East Carolina University
Cincinnati
Gameday: ECU Plays Hosts To No. 17 Cincinnati
October 31, 2019 | Football
| No. 17 Cincinnati at ECU (Game 9) | |
| Date: | Saturday, Nov. 2 |
| Time: | 7:00 P.M. (EDT) |
| Location: | Greenville, N.C. (Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium) |
| Tickets & Parking: | Tickets | Parking |
| Live Game Coverage: | Radio: WNCT 107.9FM | TuneIn Radio Online Television: CBSSN |
| Internet Options: | Live Stats |
| Official Web Sites: | ECU | USF | American Athletic Conference |
| Game Notes: | ECU | Cincinnati | The American |
| 2019 Statistics: | ECU | Cincinnati |
| ECU Football Central: | ECU Media Hub | Roster | The American | NCAA Football | College Scoreboard |
| Official Social Media Sites | |
| Facebook: | ECU | The American |
| Twitter: | ECU | ECU Football (in-game updates) | The American |
| Twitter Hashtags: | #ECUGameday | #PirateNation | #AmericanFB |
| Instagram: | ECU | The American |
GREENVILLE, N.C. – It's Military Appreciation Day as East Carolina will begin the month of November by welcoming current American Athletic Conference East Division leader No. 17 Cincinnati to Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium on Saturday. The clash against the Bearcats opens a two-game stretch against nationally-ranked opponents for the Pirates, who travel to No. 15 SMU next week. ECU will also try to post successive November home league wins for the first time as an AAC member (2014-2019).
ECU RECORDS AND STREAKS
- Qualified for 10 bowl appearances since 2000 (eight in the last 13 years) ...
- Has thrown at least one TD pass in five-straight games (and in 12 of the last 15 contests) ...
- Has made at least one field goal (when attempted) in 19-straight games ...
- Has booked at least six tackles for lost yardage in seven-straight games (51 total) ...
- Has forced at least one turnover in seven-straight games (most since 2014) ...
- Has won 37 of the last 40 games when leading at the half ...
- Has won 13 of the last 14 games when leading at the end of the 3rd quarter ...
- Has won eight of 11 games against Cincinnati in Greenville ...
- Has won four-straight (and seven of the last eight) games played on Nov. 2 ...
- Has limited opponents to just two combined second-half TDs in the last five home games ...
THE SERIES
East Carolina leads 13-9 ... The Bearcats have won seven of the last eight, including the first four of five meetings as American Conference members ... The Pirates have taken eight of the 11 matchups played in Greenville, while UC holds a 6-5 edge in 11 contests in Cincinnati ... ECU opened the series with seven-straight victories.
MIKE HOUSTON AGAINST THE BEARCATS
Including Mike Houston's prior eight-year tenure as a collegiate head coach at Lenoir-Rhyne, The Citadel and James Madison, Saturday's game will mark his first-ever meeting against Cincinnati.
LUKE FICKELL AGAINST THE PIRATES
Third meeting (1-1; East Carolina win in 2017, Cincinnati win in 2018) ... The Pirates never competed against Akron (2000-01) and Ohio State (2002-16) while Luke Fickell was a member of those respective staffs.
AGAINST THE BUCKEYE STATE
The Pirates have won 21 of 34 all-time matchups (21-13) against FBS programs from the state of Ohio ... In addition to its 13-9 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.
MILITARY APPRECIATION DAY
ECU has dropped seven its last 13 contests (6-7) on Military Appreciation Day dating back to 2006 and will try to snap a recent four-game skid when it meets Cincinnati on Saturday.
THE AMERICAN - YEAR SIX
East Carolina has posted an 82-71 (.536) all-time mark against current members of the American Conference ... The Pirates currently sport series records against Memphis (15-8), Cincinnati (13-9), Tulane (11-5), UCF (10-8), Tulsa (8-6), Temple (8-9), Houston (7-7), Connecticut (4-1), SMU (4-3), Navy (1-6) and USF (1-9).
