East Carolina University
Cincinnati
Gameday: ECU Travels To Cincinnati For AAC Finale
November 21, 2018 | Football
| ECU Game 11: Cincinnati | |
| Date: | Friday, Nov. 23 |
| Time: | 3:30 PM (EST) |
| Location: | Cincinnati, Ohio (Nippert Stadium) |
| Tickets & Parking: | Gameday Information |
| Live Game Coverage: | Radio: WNCT 107.9FM | TuneIn Radio Online Television: CBSSN |
| Internet Options: | Live Stats |
| Official Web Sites: | ECU | Cincinnati | American Athletic Conference |
| Game Notes: | ECU (PDF) | Cincinnati (PDF) | The American (PDF) |
| 2018 Statistics: | ECU (PDF) | Cincinnati (PDF) |
| ECU Football Central: | Roster | Fact Book (PDF) | The American | NCAA Football | College Scoreboard |
| Official Social Media Sites | |
| Facebook: | ECU | Cincinnati | The American |
| Twitter: | ECU | Cincinnati | The American |
| Twitter Hashtags: | #ECUPirates | #ECUGameday | #ECUFootball | #AmericanFB |
| Instagram: | ECU | The American |
GREENVILLE, N.C. – ECU will officially close out its 2018 American Athletic Conference schedule by visiting Cincinnati for a clash at Nippert Stadium on Friday afternoon. The Pirates will try to finish league play with two wins for the second consecutive campaign and snap a five-game conference finale slide which began with a C-USA setback at Marshall in 2013. ECU, which posted a 55-21 triumph over Connecticut in its last outing, will also look to capture back-to back victories for the first time since opening the Scottie Montgomery era with a 2-0 mark in 2016.
ECU RECORDS AND STREAKS
- Qualified for 10 bowl appearances since 2000 (three in the last seven years) ...
- Has won 21 of the last 24 games when gaining 200 or more rushing yards ...
- Has accounted for 400 or more total yards in eight of the last nine games ...
- Has thrown at least one touchdown pass in five-straight games (11 TD throws) ...
- Has won 34 of the last 37 games when leading at the half ...
- Has tallied 10 or more TFLs in five of the last seven games ...
- Has recorded at least two sacks in eight-straight games (31 total) ...
- Has snapped 90 or more offensive plays in four of the last five games ...
- Has dropped six of the last seven meetings vs. Cincinnati (last road win in series was 2001) ...
THE SERIES
ECU leads 13-8 ... The Bearcats have won six of the last seven, including the first three of four meetings as AAC members ... The two programs have split 10 contests in Cincinnati, while the Pirates have taken eight of the 11 matchups played in Greenville.
CINCINNATI, STATE OF OHIO COACHING "CONNECTIONS"
Two members of ECU's current full-time coaching staff spent time on collegiate football staff s in the state of Ohio, including one who worked directly with the Cincinnati program - offensive line coach Don Mahoney, who served in the same capacity with the Bearcats in 2010, 2011 and 2012 ... Serving on Butch Jones' staff , Mahoney helped UC to back-to-back 10-3 records and bowl appearances (Liberty, Belk) during the last two years of his tenure ... The other is running backs coach Jason Nichols, who spent five years coaching in the state of Ohio with two Mid-American Conference programs ... From 2005 to 2008, Nichols was receivers coach at Kent State before moving over to Toledo to serve in the same role during the 2009 campaign.
AGAINST THE BUCKEYE STATE
The Pirates have won 21 of 33 all-time matchups (21-12) against FBS programs from the state of Ohio ... In addition to its 13-8 mark against Cincinnati, ECU is 3-0 vs. Ohio, 2-2 vs. Bowling Green, 2-2 vs. Toledo and 1-0 vs. Akron ... The Pirates have never faced Ohio State, Kent State or Miami on the gridiron.
THE AMERICAN - YEAR FIVE
ECU has posted an 82-66 (.554) all-time mark against current members of the American Conference ... The Pirates currently sport series records against Memphis (15-8), Cincinnati (13-8), Tulane (11-5), UCF (10-7), Temple (8-8), Tulsa (8-6), Houston (7-7), Connecticut (4-1), SMU (4-3), Navy (1-5) and USF (1-8).
THE EAST HAS BEEN A BEAST
ECU owns a 5-14 mark (3-7/home, 2-7/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 trio of victories vs. Connecticut (41-3/'16, 41-38/'17, 55-21/'18) and a 48-20 triumph against Cincinnati on Senior Day in 2017 represents the only quartet of triumphs ... In all, ECU is 3-1 vs. UConn, 1-3 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 2-10 against the West (1-1 vs. SMU, 1-1 vs. Tulsa, 0-2 vs. Houston, 0-2 vs. Memphis, 0-2 vs. Navy, 0-2 vs. Tulane).
