East Carolina University
USF
Gameday: ECU Hosts Navy In AAC Matchup
October 15, 2020 | Football
| Navy at East Carolina (Game 4) | |
| Date: | Saturday, Oct. 17 |
| Time: | 12 Noon (EDT) |
| Location: | Greenville, N.C. (Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium) |
| Program: | Navy Game Program |
| Live Game Coverage: | Radio: WNCT 107.9FM | TuneIn Radio Online Television: ESPN+ |
| Internet Options: | Live Stats |
| Official Web Sites: | ECU | Navy | The American |
| Game Notes: | ECU | Navy | The American |
| Statistics: | ECU | Navy |
| ECU Football Central: | ECU Media Hub | Roster | ECU Yearbook | 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. – After completing a two-game road swing, East Carolina will return to Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium when the Pirates host league-leader Navy on Saturday for a 12 noon American Athletic Conference clash. In addition to halting a four-game slide against Navy, ECU will try to post back-to-back AAC wins for the first time since 2015 after downing USF 44-24 a week ago. The matchup against the Midshipmen, which precedes a bye week and a visit to Tulsa, also represents the Pirates' only October home game - a first for the ECU program since 2013 (as a member of Conference USA).
ECU RECORDS AND STREAKS
- Qualified for 10 bowl appearances since 2000 (eight in the last 14 years) ...
- Has averaged 36.0 points and 445.5 total yards in two games against the AAC this season ...
- Has thrown at least one TD pass in 20-straight home games ...
- Has scored on 27 of 28 redzone visits during its last eight games (10-of-10 in 2020) ...
- Has converted 20 of 22 fi eld goal attempts in its last 10 games (6-of-7 in 2020) ...
- Has forced at least one turnover in 13 of the last 14 games (5 total in last two) ...
- Has owned a combined 7:53 average edge in possession time so far in 2020 ...
- Has won 39 of the last 43 games when leading at the half (12-2 since 2015) ...
THE SERIES
Navy leads 6-1 ... The Midshipmen posted 28-23 and 76-35 victories to open the series in 2006 and 2010, respectively, before ECU used Dominique Davis' record-setting 40-of-45 passing effort to post its first (and only) win in 2011 ... Navy triumphs in 2015, 2016 and 2019 marked the first AAC matchups between the two programs.
MIKE HOUSTON AGAINST THE MIDS
East Carolina's 42-10 setback at Navy last year serves as Mike Houston's only prior meeting against the Midshipmen ... During his earlier eight-year tenure as a NCAA Division II and FCS collegiate head coach, the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears, The Citadel Bulldogs and James Madison Dukes never competed against Navy.
NIUMATALOLO AGAINST THE PIRATES
Ken Niumatalolo will face East Carolina as a head coach for the seventh (5-1) time Saturday ... He was on Paul Johnson's staff as an assistant head coach during the series opener in 2006, but did not square off against the Pirates during his earlier full-time tenures at Hawai'i (1992-94) or UNLV (1999-2001).
AN ECU & NAVY COACHING CONNECTION ... WITH A KENNESAW TWIST
Both Navy (Brian Newberry) and East Carolina (Blake Harrell) currently employ defensive coordinators who recently took over respective unit leadership positions after directing successful defenses at FCS member Kennesaw (Ga.) State ... Newberry (2013-18) preceded Harrell (2019) as both helped the Owls to playoff bids:
Newberry Notes: helped lead KSU to successive FCS quarterfinal playoff appearances in 2017 and 2018 (11-2 record) ... Owls ranked first (FCS) nationally in fewest first downs allowed per game (13.5), second in total defense (263.7 ypg), seventh in scoring defense (15.4 ppg) and 11th in 3rd-down conversion defense (28.9) in 2018.
Harrell Notes: helped guide the Owls to a FCS second-round playoff appearance in 2019 (11-3) ... KSU stood third nationally in total defense (278.7 ypg), fi fth in rush defense (88.9 ypg), 10th in scoring defense (18.7 ppg), 11th in tackles for loss (104), 13th in turnovers forced (25) and 17th in 3rd-down defense (33.0) in 2019.
HOME FIELD DISADVANTAGE?
In addition to its 3-0 mark when playing at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, Navy has averaged a combined 66.0 points, 504.3 rushing yards and forced a total of seven East Carolina turnovers ... In fact, Navy's 521, 512 and 480-yard ground efforts in 2010, 2012 and 2016 still rank as the second, third and fourth-highest ever recorded vs. ECU.
PIRATES AGAINST THE ARMED FORCES (9-6)
The Pirates' eight wins against Army (8-0 series record) and the seven contests versus Navy represent the only meetings East Carolina has had against the nation's military academies who annually compete for the C-I-C Trophy ... ECU has never faced Air Force since beginning its football program in 1932.
THE AMERICAN - YEAR SEVEN
East Carolina has posted a 79-74 (.516) all-time mark against current members of the American Conference ... The Pirates currently sport series records against Memphis (15-8), Cincinnati (13-10), Tulane (11-5), UCF (10-9), Tulsa (8-7), Temple (8-9), Houston (7-7), SMU (4-4), USF (2-9) and Navy (1-6).
AAC, NON-AAC STATISTICAL COMPARISONS
The Pirates have averaged 27.3 points, 133.0 rushing yards, 314.0 passing yards and 447.0 total yards in their 50 American Athletic Conference games since joining the league in 2014 ... By comparison, ECU averages 29.2 points, 144.2 rushing yards, 298.8 passing yards and 442.9 total yards per game in 25 non-conference contests.