THE EAST HAS BEEN A BEAST
East Carolina owns a 5-18 mark (3-9/home, 2-9/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 quintet of triumphs ... In all, ECU is 3-1 vs. UConn, 1-3 vs. Cincinnati, 1-4 vs. UCF, 0-5 vs. USF and 0-5 vs. Temple while competing as division mates ... On the flipside, ECU is 2-11 against the West (1-1 vs. SMU, 1-1 vs. Tulsa, 0-2 vs. Houston, 0-2 vs. Memphis, 0-2 vs. Tulane, 0-3 vs. Navy).
2019 East Opponents: Temple/L 27-17, @UCF/L 41-28, USF/L 45-20, Cincinnati (Nov. 2), @UConn (Nov. 23)
2019 West Opponents: @Navy/L 42-10, @SMU (Nov. 9), Tulsa (Nov. 30)
LEAGUE, NON-LEAGUE STATISTICAL COMPARISONS
The Pirates have averaged 18.8 points, 113.5 rushing yards, 225.5 passing yards and 339.0 total yards in their four (Navy, Temple, UCF, USF) American Athletic Conference games of the 2019 season so far ... By comparison, ECU averaged 24.3 points, 195.8 rushing yards, 212.2 passing yards and 408.0 total yards per game in its four regular season non-conference contests this year ... The Pirates followed a 2-2 non-league ledger in 2018 with a 3-1 mark this fall and hope to improve their AAC record to 1-4 when they square off against Cincinnati.
COMPARING 10-YEAR, EIGHT-GAME RESULTS
Following its setback to USF Saturday, East Carolina's 3-5 record represents the best eight-game mark since 2016 ... A win over Cincinnati would give ECU a 4-5 ledger, which would be the program's top nine-game "start" since 2015 (also 4-5).
AT DOWDY-FICKLEN STADIUM - 2-2 IN 2019
ECU's all-time record at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium is 191-104 (.647) ... 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 3-4 record last year and an 8-11 combined mark in 2015, 2016 & 2017, 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 has posted 39 winning campaigns at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium since 1963.
THE PIRATE NATION - OVER 8.8 MILLION STRONG
ECU has usually 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 8,834,365 fans have seen the Pirates in action since 1963, and since the completion of a 7,000-seat expansion project in 2010 (to push capacity to 50,000), the Pirates have drawn 2,563,079 fans (42,718 per game).
AMERICAN ATTENDANCE LEADERS (2014-2019)
Since becoming a member of the American Athletic Conference in 2014, East Carolina leads the league in overall attendance average over a collective fi ve-plus-year period … The Pirates have led the AAC in regular season attendance average three times - 2014, 2016 and 2017 ... Overall on the FBS level, ECU currently ranks 63rd nationally in average (34,638) and 85th in capacity percentage (69.28).
SHUTOUT-FREE ... 274 AND COUNTING
ECU will enter the Cincinnati contest with an active streak of 274 games of not suffering a shutout - a school record (previous mark was 110 set from '71-'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, East Carolina is 3-3-0 in August, 130-119-1 in September, 162-161-4 in October, 139-127-5 in November, 9-10-0 in December and 1-4-0 in January ... The Pirates will open play in November vs. Cincinnati on Saturday, a month in which East Carolina has lost 11 of its last 14 contests (and 14 of 19 since the 2013 campaign) ... At home, ECU has won two of the last three (a 48-20 victory over Cincinnati in 2017 and a 55-21 triumph against Connecticut in 2018), but has also dropped six of the last eight dating back to 2015.
BACK-TO-BACK BONEYARD BATTLES
ECU will close a two-game homestand (in successive weeks) Saturday by meeting Cincinnati (following a setback to USF) ... Since their membership in the American Athletic Conference, the Pirates are 2-9 when playing back-to-back weeks at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium: 2014: none; 2015: W/Tulsa (Oct. 17), L/Temple (Oct. 22); 2016: L/SMU (Nov. 12), L/Navy (Nov. 19); 2017: L/USF (Sept. 30), L/Temple (Oct. 7) and L/Tulane (Nov. 11), W/Cincinnati (Nov. 18); 2018: L/Houston (Oct. 13), L/UCF (Oct. 20); 2019: L/USF (Oct. 26).
