East Carolina University
UCF
Gameday: ECU Hosts No. 10 UCF Saturday Night
October 18, 2018 | Football
| ECU Game 7: UCF | |
| Date: | Saturday, Oct. 20 |
| 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: ESPN2 |
| Internet Options: | Live Stats |
| Official Web Sites: | ECU | UCF | American Athletic Conference |
| Game Notes: | ECU (PDF) | UCF (PDF) | The American (PDF) |
| 2018 Statistics: | ECU (PDF) | UCF (PDF) |
| ECU Football Central: | Roster | Fact Book (PDF) | The American | NCAA Football | College Scoreboard |
| Official Social Media Sites | |
| Facebook: | ECU | UCF | The American |
| Twitter: | ECU | UCF | The American |
| Twitter Hashtags: | #ECUPirates | #ECUGameday | #ECUFootball | #AmericanFB |
| Instagram: | ECU | The American |
GREENVILLE, N.C. – It's Homecoming on the ECU campus as the Pirates welcome defending American Athletic Conference champion UCF to Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium on Saturday. After falling to Houston last week to open a three-game homestand, ECU hopes to improve its AAC home record in October to 5-4 when it meets the Knights in Greenville for the 10th time in series history. The Pirates will also be looking to post their 13th-straight Homecoming victory when they battle UCF.
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 eight of the last 11 games (four of last five) ...
- Has thrown at least one touchdown pass in 15 of the last 17 games ...
- Has cashed its last 16 consecutive redzone appearances into points ...
- Has won 33 of the last 36 games when leading at the half ...
- Has tallied seven or more TFLs in six-straight games (a first since 2001) ...
- Has recorded a combined 20 sacks in the last four games ...
- Has won 12-straight Homecoming games (last loss in 2005) ...
THE SERIES
ECU leads 10-6 ... The Pirates have enjoyed a pair of four-game winning streaks against the Knights, the latest from 2006 to 2009 ... ECU has won six of nine (6-3) in Greenville and four of seven in Orlando.
KNIGHTS, BULLS, 'CANES, 'NOLES, GATORS, OWLS AND PANTHERS
The Pirates have dropped 33 of 48 all-time matchups (15-33) against FBS (formerly Division I-A) programs from the state of Florida ... ECU is 10-6 vs. UCF, 1-8 against USF, 2-9 vs. Miami, 1-0 vs. Florida Atlantic, 1-0 vs. Florida International, 0-3 vs. Florida and 0-7 vs. Florida State ... The Pirates have lost nine of the last 10 matchups against schools from Florida (posting its only win against UCF in the 2015 road finale).
THE AMERICAN - YEAR FIVE
ECU has posted an 81-63 (.563) 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 (7-7), SMU (4-3) Connecticut (3-1), Navy (1-5) and USF (1-8).
THE EAST HAS BEEN A BEAST
ECU owns a 4-12 mark (2-6/home, 2-6/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, a pair of victories vs. Connecticut (41-3 in 2016, 41-38 in 2017) and a 48-20 triumph against Cincinnati on Senior Day in 2017 represents the only quartet of triumphs ... In all, ECU is 2-1 vs. UConn, 1-2 vs. UCF, 1-2 vs. Cincinnati, 0-4 vs. Temple and 0-4 vs. USF while competing as division mates ... On the flipside, ECU is 2-8 against the West Division (1-1 vs. SMU, 1-1 vs. Tulsa, 0-2 vs. Houston, 0-1 vs. Tulane, 0-1 vs. Memphis, 0-2 vs. Navy).
LEAGUE, NON-LEAGUE STATISTICAL COMPARISONS
The Pirates have averaged 13.0 points, 91.0 rushing yards, 250.0 passing yards and 341.0 total yards in their three (USF, Temple, Houston) 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 1-3 (2-6 last season) when they square off against UCF.
COMPARING 10-YEAR, SIX-GAME RESULTS
ECU's 42-20 loss to Houston last week marks the second time in the Scottie Montgomery era (and thrice in the last 10 years) the Pirates have opened the season with a 2-4 record ... A victory over UCF would give the Pirates a 3-4 ledger for the first time since 2011 (and it would also represent ECU's best seven-game mark since a 4-3 clip in 2015).
HOMECOMING FESTIVITIES
ECU is 53-10 (.841) all-time in Homecoming contests and are the owners of a 12-game win streak (last falling via a 30-20 decision to UCF on Oct. 29, 2005).
AT DOWDY-FICKLEN STADIUM - 2-2 IN 2018
ECU's all-time record at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium is 187-100 (.652) ... 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 8.6 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 8,608,292 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 2,337,006 fans.
PROUD HISTORY OF 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 59th nationally in average attendance (35,709) and 80th in capacity percentage (71.42) this season ... A closer look at Top 5 AAC leaders: 1. UCF (43,322), 2. ECU (35,709), 3. USF (33,320), 4. Cincinnati (32,085), 5. Memphis (31,110) ... ECU has drawn at least 40,000 fans to Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium in 22 of its last 32 home games dating back to 2013 ... Before drawing a season-low 29,851 for the Houston contest last week (first sub-30,000 attendance fi gure at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium since 2005), the Pirates missed hitting the 40K mark by less than 5,000 during their fi rst three home dates of the 2018 season ... ECU drew 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 ... 260 AND COUNTING
ECU will enter the UCF contest with an active streak of 260 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 229 games.
