURGENCE
During its current three-game win streak against the Pirates, Temple has forced a total of eight turnovers (2.7 tpg) and penetrated the ECU backfield on a consistent basis as evidenced by a total of 30.0 tackles for lost yardage and 12.0 sacks ... The Owls initiated their takeaway frenzy in the first American Conference meetings between the two programs in 2014 with five fumble recoveries before adding a combined three in 2015 and 2016 ... Additionally, Temple's special teams units have recorded three blocks - two punts and a FG try.
TEMPLE & ECU "INSTITUTIONAL" CONNECTIONS
Current ECU Athletics Director Jeff Compher served as Western Carolina's AD from 2000 to 2004, which covered three of Collins' four years (2002-05) on the Catamount staff along with former Temple head coach Matt Rhule while the pair served under head coach Kent Briggs ... Current ECU receivers coach Keith Gaither had a brief tenure on Collins' first staff (hired Jan. 23, 2017) before accepting the Pirates' position on March 7.
NITTANY LIONS, PANTHERS AND OWLS
ECU is 10-10 against FBS programs from the state of Pennsylvania (Temple/8-6, Pitt/2-2 and Penn State/0-2).
THE AMERICAN - YEAR FOUR
ECU has posted an 80-55 (.593) all-time mark against current members of the American Conference ... The Pirates currently sport series records against Memphis (15-6), Cincinnati (12-8), Tulane (11-3), UCF (10-5), Temple (8-6), Tulsa (8-6), Houston (7-5), SMU (4-3) Connecticut (3-1), Navy (1-5) and USF (1-7).
THE EAST HAS BEEN A BEAST
ECU owns a 3-9 mark (1-5/home, 2-4/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 and a pair of wins vs. Connecticut (41-3 in 2016, 41-38 in 2017) represents the only trio of triumphs ... In all, ECU is 2-1 vs. Connecticut, 1-1 vs. UCF, 0-2 vs. Cincinnati, 0-2 vs. Temple and 0-3 vs. USF while competing as division mates ... On the flipside, ECU is 2-4 against foes in the West Division so far (1-1 vs. SMU, 1-1 vs. Tulsa and 0-2 vs. Navy), but will switch cross-over opponents this year (Houston, Memphis and Tulane).
NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULING ... ANYTIME, ANYWHERE
ECU is the only program in the nation to play at least three non-conference games against P6 (including Notre Dame & BYU) opponents in each of the last five years, including the 2017 campaign ... Moving forward, the Pirates currently have two P6 tilts scheduled in 2018 (North Carolina, Virginia Tech), two in 2019 (NC State, Virginia Tech) and three in 2020 (West Virginia, Virginia Tech, South Carolina).
COMPARING 10-YEAR, FIVE-GAME RESULTS
ECU's 61-31 loss to USF last week marks the first time the Pirates have opened their slate with a 1-4 record since 2011 ... A victory over Temple would give ECU a 2-4 ledger at the midway point of the season for the third time in the last seven campaigns, joining the 2011 and 2016 squads ... Only the 2006 Pirates, under the direction of Skip Holtz, rallied from a 2-4 start to make a bowl appearance.
AT DOWDY-FICKLEN STADIUM
ECU's all-time record at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium is 183-96-1 (.655) ... The Pirates opened the facility on Sept. 21, 1963 with a 20-10 win over Brian Piccolo and the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in front of 17,000 fans and celebrated the stadium's 50th anniversary in 2013 ... Before back-to-back 3-3 marks in 2015 and 2016, ECU recorded consecutive 5-1 ledgers in 2014, 2013 and 2012 (15-3) and won a combined 10 of 12 home matchups in 2009 (6-1) and 2008 (4-1) ... Overall, ECU will be looking for its 40th winning campaign at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium this fall.
THE PIRATE NATION - 8 MILLION STRONG
ECU 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 and a national attendance leader on a near annual basis ... In all, a total of 8,327,194 fans have seen the Pirates in action since 1963 (ECU cracked the 8 million mark when 50,719 watched ECU down NC State Sept. 10, 2016) ... Since the completion of a 7,000-seat expansion project in 2010 (to push capacity to 50,000), the Pirates have drawn 2,055,908 fans ... ECU surpassed the 2 million post-expansion "milestone" on Sept. 16 when 43,776 watched the Pirates battle Virginia Tech.
