East Carolina University
Houston
Gameday: ECU Hosts Houston Saturday Night
October 11, 2018 | Football
| ECU Game 6: Houston | |
| Date: | Saturday, Oct. 13 |
| Time: | 7:00 PM (EDT) |
| Location: | Greenville, N.C. (Bagwell Field at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium) |
| Tickets & Parking: | Game Tickets | Parking Information | Things To Look For On Gameday |
| Live Game Coverage: | Radio: WNCT 107.9FM | TuneIn Radio Online Television: CBSSBN |
| Internet Options: | Live Stats |
| Official Web Sites: | ECU | Houston | American Athletic Conference |
| Game Notes: | ECU (PDF) | Houston (PDF) | The American (PDF) |
| 2018 Statistics: | ECU (PDF) | Houston (PDF) |
| ECU Football Central: | Roster | Fact Book (PDF) | The American | NCAA Football | College Scoreboard |
| Official Social Media Sites | |
| Facebook: | ECU | Houston | The American |
| Twitter: | ECU | Houston | The American |
| Twitter Hashtags: | #ECUPirates | #ECUGameday | #ECUFootball | #AmericanFB |
| Instagram: | ECU | The American |
GREENVILLE, N.C. – It's Hall of Fame & Letterwinners Weekend on the ECU campus as the Pirates will attempt to capture their eighth victory in the last 10 league home openers when they welcome Houston to Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium for an American Athletic Conference battle. The meeting against the Cougars will also open a three-game homestand for ECU, which will follow the UH clash with contests against defending division champs UCF (Oct. 20) and Memphis (Nov. 3), respectively.
ECU RECORDS AND STREAKS
- Qualified for 10 bowl appearances since 2000 (three of the last six, eight of the last 12 years) ...
- Has won 20 of the last 23 games when gaining 200 or more rushing yards ...
- Has accounted for 400 or more total yards in seven of the last 10 games (three of last four) ...
- Has thrown at least one touchdown pass in 14 of the last 16 games ...
- Has won 33 of the last 36 games when leading at the half ...
- Has tallied seven or more TFLs in five-straight games (a first since 2008) ...
- Has recorded a combined 17 sacks in the last three games ...
- Has allowed only one sack or less in eight of the last 11 games ...
- Has won seven of its last nine conference home openers ...
THE SERIES
ECU leads 7-6 ... Oddly, the Pirates have captured four of seven meetings in Houston, but have split six matchups played at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium ... Saturday's battle marks only the second American Athletic Conference clash between the two programs (and first AAC contest between ECU and UH in Greenville).
HOUSTON (AREA) COACHING "CONNECTIONS"
While no members of ECU's current full-time coaching staff spent time working directly with the UH program, there are two individuals who benefitted (professionally) from their playing or coaching experience in the Houston area ... Special teams coordinator Kirk Doll's first full-time coaching position was as a defensive ends and offensive line coach at Texas City High School in 1977 and 1978, while Pirates' defensive line coach Rod Wright was Parade All-America selection at Alief Hastings High School before starring at Texas and in the NFL.
AGAINST THE LONE STAR STATE
The Pirates have won 21 of 34 all-time matchups (21-13) against FBS programs from the state of Texas ... ECU is 7-6 against UH, 4-3 vs. SMU, 3-1 vs. UTEP, 2-2 vs. Rice, 2-1 vs. TCU, 1-0 vs. Texas Tech, 1-0 vs. North Texas and 1-0 against Texas State ... ECU has never faced Baylor, Texas or Texas A&M on the gridiron ... At Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, the Pirates are 12-5 overall when playing Texas-based teams.
THE AMERICAN - YEAR FIVE
ECU has posted an 81-62 (.566) all-time mark against current members of the American Conference ... The Pirates currently sport series records against Memphis (15-7), Cincinnati (13-8), Tulane (11-4), UCF (10-6), Temple (8-8), Tulsa (8-6), Houston (7-6), SMU (4-3) Connecticut (3-1), Navy (1-5) and USF (1-8).