LEAGUE, NON-LEAGUE STATISTICAL COMPARISONS
The Pirates have averaged 23.3 points, 139.3 rushing yards, 315.3 passing yards and 454.6 total yards in their seven (USF, Temple, UH, UCF, Memphis, Tulane, UConn) AAC 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 conference record to 2-6 (also 2-6 in '17) when they square off against Cincinnati.
COMPARING 10-YEAR, 10-GAME RESULTS
ECU's 55-21 win vs. Connecticut last week marks the first time since 2016 - Scottie Montgomery's initial season in Greenville - that the Pirates are 3-7 through 10 games ... A victory over Cincinnati would give ECU a 4-7 ledger, which would be ECU's top record since a 5-6 clip during Ruffin McNeill's final campaign (2015) ... Additionally, the Pirates have enjoyed recent success during Week 11 of their schedule, winning six of the last seven (and seven of nine) contests.
ON THE ROAD
Since becoming a conference member in 1997, ECU is 55-85 (.393) when playing away from Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium ... Before their 0-3 mark in 2018 (setbacks at USF, Temple and Tulane) and prior to dropping four of five last year (win at UConn; losses at WVU, UCF, Houston & Memphis), the Pirates were a combined 5-14 (2014-2016).
LAST TWO ON THE ROAD
ECU will close out the regular season schedule by playing its last two games on the road – visiting Cincinnati this week before heading to NC State on Dec. 1 to wrap up the 2018 campaign ... The last time ECU faced a similar slate was in 2013 when the bowl-bound Pirates closed out Ruffin McNeill's fourth year, which also included a road contest vs. the Wolfpack in Raleigh.
NON-SATURDAY MAYHEM
ECU is 20-24 in non-Saturday games since 2000 ... Oddly, the Pirates have fared better on the road (14-11; 6-13 at home) ... In terms of days (including bowls), ECU is 5-1 on Sundays, 1-1 on Mondays, 2-1 on Tuesdays, 0-3 on Wednesdays, 7-11 on Thursdays and 5-7 on Fridays ... Most recently, ECU is 9-9 when deviating from the normal Saturday routine since 2010 and 1-1 since 2017 (Sunday win at UConn/'17, Sunday loss vs. N.C. A&T/'18) ... The Pirates' last Friday battle was a 49-32 win at Tulsa on Nov. 28, 2014 - ECU's first year in the American Conference.
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 among conference attendance leaders on a near annual basis ... In all, a total of 8,695,812 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 2,424,526 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 third in 2018 ... Overall, ECU ranks 65th nationally in average attendance (32,908) and 84th in capacity percentage (65.82) this season ... A closer look at Top 5 AAC leaders: 1. UCF (43,853), 2. USF (34,695), 3. ECU (32,908), 4. Cincinnati (32,376), 5. Navy (31,464) ... Before drawing a season-lows during their last four home games (27,234/UConn; 29,127/Memphis; 29,851/Houston; 31,159/UCF), the Pirates missed hitting the 40K mark by less than 5,000 during their first 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 ... The 27,234 total vs. UConn marked ECU's lowest "draw" since Nov. 26, 2005 when 26,990 watched the Pirates down UAB 31-23.
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.
SHUTOUT-FREE ... 264 AND COUNTING
ECU will enter the Cincinnati contest with an active streak of 264 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, 127-118-1 in September, 162-158-4 in October, 139-126-5 in November, 9-9-0 in December and 1-4-0 in January ... The Pirates will continue play in November vs. Cincinnati on Friday, a month in which ECU has lost 10 of its last 13 contests (and 13 of 18 since the 2013 campaign) ... On the road, ECU has dropped eight of the last 10 - posting its last November win three years ago with a 44-7 rout of UCF in Orlando on Nov. 19, 2015 ... The Pirates will also look to record back-to-back November triumphs for the first time since 2014 (Tulane/Tulsa) when they play the Bearcats.
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 McGhinn, RB Anthony Scott and CB Corey Seargent) - the second-fewest nationally.
FIRST-TIME STARTERS
ECU has already utilized 18 first-time starters this season - 12 on the offensive side of the ball (QB Holton Ahlers, TE Johnny Bogle, RG Fernando Frye, QB Reid Herring, RG Jordan Johnson, TE D'Angelo McKinnie, WR Leroy Henley, RG Branden Pena, WR Blake Proehl, WR Tyler Snead, TE Anthony Watley, C Peyton Winstead) and six on defense (LB Bruce Bivens, SS Daniel Charles, DE Nate Harvey, FS Nolan Johnson, DE Chance Purvis, CB Mike Witherspoon).
LOSING THEIR (RED) SHIRTS
A total of 24 players have had their redshirts removed and experienced action as true freshmen during the Scottie Montgomery era at ECU- nine (9) in '16, six (6) in '17 and nine (9) in '18 so far ... In all, a total of 17 true freshmen have played in 2018 and nine (italics) have surpassed the four game "limit" mandated by the NCAA: QB Holton Ahlers (9 games played), DB Myles Berry (10), TE Johnny Bogle (8), DB Daniel Charles (10), WR Maceo Donald (2), DE/FB Damir Faison (1), DE Dorian Hardy (2), DB Damel Hickman (4), FS Nolan Johnson (10), TE D'Angelo McKinnie (8), WR Juwan Moody (2), DB Jaren Rainey (1), LB/RB Xavier Smith (9), WR Tyler Snead (3), LB Gerard Stringer (6), LB Jireh Wilson (1) and OL Peyton Winstead (7).