ATTENDANCE LEADERS
ECU topped all American Athletic Conference members in attendance in 2014 and 2016, and currently lead the league again in 2017 ... Overall, ECU ranks 56th nationally in average attendance (39,609) and 73rd in capacity percentage (79.22) this season ... A closer look at Top 5 AAC leaders: 1. ECU (39,609), 2. Houston (37,642), 3. UCF (36,043), 4. Cincinnati (33,284), 5. Memphis (32,713) ... ECU has drawn at least 40,000 fans to Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium in 22 of its last 25 home games dating back to 2013, which includes this year's season opener vs. James Madison (40,169) and the Sept. 16 clash vs. Virginia Tech (43,776) ... The only "exceptions" were a 2015 matchup against Temple (39,417), the 2016 home finale against Navy (39,480) and last week's tilt vs. USF (34,883).
ANALYZING THE 2017 OVERALL SCHEDULE
Overall, the Pirates '17 schedule features contests against eight teams which advanced to bowl games a year ago - West Virginia (Russell Athletic), Virginia Tech (Belk), BYU (Poinsettia), USF (Birmingham), UCF (AutoNation Cure), Temple (Military), Memphis (Boca Raton) and Houston (Las Vegas) ... Of ECU's five road games, four will be against 2016 bowl qualifiers ... Six of the Pirates' FBS opponents this year were either ranked or received votes in college football's two major polls (Associated Press, Coaches) to end the 2016 season - Virginia Tech (16/16), West Virginia (18/17) and USF (19/19) were among the Top 25, while BYU, Temple and Houston each received votes ... ECU's four non-conference opponents were a combined 43-12 (.782) a year ago, while the Pirates' eight American Conference foes posted a collective 55-47 (.539) record ... The Pirates' 2017 non-conference slate, which includes FCS national champion JMU, was ranked as the toughest nationally by USA Today ... ECU's four losses this year have come to teams with a combined 17-2 record thus far (JMU, WVU, VT, USF).
LEAGUE, NON-LEAGUE STATISTICAL COMPARISONS
In its two American Athletic Conference contests (1-1) this year, ECU has averaged 36.0 points, 139.0 rushing yards, 366.0 passing yards and 505.0 total yards per game ... By comparison, the Pirates booked 17.0 ppg, 84.0 rypg, 287.0 pypg and 371.0 ypg averages in their three non conference tilts so far in 2017 (James Madison, West Virginia and Virginia Tech).
SHUTOUT-FREE ... 247 AND COUNTING
ECU will enter the Temple contest with an active streak of 247 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).
CHARTING THE PIRATES MONTH-BY-MONTH
In all, ECU is 3-2-0 in August, 124-116-2 in September, 161-153-4 in October, 137-121-5 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 now split its last 12 games ... In American Athletic Conference play alone, the Pirates have taken six of the last 11 ... At home, ECU has won 13 of the last 15 conference contests in October (dating back to 2006), falling only to Temple (2015) and UCF (2016).
LOSING THEIR (RED) SHIRTS
A total of 34 players have had their redshirts removed and experienced action as true freshmen in the last five-plus years - 2012 (1), 2013 (5), 2014 (9), 2015 (4), 2016 (9) and 2017 (6) ... This year, TE Ben Norris, RB Darius Pinnix, OL John Spellacy and WR Mydreon Vines all experienced action vs. James Madison in the opener, while ILB Bruce Bivens made his college debut vs. WVU (six tackles, fi ve solo) and DB Davondre "Tank" Robinson made his initial collegiate appearance vs. Virginia Tech (two stops).
FIRST-TIME STARTERS
ECU has had a combined 17 "fi rst-time" starters in its lineup against JMU, WVU, Virginia Tech, UConn and USF - eight on the off ensive side of the ball (LT D'Ante Smith, LG Cortez Herrin, LG Des Barmore, C John Spellacy, RG Austin Lee, RG Dqmarcus Shaw, RB Derrell Scott, RB Tyshon Dye), nine more on defense (DT Tyree Owens, DT Raequan Purvis, DT Jalen Price, DT Alex Turner, DE Shaun James, ILB Ray Tillman, ILB Cannon Gibbs, CB Travis Phillips, CB Marcus Holton Jr.) ... It is worth noting however that Dye (Clemson) and Scott (Tennessee) are FBS transfers.