AGAINST THE WILD WEST
ECU owns a 2-7 regular season mark (1-3/home, 1-4/road) against the American Athletic Conference's "other side" since the league began divisional play in 2015 - splitting with SMU and Tulsa, dropping a pair to Navy and falling to Houston, Tulane and Memphis ... On the flipside, the Pirates own a 4-13 mark (2-6/home, 2-7/road) against AAC opponents in its own East Division ... ECU's 44-7 victory against UCF in its '15 road finale, a pair of wins vs. Connecticut (41-3 in 2016, 41-38 in 2017) and a 48-20 triumph vs. Cincinnati on Senior Day in 2017 represents the quartet of successful outings.
LEAGUE, NON-LEAGUE STATISTICAL COMPARISONS
The Pirates have averaged 9.5 points, 116.0 rushing yards, 188.0 passing yards and 304.0 total yards in their two (USF, Temple) American Athletic Conference games of the 2018 season so far ... By comparison, ECU averaged 33.7 points, 155.7 rushing yards, 305.7 passing yards and 461.3 total yards per game in its three regular season non-conference contests this year ... The Pirates posted a 2-1 non-league ledger this fall (1-3 in '17) and hope to improve their AAC record to 1-2 (2-6 last season) when they square off against Houston.
COMPARING 10-YEAR, FIVE-GAME RESULTS
ECU's 49-6 loss at Temple marks the second time in the Scottie Montgomery era (and twice in the last 10 years) the Pirates have opened the season with a 2-3 record ... A victory over Houston would give the Pirates a 3-3 ledger for the first time since 2015 (and on five occasions in a 10 year span, which also includes a pair of bowl appearances in 2009 and 2012).
AT DOWDY-FICKLEN STADIUM - 2-1 IN 2018
ECU's all-time record at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium is 187-99 (.654) ... 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 a 2-5 record last year and 3-3 marks in both 2015 and 2016, ECU was 5-1 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 is in search of its 40th winning campaign at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium this fall.
THE PIRATE NATION - OVER 8.5 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 attendance leader on a near annual basis ... In all, a total of 8,578,441 fans have seen the Pirates in action since 1963 ... Since the completion of a 7,000-seat expansion project in 2010 (to push capacity to 50,000), the Pirates have drawn 2,307,155 fans.
ATTENDANCE LEADERS
ECU topped all American Athletic Conference members in regular season attendance in 2014, 2016 and 2017, and currently stands second in 2018 ... Overall, ECU ranks 56th nationally in average attendance (37,662) and 72nd in capacity percentage (75.32) this season ... A closer look at Top 5 AAC leaders: 1. UCF (43,322), 2. ECU (37,662), 3. USF (33,320), 4. Cincinnati (32,085), 5. Navy (30,887) ... ECU has drawn at least 40,000 fans to Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium in 22 of its last 31 home games dating back to 2013 ... The Pirates missed hitting the 40K mark by less than 5,000 during their first three home dates of the 2018 season, drawing 38,640 vs. N.C. A&T (following a weather-related postponement) for the opener, 39,298 against North Carolina on Sept. 8 before attracting 35,047 fans to watch the ODU matchup to close out September.
ANALYZING THE 2018 OVERALL SCHEDULE
ECU's 2018 scheduled opponents posted a combined 88-60 (.595) record in 2017, which ranks as the toughest schedule in the American Conference and 11th in FBS (based on win percentage) ... Four programs had 10 or more wins, including UCF (13), North Carolina A&T (12), USF (10) and Memphis (10) ... Some other notables:
SEVEN BOWL TEAMS ... in addition to North Carolina A&T (Celebration) and Virginia Tech (Camping World), AAC programs USF (Birmingham), Temple (Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla), Houston (Hawai'i), UCF (Chick-fi l-A Peach) and Memphis (AutoZone Liberty) each made FBS postseason appearances last season.