THREE & OUTS - NATIONALLY
ECU's defensive success on third down currently ranks second nationally - based on a per-game basis - after forcing a combined 14 "three & outs" the last two weeks in contests vs. Tulane (10) and Connecticut (4).
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 eight starting quarterbacks, three offensive coordinators and two head coaches: 1. ECU (325.5), 2. Memphis (289.3), 3. Cincinnati (271.7), 4. Houston (267.2) and 5. UCF (249.6) ... In addition, the Pirates also top the league in completions (1,655), attempts (2,721) and total air yards (19,165) ... ECU has also accounted for a conference high 16 400-yard passing games.
SNAPS O'PLENTY
The Pirates have snapped 883 offensive plays from scrimmage so far in 2018 - an average of 88.3 per contest, which currently stands first among all FBS programs … ECU also averages 18.5 more plays per game than its opponent, which ranks second nationally (Army/+21.8, ECU/+18.5, Texas A&M/+17.0, Ohio State/+15.0. Cincinnati/+13.2).
*FBS record is 92.4 by Notre Dame in 1970 (924 in 10 games)
1K RECEIVER = SEVEN-STRAIGHT YEARS
ECU has featured at least one 1,000-yard receiver in seven-straight seasons, which ranks first at the FBS level ... Trevon Brown helped the Pirates extend the streak by surpassing the 1K mark vs. UConn (second consecutive year) Saturday … 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), 2017 Trevon Brown (1,069) and 2018 Brown (1,030).
DECADE RECEIVING LEADERS
In the last decade (since 2008), ECU has produced 10 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 (6th) among all active FBS receivers in reception yards (2,859), 6th in TD grabs (24), 9th in reception yards per game (73.3) and 13th in catches (183) ... Additionally, his 2,859 receiving yards, 183 receptions and 24 TD grabs tops all American Athletic Conference pass catchers heading into the Cincinnati contest.
BROWN'S TRIPLE-DIGIT QUARTET
Trevon Brown made a combined 41 receptions for 652 yards in outings vs. Houston (13-153), UCF (10-145), Memphis (10-193) and Tulane (8-161) - standing as the only pass catcher at the FBS level to surpass 100 receiving yards in four-straight games this year ... Brown's 13 grabs (UH) also still ranks as an AAC single-game high in 2018.
TOP (TRUE) FRESHMEN QBs ... RUSHING
True freshman Holton Ahlers has made an immediate impact during his first nine collegiate appearances with a team-best 571 rushing yards, six touchdowns on 110 carries ... Since his debut vs. UNC (8-36, 2 TD), he has posted eight-straight team-high rushing outings - USF (12-48), ODU (8-63), Temple (5-56), Houston (5-45), UCF (27-69), Memphis (17-57), Tulane (16-67) and UConn (12-130) ... Among all true FBS rookies, Ahlers currently stands first in rushing yardage and second in rush TDs.
TOP (TRUE) FRESHMEN QBs ... PASSING
Ahlers passed for 400-plus yards in two-straight contests this year (an ECU freshman-first), which ranks second (449 vs. Memphis) and third (406 vs. UCF) at the FBS level for true rookies in a single game.
TOP (TRUE) FRESHMEN QBs ... TOTAL OFFENSE
Lastly, Ahlers has also compiled the second (506 vs. Memphis) and third-highest (475 vs. UCF) single-game total offense yardage numbers turned in by a true frosh in 2018.
NATIONAL LEADER IN DISRUPTIONS
Senior defensive end Nate Harvey will enter the Cincinnati matchup as the national leader in both TFLs and sacks per game … Harvey is currently on pace for 29.0 TFLs in '18 (he owns the ECU & AAC record with 24.0) and is currently on pace for 16.0 sacks in '18 (ECU record is 15.0 by Rod Coleman in 1997).
A STARTERS' LOG ...
NB Devon Sutton (20 games) and OT Garrett McGhin (18) own the program's longest starting streaks on their respective side of the ball entering the Cincinnati 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 seven losses this year have come to teams with a combined 53 wins (7.5 per team) ... Under Montgomery (2016-18), ECU ranks 4th nationally in 4th down conversions (49) and 7th in most 4th down conversion attempts (85) ... The Pirates have lost 32-straight games when scoring 20 or less points (19-14 vs. UCF in '09/last win) ... ECU's nine (9) sacks vs. Old Dominion on Sept. 29 matched a school single-game standard (9 vs. FIU in 2013) ... The Pirates need only 3 more TFLs to match a school single-season record (98/2007) ... Holton Ahlers and Reid Herring are ECU's first high school signees to start at QB since 2014.
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