THE ULTIMATE COLLEGE GOAL
A total of 11 Pirates are competing as graduates this season, a number which ranks in the Top 10 nationally among all FBS programs … DE Randall Anderson (communications), WR Davon Grayson (communications), DB Tre Hicks (recreation & park management), OL Brandon Smith (marketing), DB Xavier Smith (elementary education) and DB Austin Teague (biology) earned their degrees from ECU, while P Austin Barnes (Eastern Michigan), RB Tyshon Dye (Clemson), DE Gaelin Elmore (Minnesota), QB Thomas Sirk (Duke) and DB Korrin Wiggins (Clemson) are graduate transfers.
TOP PASSING UNIT IN AMERICAN HISTORY ...
Since joining the AAC in 2014, the Pirates lead the league in passing yards per game over a combined three-plus-year period despite utilizing five starting quarterbacks, three offensive coordinators and two head coaches: 1. ECU (329.0), 2. Cincinnati (297.5), 3. Memphis (282.2) ... In addition, the Pirates also top the league in completions (1,195) and attempts (1,879) since competing in the AAC over the last three-plus seasons ... Despite missing the AAC's inaugural season (2013), ECU has still accounted for a conference-high 12 400-yard passing games (Cincinnati is second with nine).
... AND AMONG TOP PASSING UNITS NATIONALLY
Over the last 10 years (since 2007), ECU ranks among the Top 20 passing units at the FBS level in five different categories.
LONG RANGE STRIKES
ECU has turned in three passing plays of 70 yards or more (95/Trevon Brown vs. WVU, 76/Brown vs. VT, 75/Davon Grayson vs. UConn), which ranks third nationally behind Baylor (6) and Mississippi (4) ... Although they didn't ring up a 70-yarder vs. USF, the Pirates did rack up six receptions that went for 20 or more yards (two for 40-plus).
RECEIVER U: PAST
ECU has the top two receivers in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision history by career receptions in Zay Jones (399 from 2013-16) and Justin Hardy (387 from 2011-2014) ... In terms of FBS single season reception leaders, the Pirates are just one of two programs (Nevada) to have three entries in the Top 25 listings - 1. Jones (158/2016), 20. Hardy (121/2014), 25. Hardy (114/2013) ... ECU is also the only program in the nation to have a receiver with at least 90 catches in the last four years and a Pirate receiver has led the conference in receptions each of those seasons (3/AAC, 1/C-USA).
RECEIVER U: PRESENT
The Pirates are one of only four FBS teams to have three active receivers with at least 100 catches - Davon Grayson (105), Quay Johnson (101) and Jimmy Williams (100) ... Colorado tops the nation with four, while Oklahoma and Washington State each match ECU with three ... The Pirates also boast three active receivers who have amassed over 1,000 reception yards - Williams (1,459), Grayson (1,376) and Trevon Brown (1,125).
A TRIPLE-DIGIT QUADRUPLE
Two ECU pass catchers have turned in a combined four-straight 100-yard receiving outings - Trevon Brown (2-103 vs. West Virginia, 4-107 vs. Virginia Tech) and Davon Grayson (11-223 vs. Connecticut, 5-101 vs. USF ) ... Brown's 95-yarder for a TD at WVU on Sept. 9 is currently tied for the longest FBS pass play in 2017, while Grayson's 223-yard receiving day at UConn on Sept. 29 ranks fourth among all FBS players this season.
SIRK RANKS AMONG FBS TOP RUSHING QBs
Graduate transfer Thomas Sirk ranks among the nation's top active rushing quarterbacks ... After rushing for 1,041 yards and 16 touchdowns at Duke during the 2014 and 2015 seasons, Sirk transferred to ECU during the summer and has already contributed 159 ground yards for the Pirates in four games … Sirk also ranks 12th among all active career leaders in total rushing yards (1,200).
A GOOD TWO WEEKS (STATISTICALLY) FOR SIRK
Since reassuming ECU's starting quarterback role, Sirk has completed a collective 50-of-82 (61.0 percent) passes for 728 yards and five TDs in contests vs. UConn and USF ... He followed a 426 yard aerial performance against the Huskies (9th-highest single-game total in program history) with a 302-yard outing vs. the Bulls ... He also added 118 yards and two TDs on a combined 32 carries on the ground (team-high 87 vs. USF).