HOSTING CHAMPIONS ... the Pirates host two defending conference champions who enjoyed undefeated seasons - A&T (MEAC) and UCF (AAC) ... The Aggies also captured the HBCU nat'l championship by downing Grambling State 21-14 at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta, while UCF capped its perfect campaign with a 34-27 victory over Auburn in the Chick-fi l-A Peach Bowl, which was played at the same Atlanta facility.
IN THE FINAL POLLS ... four of ECU's 2018 FBS opponents were ranked in college football's two major polls (Associated Press/Amway Coaches) to end the 2017 season - UCF (6/7), USF (21/21), Virginia Tech (24/25) and Memphis (25/24) ... The Knights (12th), Tigers (20th) and Hokies (22nd) were also included on the last CFP rankings.
PLAYER(S)-OF-THE-YEAR VISITS ... all four 2017 American Athletic Conference Player-of-the-Year selections are on the docket to play in Greenville this season - UCF QB McKenzie Milton (offense), Houston DE Ed Oliver (defense), Memphis RB/KR Tony Pollard (special teams) and Memphis DB T.J. Carter (rookie).
SHUTOUT-FREE ... 259 AND COUNTING
ECU will enter the Houston contest with an active streak of 259 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) … On the flipside, ECU has not recorded a defensive shutout since blanking Duke 38-0 on Sept. 2, 2000 in Durham, N.C. - a span of 228 games.
CHARTING THE PIRATES MONTH-BY-MONTH
In all, ECU is 3-2-0 in August, 127-118-1 in September, 162-156-4 in October, 138-124-5 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 dropped nine of its last 16 games (and eight of the last 14 American Conference battles) ... At home however, ECU has won 13 of the last 16 conference contests in October dating back to 2006, falling only to Temple (2015, 2017) and UCF (2016).
LOOKING TOWARD THE FUTURE
The Pirates returned only 53.9 percent of its lettermen from a year ago, which ranked as the lowest percentage among all FBS programs ... Additionally, ECU's season-opening depth chart included only four senior returning starters (WR Trevon Brown, OT Garrett McGhin, RB Anthony Scott and CB Corey Seargent), which stood as the second-fewest nationally (LSU and Western Michigan each only had three).
FIRST-TIME STARTERS
ECU has already utilized nine (9) first-time starters this season in its first five games against N.C. A&T, North Carolina, USF, Old Dominion and Temple - five on the offensive side of the ball (RG Branden Pena, QB Reid Herring, TE D'Angelo McKinnie, TE Johnny Bogle, WR Blake Proehl) and four on defense (DE Nate Harvey, LB Bruce Bivens, FS Nolan Johnson, CB Mike Witherspoon).
LOSING THEIR (RED) SHIRTS
A total of 15 players have had their redshirts removed and experienced action as true freshmen during the Scottie Montgomery era at ECU- nine in 2016 and six in 2017 ... So far, a total of 11 true freshmen have played in 2018 and three (italics) have surpassed the four-game "limit" mandated by the NCAA: QB Holton Ahlers (4 games played), DB Myles Berry (5), TE Johnny Bogle (4), DB Daniel Charles (5), DE Dorian Hardy (2), FS Nolan Johnson (5), TE D'Angelo McKinnie (4), WR Juwan Moody (2), LB Xavier Smith (4), LB Gerard Stringer (1) and OL Peyton Winstead (2).
A GOOD, EVEN-NUMBERED SIGN
ECU has advanced to postseason play (i.e. bowl appearance) in five of the last six even-numbered years - 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014.
"NEW" ROLE FOR TONY PETERSEN
Starting ECU quarterback Reid Herring is offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Tony Petersen's first "intra-developed" signal-caller in the last five years ... Peterson worked directly with graduate transfer QBs in the previous four seasons, both at Louisiana Tech and with the Pirates.
SNAPS O'PLENTY
The Pirates have snapped 423 offensive plays from scrimmage so far in 2018 - an average of 84.6 per contest, which currently ranks fourth nationally behind Texas Tech (92.4), Ball State (85.3) and Missouri (85.0), but ahead of No. 5 Wake Forest (83.4) ... ECU also averages 18.6 more plays per game than its opponent, which also stands fourth at the FBS level (Army/+26, Texas A&M/+21.8, Texas Tech/+20.2, ECU & Boise State/+18.6).
