East Carolina University
Old Dominion
Gameday: ECU Set To Host ODU Saturday
September 27, 2018 | Football
| ECU Game 4: Old Dominion | |
| Date: | Saturday, Sept. 29 |
| Time: | 3:30 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: ESPN3 |
| Internet Options: | Live Stats |
| Official Web Sites: | ECU | Old Dominion | American Athletic Conference |
| Game Notes: | ECU (PDF) | Old Dominion (PDF) | The American (PDF) |
| 2018 Statistics: | ECU (PDF) | Old Dominion (PDF) |
| ECU Football Central: | Roster | Fact Book (PDF) | The American | NCAA Football | College Scoreboard |
| Official Social Media Sites | |
| Facebook: | ECU | Old Dominion | The American |
| Twitter: | ECU | Old Dominion | The American |
| Twitter Hashtags: | #ECUPirates | #ECUGameday | #ECUFootball | #AmericanFB |
| Instagram: | ECU | The American |
GREENVILLE, N.C. – It's Family Weekend on the ECU campus as the Pirates close out their 2018 non-conference schedule by welcoming Old Dominion to Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium Saturday beginning at 3:30 p.m. ECU will be trying to post at least two non-league victories in a single-season for the fifth time in the last six years when it battles the Conference USA-member Monarchs. The Pirates will also attempt to post a four-game mark of 2-2 for the second time in the three-year Scottie Montgomery era at ECU (2016-18).
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 yards of total offense in 20 of the last 27 games ...
- Has thrown at least one touchdown pass in 13 of the last 14 games ...
- Has featured a 100-yard receiver in nine of the last 14 games ...
- Has won 32 of the last 35 games when leading at the half ...
- Has held opponents under 30 points in three-straight games (a first since 2015) ...
- Has won eight of the last 11 non-conference home games ...
- Has won 13 of the last 16 games against Conference USA members ...
AGAINST NON-CONFERENCE OPPONENTS
Since accepting membership in a conference, the Pirates have produced a 34-53 (.391) regular season nonleague record ... ECU claimed its first winning non-conference mark since 1999 with 3-1 ledgers in 2013 and 2014 before following with 2-2 marks in 2015 and 2016, and a 1-3 standing in 2017 ... With a win over Old Dominion, the Pirates will have posted at least two non-league victories for the fifth time in the last six seasons.
THE SERIES
ECU leads 1-0 ... The Pirates used a then-school-record passing performance from Shane Carden to open the series with a win in Greenville five years ago.
SCOTTIE MONTGOMERY AGAINST THE MONARCHS
Including Scottie Montgomery's seven-year tenure as a collegiate assistant coach (2006-09, 2013-15), Saturday's game will mark his first-ever meeting against Old Dominion.
BOBBY WILDER AGAINST THE PIRATES
Saturday will only be Bobby Wilder's second matchup against the Pirates (2013) ... ECU never competed against Maine (1990-2006) and Boston College (1988-89) while Wilder was a member of those staff s as an assistant.
ECU AGAINST THE COMMONWEALTH (OF VIRGINIA)
The Pirates have won 10 of 26 all-time matchups (10-16) against current FBS programs from the state of Virginia ... ECU is 7-15 vs. Virginia Tech, 2-1 vs. Virginia and 1-0 vs. ODU.
OLD DOMINION AGAINST THE AMERICAN
The Monarch's setback to ECU to open the 2013 campaign represents the Monarchs' only meeting against a current member of the American Athletic Conference.
ECU AGAINST CONFERENCE USA
ECU has compiled an all-time record of 45-41 (.523) against current members of Conference USA ... The Pirates owns series marks against Southern Miss (12-27), Marshall (10-5), UAB (9-4), Louisiana Tech (4-2), UTEP (3-1), Rice (2-2), Florida Atlantic (1-0), Florida International (1-0), Middle Tennessee (1-0), North Texas (1-0) and Old Dominion (1-0) ... If one would (or could) take out old nemesis Southern Miss, ECU would be able to claim an impressive 33-14 (.702) clip ... The Pirates have never played "newer" members Charlotte, UTSA and Western Kentucky in the sport of football.
SPEAKING OF C-USA ...
During its 17-year membership in Conference USA (1997-2013), ECU produced an all-time 78-50 (.609) league record and two championships ... 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.
THE AMERICAN - YEAR FIVE
ECU has posted an 81-61 (.570) 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 (8-7), Tulsa (8-6), Houston (7-6), SMU (4-3) Connecticut (3-1), Navy (1-5) and USF (1-8).
LEAGUE, NON-LEAGUE STATISTICAL COMPARISONS
In its two regular season non-conference contests this year, ECU has averaged 32.0 points, 144.0 rushing yards, 302.0 passing yards and 446.0 total yards per game ... By comparison, the Pirates booked 13 points, 156 rushing yards, 256 passing yards and 412 total yards against USF last week in their only American Athletic Conference game of the 2018 season thus far.
COMPARING 10-YEAR, THREE-GAME RESULTS
ECU's 20-13 loss against USF marks the first time in the Scottie Montgomery era (and only the second time since 2011) the Pirates have opened the season with an 1-2 record ... A victory over Old Dominion would give ECU a 2-2 ledger for the third time in the last four seasons (and on six occasions since 2009, three resulting in bowl invitations - 2009, 2010 and 2012).
AT DOWDY-FICKLEN STADIUM
ECU's all-time record at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium is 186-99 (.653) ... 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 8,543,394 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 2,272,108 fans ... ECU surpassed the 2 million post-expansion "milestone" last Sept. 16 when 43,776 watched the Pirates battle Virginia Tech.
