East Carolina University
Connecticut
Gameday: ECU Heads North To UConn
September 22, 2017 | Football
| Game 4: ECU at Connecticut | |
| Date: | Sunday, Sept. 24 |
| Time: | 12 Noon (EDT) |
| Location: | East Hartford, Conn. (Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field) |
| Tickets & Driving Directions: | Game Tickets |
| Live Game Coverage: | Radio: WNCT 107.9FM | WCLY 1550 AM (Raleigh) | TuneIn Radio Online Television: ESPNU |
| Internet Options: | Live Stats |
| Official Web Sites: | ECU | Connecticut | American Athletic Conference |
| Game Notes: | ECU (PDF) | Connecticut (PDF) | The American (PDF) |
| 2017 Football Statistics: | ECU | Connecticut |
| ECU Football Central: | Roster | Fact Book (PDF) | The American | NCAA Football | College Scoreboard |
| Official Social Media Sites | |
| ECU | Connecticut | The American | |
| ECU | ECUScoreboard (In-Game Updates) l Connecticut | The American | |
| Twitter Hashtags | #ECUPirates | #ECUndaunted | #ECUFootball | #AmericanFB | #ECUvsUConn |
| ECU | The American | |
GREENVILLE, N.C. – ECU will officially open its 2017 American Athletic Conference schedule when it visits Connecticut at 12 noon Sunday. The contest, originally slated to be played Nov. 4, was rescheduled as part of a collective effort by the league to make up games postponed by Hurricane Irma. The Pirates will look to open conference play 1-0 for the eighth time in the last 10 years when they battle the Huskies. On the flipside, ECU will also try to snap a four-game AAC slide after dropping successive contests to Tulsa, SMU, Navy and Temple to close out the 2016 campaign.
ECU RECORDS AND STREAKS
- Qualified for 10 bowl appearances since 2000 (three of the last five years) ...
- Has won 30 of the last 37 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 12 of the last 15 games ...
- Has won 29 of the last 31 games when leading at the half ...
- Has won seven of its last nine conference openers ...
- Has won four-straight games when playing on Sunday ...
- Has lost 25-straight games when scoring 20 or less points (19-14 vs. UCF in '09/last win) ...
THE SERIES
ECU leads 2-1 ... The Pirates scored 10 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to break a 21-21 deadlock in the first-ever meeting between the two programs at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium in 2014 before the Huskies used a stifling pass defense that netted four interceptions during the series' initial clash in New England.
AN ASSOCIATION OF HUSKIES AND PIRATES
ECU and Connecticut each feature Skip Holtz on its all-time head coach roster page ... Holtz was 34-23 (.596) while guiding the Huskies for five seasons (1994-98) and later led the Pirates to a 38-27 (.585) mark, two Conference USA titles and an unprecedented run of four-straight bowl appearances from 2005 to 2009 before moving on to USF, and ultimately, Louisiana Tech ... In addition to Holtz, four other former (and somewhat) recent ECU staffers have both prior and current "associations" with UConn.
THE AMERICAN - YEAR FOUR
ECU has posted a 79-54 (.594) 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 (2-1), Navy (1-5) and USF (1-6).
During its 17-year membership in Conference USA (1997-2013), East Carolina produced an all-time 78-50 (.609) league record ... Overall, the Pirates completed C-USA action by winning 11 of the last 13, 27 of the last 37 and 36 of the last 49 league games ... ECU captured conference titles in 2008 and 2009 under Skip Holtz (as previously mentioned).
THE EAST HAS BEEN A BEAST
ECU owns a 2-8 mark (1-4/home, 1-4/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 41-3 win vs. Connecticut on Oct. 29 represents the only pair of triumphs ... In all, ECU is 1-1 vs. UCF, 1-1 vs. Connecticut, 0-2 vs. USF, 0-2 vs. Cincinnati and 0-2 vs. Temple 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-SATURDAY MAYHEM
ECU is 19-23 in non-Saturday games since 2000 ... Oddly, the Pirates have fared better on the road (13-11; 6-12 at home) ... In terms of days (including bowls), ECU is 4-0 on Sundays, 1-1 on Mondays, 2-1 on Tuesdays, 0-3 on Wednesdays, 7-11 on Thursdays and 5-7 on Fridays ... The Pirates' run of four-straight Sunday victories were compiled in 2007 (ECU 41, Boise State 38/Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl), 2008 (ECU 13, UCF 10 in overtime), 2009 (ECU 44, Tulsa 17) and 2010 (ECU 51, Tulsa 49) ... Most recently, ECU is 8-8 when deviating from the normal Saturday routine since 2010.
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 fi ve 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, THREE-GAME RESULTS
ECU's 64-17 loss against Virginia Tech marks the first time since 2004 the Pirates have opened the season with an 0-3 record (also were winless in their first three 2003 outings) ... A victory over Connecticut would give ECU a 1-3 ledger for the first time since 2011 ... Two Pirate squads have bounced back from a 1-3 start to earn a bowl invitation - 2006 (7-6/PapaJohns.com) and 2007 (8-5/Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl).