FAVORABLE BOUNCE BACK HISTORY?
Against Temple, ECU was held to under 200 total yards and without a TD in a game for the first time since 2011 (VT) and 2012 (UNC), respectively ... The Pirates followed both forgettable offensive outings with home conference wins (UAB/'11 and UTEP/'12).
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 four-plus-year period despite utilizing seven starting quarterbacks, three offensive coordinators and two head coaches: 1. ECU (321.0), 2. Memphis (293.5), 3. Cincinnati (278.0), 4. Houston (264.3) and 5. Tulsa (254.3) ... In addition, the Pirates also top the league in completions (1,511) and attempts (2,440) ... ECU has also accounted for a conference-high 14 400-yard passing games.
1K RECEIVER IN SIX-STRAIGHT YEARS: NO. 1 IN FBS
ECU has featured at least one 1,000-yard receiver in six-straight seasons, which is tops nationally at the FBS level ... Boise State, Houston, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech all stand second with a 1K pass catcher in three-straight years … ECU 1,000-yard receivers include: 2012 Justin Hardy (1,105), 2013 Hardy (1,284), 2014 Hardy (1,494) and 2014 Cam Worthy (1,016), 2015 Zay Jones (1,099), 2016 Jones (1,746) and 2017 Trevon Brown (1,069) ... Brown is just one of eleven 1,000 yard receivers nationally who return this year (and the only one in the American Conference).
DECADE RECEIVING LEADERS
In the last decade (since 2008), ECU has produced nine 1,000-yard receivers, which also leads the FBS level along with SMU … NOTE - 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).
BROWN AMONG ACTIVE LEADERS
Trevon Brown currently stands ninth among all active FBS receivers in reception yards per game (64.0 ypg) ... He also ranks 15th in yards, 16th in TD grabs and 26th in catches.
TOP (TRUE) FRESHMEN QUARTERBACK RUSHERS
True freshman Holton Ahlers has made an immediate impact during his first four collegiate appearances with a combined 203 rushing yards, four touchdowns on 33 carries ... In his debut against the Tar Heels on Sept. 8, he picked up 36 yards and two TDs on eight attempts before topping that with back-to-back-to-back team-highs vs. USF (12-48), ODU (8-63) and Temple (5 56) ... Among all true FBS rookies, Ahlers currently stands first in rushing TDs and second in rushing yardage … Ahler's 53-yard run vs. Temple also currently stands as the second-longest single rush turned in by a true freshman quarterback this season, while his overall 63-yard effort against ODU ranks as the 9th-best single-game rushing performance (yardage) posted by a true rookie in 2018.
SACK PARADE
The Pirates recorded nine (9) sacks against ODU on Sept. 29, which matched a modern day school single-game record … DE Nate Harvey (7.5) is currently on pace for 18 sacks in '18 (record is 15 by Rod Coleman in 1997); after ranking 124th of 129 programs in 2017, ECU is third nationally this week with 3.80 (19.0) sacks per contest, trailing only Oklahoma State (4.67) and UAB (4.00).
A STARTERS' LOG ...
NB Devon Sutton (15 games) and OT Garrett McGhin (13) own the program's longest starting streaks on their respective side of the ball entering the Houston contest.
P6 .... #AMERICANPOW6R
Similar to the 2016 and 2017 campaigns, 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.
ECU OF NOTE ...
The Pirates have engineered nine scoring (5 TD/4 FG) drives of 10 plays or longer, which ranks tied for 16th nationally (Washington State leads FBS with 13) ... Under Montgomery (2016-18), ECU ranks 4th nationally in 4th down conversions (46) and 5th in most 4th down conversion attempts (78) ... The Pirates have lost 29-straight games when scoring 20 or less points (19-14 vs. UCF in '09/last win) ... ECU already has 7 rush TDs (10 all of last year) ... Reid Herring's 65 pass attempts vs. N.C. A&T remains a FBS single-game high in '18.
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