UPDATING THE 2019 OVERALL SCHEDULE
ECU's 2019 opponents posted a combined 70-77 (.476) record in 2018 and are currently 49-44 (.527) this season ... The Pirates' four non-conference foes are currently 10-21 (.323), while the eight AAC squads have combined for a 39-23 (.629) mark ... Two yet-to-be-played opponents are nationally ranked in both polls and already bowl eligible - SMU (8-0) and Cincinnati (6-1).
BEEN THROUGH THE WARS
ECU's (10) assistant coaches bring an impressive 181 combined years of full-time Division I coaching experience to the Pirate program ... In addition, members of Mike Houston's staff have also turned in 33 combined seasons as a coordinator at college football's top level (FBS) ...ECU's staff also has two former collegiate head coaches - Donnie Kirkpatrick (Chattanooga/2000-02) and Byron Thweatt (Virginia State/2015).
LOOKING TOWARD THE FUTURE
The Pirates return 63.8 percent of their lettermen from a year ago, yet features a lineup which includes 49 freshmen (32 true, 17 redshirt) - which represents 46.7 percent of East Carolina's 2019 roster (and stands among the Top 20 "youngest" teams nationally).
FIRST-TIME STARTERS
East Carolina has featured 11 first-time starters in its first eight games this year – eight on the offensive side of the ball (RG Sean Bailey, TE Zech Byrd, RB Trace Christian, OR Jsi Hatfield, OR C.J. Johnson, RB Demetrius Mauney, RT Matt Morgan, OR Mydreon Vines) and three more on defense (ILB Myles Berry, CB Ja'Quan McMillian, OLB Gerard Stringer) ... The Pirates had 19 first time starters in '18 after "introducing" a program-record 25 first-timers a year earlier in 2017.
2019 REDSHIRT TRACKER
The Pirates have utilized nine (9) true freshmen so far in 2019 - five on offense and four on defense - and seven have surpassed the four-game "limit" mandated by the NCAA: DL Rick D'Abreu (7 games played), CB Malik Fleming (8), QB Bryan Gagg (1), IR Jsi Hatfield (8), DL Immanuel Hickman (1), OR C.J. Johnson (8), TE Jeremy Lewis (8), RB Demetrius Mauney (8) and CB Ja'Quan McMillian (8).
TOP PASSING UNIT IN AMERICAN HISTORY
Since joining the AAC in 2014, the Pirates lead the league in passing yards over a combined five-plus-year period despite utilizing eight starting quarterbacks, four offensive coordinators and three head coaches: 1. East Carolina (21,204), 2. Memphis (21,050), 3. Houston (18,909), 4. Cincinnati (18,614) and 5. UCF (18,315) ... In addition, the Pirates also top the league in completions (1,819) and attempts (3,034) ... ECU has also accounted for a conference-high 16 400-yard passing games.
1K RECEIVER = LOOKING FOR EIGHT-STRAIGHT YEARS
ECU has featured at least one 1,000-yard receiver in seven-straight seasons (heading into the 2019 campaign), which ranks first at the FBS level … ECU 1,000-yard receivers include: 2012 Justin Hardy (1,105), 2013 Hardy (1,284), 2014 Hardy (1,494) and Cam Worthy (1,016), 2015 Zay Jones (1,099), 2016 Jones (1,746), 2017 Trevon Brown (1,069) and 2018 Brown (1,123) ... ECU also has the top two receivers in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision history by career receptions in Jones (399 from 2013-16) and Hardy (387 from 2011-2014) and have produced 10 1,000-yard pass catchers over the last decade.
RE-ESTABLISHING THE RUN
Despite the impressive "recent" historical aerial totals listed above, Mike Houston's desire is to establish the run first ... That said, ECU has rushed for 1,237 yards through eight games, the program's fourth-highest ground total since 2000 (*bowl appearance) … Mike Houston's squad (+55) is the first East Carolina team since 2009 (+45) to have more rushing attempts than pass attempts through its first eight games.