ON THE ROAD
Since becoming a conference member in 1997, ECU is 54-79 (.406) when playing away from Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium ... Before a loss at West Virginia this year, an 0-6 clip last 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 2008 to 2012 ... From a regular season standpoint, the Pirates have won 11 of the last 28 road contests dating back to 2012 (8-10 in conference play, 3-7 in non-conference action) ... ECU will look to snap a seven-game road losing skid and hand head coach Scottie Montgomery his first win away from Greenville when it travels to Connecticut this weekend ... The Pirates' last "away" triumph was a 44-7 victory at UCF on Nov. 19, 2015.
MISSING 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 8,292,311 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 2,021,025 fans ... ECU surpassed the 2 million mark "milestone" last week 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 52nd nationally in average attendance (41,973) and 59th in capacity percentage (83.95) this season ... A closer look at Top 5 AAC leaders: 1. ECU (41,973), 2. Houston (38,900), 3. UCF (38,063), 4. USF (30,932), 5. Cincinnati (30,831) ... ECU has drawn at least 40,000 fans to Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium in 22 of its last 24 home games dating back to 2013, which includes this year's season opener vs. James Madison (40,169) and last week's game vs. Virginia Tech (43,776) ... The only "exceptions" were a Thursday night matchup against Temple on October 22, 2015 (39,417) and the 2016 home finale against Navy (39,480).
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.
LEAGUE, NON-LEAGUE STATISTICAL COMPARISONS A YEAR AGO
In its eight (1-7) American Athletic Conference contests last year, ECU averaged 25.9 points, 120.8 rushing yards, 318.0 passing yards and 438.8 total yards per game ... By comparison, the Pirates booked 29.3 ppg, 155.8 rypg, 368.0 pypg and 523.8 ypg averages in their four non-league tilts (Western Carolina, NC State, South Carolina and Virginia Tech) in 2016.
GETTING OFF TO A GOOD START
ECU has won seven of its last nine conference openers dating back to 2008 ... Getting off to a good start in league play helped the Pirates post a collective 40-16 (.714) mark during a span in C-USA (2008-13) and the AAC (2014), but on the flipside, opening losses in '15 and '16 have spelled doom (4-12) for the Pirates in the last two seasons.
CHARTING THE PIRATES MONTH-BY-MONTH
In all, ECU is 3-2-0 in August, 123-115-2 in September, 161-153-4 in October, 137-121-5 in November, 9-9-0 in December and 1-4-0 in January ... Although the Pirates were 2-2 last season (and "only" 15-14 in their last 29 overall September games), ECU has captured seven of the last eight (7-1) games against conference foes in the ninth month (only loss was a 45-21 setback at Navy in 2015).
SHUTOUT-FREE ... 245 AND COUNTING
ECU will enter the Connecticut contest with an active streak of 245 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).
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, five solo) and DB Davondre "Tank" Robinson made his initial collegiate appearance vs. Virginia Tech (two stops).
FIRST-TIME STARTERS
ECU has had a combined 18 "first-time" starters in its lineup against James Madison, West Virginia and Virginia Tech - seven on the off ensive side of the ball (LT D'Ante Smith, LG Cortez Herrin, C John Spellacy, RG Austin Lee, QB Thomas Sirk, RB Derrell Scott, RB Tyshon Dye), 10 more on defense (DT Tyree Owens, DT Raequan Purvis, DT Jalen Price, DE Gaelin Elmore, DE Shaun James, ILB Ray Tillman, ILB Cannon Gibbs, CB Travis Phillips, FS Korrin Wiggins, PIR Tim Irvin) and one on special teams (P Austin Barnes) ... It is worth nothing however that Dye (Clemson), Scott (Tennessee), Sirk (Duke), Owens (West Virginia), Elmore (Minnesota), Wiggins (Clemson), Irvin (Auburn) and Barnes (Eastern Michigan) are FBS transfers.
A QUARTET OF OPENING DAY QUARTERBACKS
When junior Gardner Minshew took the opening snap in the opener against James Madison, it enabled ECU to become one of 19 FBS programs nationally to feature its fourth different opening day starting QB - Shane Carden (2014), Blake Kemp (2015) and Philip Nelson (2016) ... Thomas Sirk was in ECU's starting lineup at West Virginia before Minshew reassumed the duties vs. Virginia Tech on Saturday.
TOP PASSING UNIT IN AMERICAN HISTORY
Since joining the American Athletic Conference 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 (327.2), 2. Cincinnati (297.6), 3. Memphis (281.1). In addition, the Pirates also top the conference in completions (1,144) and attempts (1,794) since competing in the AAC over the last three-plus seasons.
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) ... Marshall and Nevada are the only other schools with multiple Top 20 all-time FBS pass catchers ... 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).
RECEIVER U: PRESENT
The Pirates are one of only four FBS teams to have three active receivers with at least 80 catches - Jimmy Williams (98), Quay Johnson (91) and Davon Grayson (89) ... 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 (1,411), Grayson (1,052) and Trevon Brown (1,013).