NEW COACHES, SAME LEAGUE
Defensive coordinator Robert Prunty (Cincinnati) and receivers coach Keith Gaither (Temple), who both joined the Pirates' staff this year, are two of 22 coaches nationally at the FBS level this year to switch schools but stay in the same league.
NFL PLAYER & COACH TO COLLEGE HEAD COACH
ECU's Scottie Montgomery is just one of three FBS head coaches to have played and been a full time coach in the NFL (along with Michigan's Jim Harbaugh and Minnesota's P.J. Fleck) ... His 2005 stint with the Georgia Force makes him the only current FBS head coach to have played & coached in the NFL and played in the Arena Football League.
P6 .... #AMERICANPOW6R
Similar to the 2016 campaign, ECU will continue to wear P6 helmet stickers, recognizing Commissioner Mike Aresco's long-standing message that the American Athletic Conference is a Power 6 Conference based on the league's competitive results and commitments made at all the conference's institutions.
THIS AND THAT
INDIVIDUAL NOTES: OT Brandon Smith (28 games) and DE Kiante Anderson/ILB Jordan Williams (10) own the program's longest starting streaks on their respective side of the ball entering the Temple contest ... With his performance vs. USF, QB Thomas Sirk is one of four FBS quarterbacks in 2017 to reach 300 passing yards, 80 rushing yards and a pair of TDs in the air & on the ground in the same game (Lamar Jackson/LOU vs. UNC, Daniel Jones/DUKE vs. Northwestern and Kent Meyers/USU vs. Idaho State) ... It also marked the ninth time that an ECU QB threw and rushed for two scores in a game since 2010 (and the first since James Summers did it vs. SMU in 2015) ... Five of Sirk's six TD tosses have been for 17-plus yards, including a 75 yarder vs. UConn ... WR Davon Grayson, who turned in career bests with 11 receptions for 223 yards and three TDs at UConn before following with 101 yards vs. USF, has now caught at least one pass in 30 of 36 career games ... After sitting out the UConn game (illness), WR Jimmy Williams extended his consecutive games with a reception streak to 17 with a 44-yarder vs. USF ... He also reached the career 100-catch milestone with a four-yard grab in the third quarter ... WR Quay Johnson also surpassed 100 career receptions (has 101 entering the Temple clash) with four vs. USF (48 yards) ... WR Trevon Brown has netted at least one reception in 20 of 22 career games (multiple 17 times) after recording a pair vs. the Bulls (20 yards) ... Forty-four of his 76 career grabs have gone for 10 or more yards ... ILB Jordan Williams, who led ECU in tackles last year and was included on SI.com's Freak List (nation's top 40 workout warriors in college football), has posted three or more stops in 20 of his last 21 contests ... He matched a career best with 14 stops in the opener vs. JMU before logging 11 at West Virginia, adding 10 vs. Virginia Tech, eight more at UConn and six vs. USF last week ... He currently ranks 17th nationally in total tackles per game (43/10.8) ... ILB Cannon Gibbs tallied a career-high 14 tackles (eight solo) at UConn, his first career double-digit game at ECU, before logging seven vs. USF ... FS Korrin Wiggins has racked up 19 stops in his last two home games (career-high 10 tackles vs. VT, nine vs. USF) ... He also contributed 10 at UConn and pilfered his first Pirate interception ... He's recorded at least one tackle in 31 of 37 career games ... 102 of KOS Caleb Pratt's 124 kickoff s have traveled 60 or more yards and he's registered at least one touchback in 21 of 25 career games (five vs. USF) ... PK Jake Verity successfully converted all four PATs vs. USF to remain perfect during his career (20-of 20) ... He also drilled at least one FG in four-straight games.
TEAM NOTES: ECU has recorded a scoring throw in 67 of their last 74 games (two each vs. each vs. WVU and VT, three at UConn, two vs. USF in 2017) ... ECU's offensive line has allowed only five sacks this year (1.0 spg), ranking third in the AAC and 12th nationally ... ECU has tallied a combined 68 first-half points in its last three games, but has been collectively outscored 95-21 in the final 30 minutes against the Hokies, Huskies and Bulls ... The Pirates have only scored twice in the fourth quarter this year and have been shutout 27-0 in their last three games (overall, opponents own a 40-14 edge in the fourth stanza in 2017) ... Under Scottie Montgomery (2016-17), ECU ranks 5th nationally in most 4th down conversion attempts (47) and 5th in 4th down conversions (28).