CHARTING THE PIRATES MONTH-BY-MONTH
In all, ECU is 3-2-0 in August, 127-118-1 in September, 162-157-4 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 10 of its last 17 games (and nine of the last 15 American Conference battles) ... At home however, ECU has won 13 of the last 17 conference contests in October dating back to 2006, falling only to Temple (2015, 2017), UCF (2016) and Houston (2018).
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 10 first-time starters this season in its first six games against N.C. A&T, North Carolina, USF, Old Dominion, Temple and Houston - six on the offensive side of the ball (RG Branden Pena, QB Reid Herring, TE D'Angelo McKinnie, TE Johnny Bogle, WR Blake Proehl, WR Leroy Henley) and four on defense (DE Nate Harvey, LB Bruce Bivens, FS Nolan Johnson, CB Mike Witherspoon).
LOSING THEIR (RED) SHIRTS
A total of 22 players have had their redshirts removed and experienced action as true freshmen during the Scottie Montgomery era at ECU – nine in '16, six in '17 and seven in '18 so far ... In all, a total of 11 true freshmen have played in 2018 and seven (italics) have surpassed the four-game "limit" mandated by the NCAA: QB Holton Ahlers (5 games played), DB Myles Berry (6), TE Johnny Bogle (5), DB Daniel Charles (6), DE Dorian Hardy (2), FS Nolan Johnson (6), TE D'Angelo McKinnie (5), WR Juwan Moody (2), LB Xavier Smith (5), LB Gerard Stringer (2) and OL Peyton Winstead (3).
ALL (EVEN-YEAR) SIGNS POINT TO ...
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.
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 (322.0), 2. Memphis (292.0), 3. Cincinnati (278.0), 4. Houston (264.0) and 5. Tulsa (251.2) ... In addition, the Pirates also top the league in completions (1,549), attempts (2,503) and total air yards (17,708) ... ECU has also accounted for a conference-high 14 400-yard passing games.
SNAPS O'PLENTY
The Pirates have snapped 517 offensive plays from scrimmage so far in 2018 - an average of 86.2 per contest, which currently stands second among all FBS programs … ECU also averages 19.4 more plays per game than its opponent, which ranks third nationally (Army/+25.3, Texas A&M/+22.2, ECU/+19.4, Boise State & Air Force/+17.5).
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).
TREVON BROWN ... AMONG ACTIVE WR LEADERS
Trevon Brown currently stands sixth among all active FBS receivers in reception yards per game (66.5 ypg), while also ranking 8th in yards (2,329), 14th in TD grabs (18) and 19th in catches (151) ... Additionally, his 2,329 receiving yards tops all American Athletic Conference pass catchers heading into the UCF tilt.
NOTEBOOKING BROWN (vs. HOUSTON)
Along with serving as a FBS-best last week, Brown's 13 receptions vs. Houston also marked a single-game high for an AAC receiver this season (and 5th-highest nationally) ... Lastly, his 153 yards against the Cougars ranks fourth among league WRs in 2018.
TOP (TRUE) FRESHMEN QUARTERBACK RUSHERS
True freshman Holton Ahlers has made an immediate impact during his first five collegiate appearances with a combined 248 rushing yards, five touchdowns on 38 carries ... After picking up 36 yards and two TDs in his debut against North Carolina, he posted four-straight team-high rushing outings - USF (12-48), ODU (8-63), Temple (5-56) and Houston (5-45) ... 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.
AMONG PIRATE QB NOTABLES
In addition to tallying the nation's second-longest run by a true freshman quarterback this year, Holton Ahlers' 53-yard scamper vs. Temple also tops the list of all-time ECU quarterbacks in the Pirates' post-option era.
WELCOMED DISRUPTIONS
Senior defensive end Nate Harvey will enter the UCF matchup as the national leader in both tackles for loss (2.92 pg) and sacks per game (1.42 pg) … Harvey is currently on pace for 17 sacks in '18 (ECU record is 15 by Rod Coleman in 1997).
A STARTERS' LOG ...
NB Devon Sutton (16 games) and OT Garrett McGhin (14) own the program's longest starting streaks on their respective side of the ball entering the UCF 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 ...
ECU's four losses this year have come to teams with a combined 20-6 record thus far and two (USF, UH) are currently ranked or receiving votes in both FBS Top 25 polls (and three future opponents - UCF, Cincinnati and NC State - also currently occupy a spot in the rankings) ... The Pirates have engineered 11 scoring (6 TD/5 FG) drives of 10 plays or longer, which ranks tied for 11th nationally (Army leads FBS with 15) ... Under Montgomery (2016-18), ECU ranks 3rd nationally in 4th down conversions (47) and 4th in most 4th down conversion attempts (79) ... The Pirates have lost 30-straight games when scoring 20 or less points (19-14 vs. UCF in '09/last win) ... ECU already has 8 rush TDs (10 all of last year) ... ECU's nine (9) sacks vs. Old Dominion on Sept. 29 matched a school single-game standard (9 vs. FIU in 2013) ... Reid Herring's 65 pass attempts vs. N.C. A&T remains a FBS single-game high in '18 ... Herring is ECU's first high school signee to start at QB since 2014.