HITTING THE BIG ONE
The Pirates have already turned in 43 "big plays" (20+ yards) in 2019 - an average of 5.4 per contest ... The most noticeable improvement has been in ECU's rushing attack, which has produced 15 long gainers - already surpassing full-season totals turned in by the 2016 (10) and 2017 (7) squads, while only two shy of the final 2018 number (17) with at least four contests remaining.
TAKING THE EXPRESS LANE
Because of the aforementioned big play production, the Pirates don't waste much time getting into the endzone .... Although East Carolina averages 6.6 plays per touchdown drive in 2019, it has only taken an average of 2:14 to reach paydirt ... In fact, not a single TD drive has exceeded the 5:00 mark - 12 of the 16 successful possessions (75 percent) have been under 3:59 (including the Pirates' only offensive TD vs. USF/1:51).
BALL SECURITY
Despite being represented by plenty of youth on offense and on their special teams return units, the Pirates have committed only 12 turnovers through the first eight contests - third-fewest in a recent 20-year snapshot of program history.
DEFENDING DIFFERENTLY ... X3-PLUS
The Pirates are one of 11 FBS programs to employ three-plus different defensive coordinators in the last three seasons - Alabama, Akron, Bowling Green, Coastal Carolina, East Carolina, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Louisville, Temple, Tennessee and Texas State.
LIMITING AERIAL TDs
East Carolina's defense has allowed only 10 TD passes so far, which stands as the third-fewest in a season-opening eight-game span over the last 20 years.
NO (4th) QUARTER
The Pirates have surrendered a paltry 28 overall points in fourth-quarter action during the 2019 campaign - an average of just over a field goal per game, which ranks as the stingiest tally in the school's modern day history.
A RUN OF TAKEAWAYS
ECU has forced at least one turnover in seven-straight contests, the longest streak by a Pirate defense since a similar seven-game run in 2014 (which followed 10 in a row in '13) ... East Carolina's 2009 unit holds the record with a takeaway in all 14 outings that year.
SPECIALTY SCORING
Tyler Snead's record-tying 100-yard kickoff return against USF last week marked the Pirates' second special teams touchdown of the season (following Warren Saba's blocked punt return vs. ODU) - the most by an East Carolina squad since 2009.
GOING WITH WHAT WE HAVE
The Pirates have only utilized a total of 67 players through eight games this season, matching their lowest "roster usage" since 2005 ... ECU has also featured just 14 defensive starters so far, which is the lowest number (through eight tilts) in the modern era.
THIS & THAT ...
LT D'Ante Smith (21 games) and DT Alex Turner (20) own the program's longest starting streaks on offense and defense entering the Cincinnati contest ... IR Deondre Farrier has an active streak of recording at least one reception in 19-straight contests heading into the Cincinnati tilt (last five in '17, all seven games played in '18 and all eight outings in '19) ... OR C.J. Johnson, who currently leads ECU with 32 catches for 399 yards, posted back-to-back triple-digit receiving yardage totals against TEM (100) and UCF (106) before following up with 85 vs. USF - a three-game average of 13.9 yards per reception ... DE Kendall Futrell racked up a combined 10.0 TFLs vs. ODU (3.5), TEM (3.5), UCF (2.0) and USF (1.0), and has now booked four more stops in all eight contests this year ... At 5-foot-7, RS/IR Tyler Snead is the third-shortest (by height) returner at the FBS level in 2019, towering above Oregon State's Champ Flemings (5-5), New Mexico's Chad Alexander (5-6) and Arizona's J.J. Taylor (5-6) ... East Carolina has received the opening kickoff in all eight contests in 2019 (2-6 on coin tosses) ... The Pirates have already blocked two punts this season (Warren Saba/ODU, Leroy Henley/UCF), the most in a "full" season since 2015 (SMU, BYU).
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