TRIPLE DIGITS & LONG-RANGE STRIKES
Junior Trevon Brown has recorded back-to-back 100-yard receiving contests (2-103 vs. West Virginia, 4-107 vs. Virginia Tech) to push his career triple-digit total to three ... His school-record 95-yarder for a TD at WVU is currently tied (with two others) for the longest FBS play from scrimmage in 2017 ... Additionally, his 103 receiving yards on just two catches ranks against the Mountaineers ranks as an FBS best (along with Devonte Boyd of UNLV who accomplished the same feat vs. Idaho) ... In terms of ECU, only Marcellus Harris racked up more yards on a pair of grabs (111 vs. Syracuse in 2000) ... Brown followed up the 95-yard grab with a 76-yarder vs. the Hokies last week.
SIRK 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 41 ground yards for the Pirates in two games.
WINNING HEAD-TO-HEAD IN-STATE BATTLES AS WELL
ECU has won six-straight games vs. opponents from the state of North Carolina, which includes a combined 4-0 mark vs. North Carolina and NC State ... In terms of intra-state matchups, the Pirates have won eight of 11 this decade (since 2010).
ECU currently has four future contests scheduled against FBS programs from North Carolina -UNC (2018), NC State (2019 and 2022), Appalachian State (2021).
LOOKING FOR NO. 20?
ECU will seek its first-ever win in Connecticut when it battles the Huskies Sunday and increase its travel win total to 20 states ... In their FBS history, the Pirates own victories in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.
DELAYED BYE WEEK
Due to aforementioned rescheduling of the AAC's football schedule, ECU will play eight-straight weeks before enjoying a bye on Oct. 28 (Pirates played 10 in a row in 2015).
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) ... Montgomery's last active year as a player in the NFL was in 2003, so only Fleck (2005) and Texas Tech's Kliff Kingsbury (2005) were active in the league more recently among FBS head coaches.
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.
GOING FOR IT ON FOURTH DOWN
ECU stands third nationally in most 4th down conversion attempts (43, 25 made) since Scottie Montgomery has taken the reigns of the Pirate program (2016-17)... ECU ranked fifth nationally among all FBS programs in 4th down conversions (21) and fifth in attempts (35) during the 2016 campaign, doubling the tries in 2015 (17) ... So far in 2017, the Pirates stand seventh in attempts (8) and 14th in conversions (4).
THIS AND THAT
INDIVIDUAL NOTES: OT Brandon Smith (26 games) and DE Kiante Anderson/ILB Jordan Williams (8) own the program's longest starting streaks on their respective side of the ball entering the Connecticut contest ... WR Jimmy Williams extended his streak with at least one reception to 16 games (did not have a catch against USF on Nov. 7, 2015) ... As a starter, QB Gardner Minshew has completed 55-of-107 (51.4%) passes for 744 yards and six touchdowns in four games (Navy/Temple in '16, James Madison/Virginia Tech in '17) ... He set career-highs in completions (29), attempts (49) and passing yards (336) against Tulsa in a relief role before tossing a personal-best three TDs (40, 6, 77-yarders) vs. the Mids in his first career start last Nov. 19 ... Minshew's 22.0 yards-per-completion average (11-of-30, 241 yards) vs. the Hokies is the highest FBS single-game total this year by a QB with at least 20 pass attempts ... Graduate transfer QB Thomas Sirk has enjoyed conference openers during his career - while at Duke, he rushed for two TDs against Georgia Tech in 2014 before adding 52 ground yards and completing 17-of-25 passes for 114 yards and a score against the Yellow Jackets a year later ... He came off the bench in his Pirate debut and completed 21-of-35 passes for 210 yards while directing both ECU scoring drives vs. JMU before starting the WVU tilt and turning in a 16-of-34, 191-yard, 1 TD passing performance (sat out the Virginia Tech game for precautionary reasons/concussion) ... 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 18 of his last 19 contests ... He matched a career best with 14 stops in the opener vs. JMU before logging 11 at West Virginia last week and adding 10 vs. Virginia Tech ... He currently ranks seventh nationally in total tackles per game (35/11.7) ... FS Korrin Wiggins tallied a career-high 10 tackles (nine in the first half) vs. VT, one of which was a nine-yard TFL ... He's recorded at least one tackle in 29 of 35 career games (multiple 22 times) ... Eighty-nine of KOS Caleb Pratt's 111 kickoff s have traveled 60 or more yards and he's registered at least one touchback in 19 of 23 career games ... PK Jake Verity connected on a pair of PATs vs. Virginia Tech to remain perfect during his career (11-of-11).
TEAM NOTES: The Pirates' streak of throwing at least one TD pass was snapped at 14 games against James Madison, but with two each vs. WVU and VT in the last two weeks, ECU has now recorded a scoring throw in 65 of their last 72 games ... ECU has not tallied a rushing score in three of its last four games (two vs. JMU was only exception) ... After breaking a four-game takeaway drought by netting two vs. JMU in the opener, the Pirates have not forced a TO in their last two contests ... ECU's offensive line has allowed only three sacks this year (1.0 spg), ranking second in the AAC and 17th nationally ... The Pirates have enjoyed two sack-free performances in their last five outings.