ATTENDANCE LEADERS
ECU topped all American Athletic Conference members in regular season attendance in 2014, 2016 and 2017 ... Overall, ECU ranked 58th nationally in average attendance (36,727) and 76th in capacity percentage (73.45) in 2017 ... A closer look at Top 5 AAC draws in 2017 (regular season): 1. ECU (36,727), 2. UCF (36,082), 3. Navy (34,756), 4. Memphis (33,307), 5. Houston (32,583) ... ECU has drawn at least 40,000 fans to Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium in 22 of its last 30 home games dating back to 2013 ... The Pirates missed hitting the 40K mark by less than 1,500 during their first two weekends of the 2018 season, drawing 38,640 vs. N.C. A&T (following a weather-related postponement) for the opener and 39,298 against North Carolina on Sept. 8 ... ECU currently ranks 55th in average attendance (38,969) and 65th in capacity percentage (77.94), but stands second in the AAC - trailing UCF (43,763), but leading USF (33,320), Cincinnati (32,027) and Houston (31,252).
ANALYZING THE 2018 OVERALL SCHEDULE
ECU's 2018 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 ... 257 AND COUNTING
ECU will enter the ODU contest with an active streak of 257 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 226 games.
CHARTING THE PIRATES MONTH-BY-MONTH
In all, ECU is 3-2-0 in August, 126-118-1 in September, 162-155-4 in October, 138-124-5 in November, 9-9-0 in December and 1-4-0 in January ... The Pirates are 1-2 this season, were 1-4 last year and have posted a recent 9-15 record against non-conference foes in the ninth month ... With a win over Old Dominion, ECU will have posted its third 2-2 September in the last four seasons (2015, 2016 and possibly 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 McGhinn, 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 three games against N.C. A&T, North Carolina and USF - 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 ... The count will likely rise significantly with the NCAA's new redshirt rule implemented earlier this year (i.e. allowance of four game appearances) ... QB Holton Ahlers, DB Myles Berry, TE Johnny Bogle, DB Daniel Charles, DE Dorian Hardy, FS Nolan Johnson, TE D'Angelo McKinnie, WR Juwan Moody and LB Xavier Smith - nine (9) players – all have experienced action in the Pirates' first three contests of the 2018 season.
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 (Birmingham), 2008 (Liberty), 2010 (Military), 2012 (New Orleans), and 2014 (Birmingham).
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 had the unique distinction of directly working with graduate transfer QBs in the previous four seasons, both at Louisiana Tech (Cody Sokol, Jeff Driskel) and with the Pirates (Philip Nelson, Thomas Sirk).
DEFENSIVE DOMINANCE FOR BLACKWELL
First-year ECU Defensive Coordinator David Blackwell built quite a formidable unit during his recent tenure in the same role at Jacksonville (Ala.) State ... During a four-year span from 2014 to 2017, JSU collectively ranked first nationally at the FCS level in defensive completion percentage (50.2), second in pass efficiency defense (105.5) and rushing yards allowed per carry (3.0), third in total defense (284.1 ypg) and yards per pass attempt (5.93), sixth in rushing defense (104.4 ypg), eighth in scoring defense (18.8 ppg) and ninth in sacks (133) during a time frame covering 51 total games.
THE UNDER-30 CROWD
The last time ECU held three consecutive opponents under 30 points was in 2015 ... The Pirates surrendered 22 to USF, 7 to UCF and 19 to Cincinnati in Ruffin McNeill's final three contests as head coach.
THREE SNAPS AND A PUNT
Of the Pirates opponents' 39 offensive possessions this year, ECU's defense has forced "three-and-outs" on 18 occasions (46.2 percent) ... Against USF last week, the Pirates tallied eight "three-and-outs" on the Bulls' 14 possessions after producing similar numbers vs. N.C. A&T (6-of-12) and North Carolina (4-of-13).
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 (325.0), 2. Memphis (295.0), 3. Cincinnati (278.8), 4. Houston (266.1) and 5. Tulsa (254.8) ... In addition, the Pirates also top the league in completions (1,468) and attempts (2,356), while standing third in TD passes (107) since beginning competition in The American ... Despite missing the AAC's inaugural season (2013), ECU has still accounted for a conference-high 14 400-yard passing games (Cincinnati is second with 10).
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).
TRUE FRESHMEN QUARTERBACK RUSHING TD LEADERS
True freshman Holton Ahlers has made an immediate impact during his first two collegiate appearances (UNC, USF) with a combined 84 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 20 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 a team-high 48 yards (one score) on 12 totes vs. the Bulls ... Among all true FBS rookies, Ahlers currently stands first in rushing TDs and third in rushing yardage … Ahler's 48-yard eff ort vs. USF also currently stands as the 8th-best single-game rushing performance (yardage) turned in by a true freshman quarterback this season.
A STARTERS' LOG ...
NB Devon Sutton (13 games) and OT Garrett McGhin (11) own the program's longest starting streaks on their respective side of the ball entering the ODU 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 eight scoring (4 TD/4 FG) drives of 10 plays or longer, which ranks tied for fourth nationally (Wake Forest leads FBS with 11) ... Under Scottie Montgomery (2016-18), ECU ranks 4th nationally in both 4th down conversions (44) and most 4th down conversion attempts (75) ... The Pirates have dropped 28-straight games when scoring 20 or less points (19-14 vs. UCF in '09/last win) ... ECU has not had a punt return for a TD in 170 games (5,061 days or since Nov. 20, 2004 vs. Memphis) - the sixth-longest current drought in FBS (behind Rice, UNLV, New Mexico, Kent State and Tulane).
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