ANALYZING THE 2020 OVERALL SCHEDULE
East Carolina's 2020 opponents posted a combined 72-44 (.621) record in 2019 ... The Pirates' only nonconference foe (Georgia State) was 7-6, while the eight AAC squads tallied a collective 65-38 (.631) mark ... Four programs had 10 or more wins - Cincinnati (11), Navy (11), Tulane (10) and UCF (10) ... Some other notables:
WHO WENT BOWLING ... In all, ECU's current slate features contests against seven teams that advanced to bowl games in 2019 - UCF (Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla), Georgia State (Nova Home Loans Arizona), Navy (AutoZone Liberty), Tulane (Lockheed Martin Armed Forces), Cincinnati (TicketSmarter Birmingham), Temple (Military) and SMU (Cheribundi Boca Raton) ... All four of the Pirates' home games will be against 2019 bowl qualifiers.
IN THE FINAL POLLS ... Four of ECU's 2020 opponents were ranked or received votes in college football's two major polls (Associated Press/USA Today Amway Coaches) to end the 2019 season - Navy (20/20), Cincinnati (21/21), UCF (24/24) and SMU (RV/RV).
COMPARING 10-YEAR, THREE-GAME RESULTS
East Carolina's 44-24 win at USF last week improved the Pirates' record to 1-2 for the third-straight year (and fourth time in the last six seasons) ... A victory over Navy would give ECU a 2-2 mark in three consecutive campaigns and for the sixth time in the last 10 seasons, but a loss against the Mids would be the Pirates' first 1-3 ledger since 2017 (and third overall since 2011).
AT DOWDY-FICKLEN STADIUM
ECU's all-time record at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium is 191-107 (.641) ... 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 2-4 record last year and an 11-15 combined mark in 2015, 2016, 2017 & 2108, 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 - NEARLY 9 MILLION STRONG
East Carolina has usually been able to claim plenty of hometown support when playing at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium - establishing itself among conference attendance leaders on a near annual basis ... In all, a total of 8,894,966 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 2,623,680 fans.
SHUTOUT-FREE ... 281 AND COUNTING
East Carolina will enter the Navy contest with an active streak of 281 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) ... ECU's 281-game run currently ranks among the Top 10 nationally (Florida leads all programs).
CHARTING THE PIRATES MONTH-BY-MONTH
In all, East Carolina is 3-3-0 in August, 130-120-1 in September, 163-162-4 in October, 140-130-5 in November, 9-10-0 in December and 1-4-0 in January ... The Pirates are trying to regain their October productivity, a month in which ECU has dropped 14 of its last 17 games dating back to 2015 ... At home, ECU has suffered five-straight setbacks (and lost seven of the last 10 since 2015; wins vs. BYU, UConn & Tulsa) ... In terms of conference action, ECU has lost eight of the last nine (and 13 of the last 15, also dating back to the 2015 campaign) ... Overall, the Pirates are 7-13 vs. the AAC in October.
ROAD CONTESTS O'PLENTY
Sandwiched in between playing at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium for the opener (UCF) and regular season finale vs. SMU are a run of five road contests (in a seven-game span) ... Following Saturday's matchup vs. Navy, East Carolina will play three of its next four away from Greenville, which includes a Friday night visit to Tulsa, a home date with Tulane (Nov. 7) and successive road tilts at Cincinnati and Temple (before hosting SMU).
"TRUE" ROOKIES THROWN INTO THE FIRE
The Pirates have utilized 15 true freshmen in their first three games, 13 against UCF in the opener alone - seven offensive (TE Shane Calhoun, QB Mason Garcia, RB Rahjai Harris, WR Taji Hudson, RB Keaton Mitchell, OL Jaquaez Powell, OL Walter Stribling), seven defensive (ILB Teylor Jackson, DB David Laney, DL Xavier McIver, DL Elijah Morris, DL Kareem Stinson, DB Sean Tucker, DB Teagan Wilk) and one special teamer (P Luke Larsen) ... Harris has made the biggest impact on offense with a team-high 115 rushing yards on 19 carries against the Bulls, while Morris logged eight stops and was credited with a TFL vs. Georgia State on defense ... Larsen averaged 41.0 yards on a pair of punts against UCF (but did not appear in contest vs. GSU and USF).
FIRST-TIME STARTERS
Additionally, there have been a combined 15 first-time ECU starters in the Pirates' lineup vs. UCF, Georgia State and USF - six on the offensive side of the ball (TE Shane Calhoun, LG Avery Jones, TE Jeremy Lewis, RT Bailey Malovic, RB Keaton Mitchell, RG Nishad Strother) and nine on defense (DT Rick D'Abreu, SAF Shawn Dourseau, CB Malik Fleming, DT Hozey Haji-Badri, DE Immanuel Hickman, DT Elijah Morris, SAF Warren Saba, DE Chris Willis, OLB Jireh Wilson), which currently ranks fourth nationally … East Carolina had 15 (10/offense, 5/defense) first-time starters the entire 2019 season.
TOP PASSING UNIT IN AMERICAN HISTORY
Since joining the AAC in 2014, the Pirates stand first in passing yards over a combined seven-year period despite utilizing eight starting quarterbacks, four offensive coordinators and three head coaches: 1. East Carolina (23,592), 2. Memphis (23,543), 3. UCF (20,967), 4. Cincinnati (20,347) and 5. SMU (20,265) ... In addition, the Pirates top the league in completions (2,004) and attempts (3,333) ... ECU has also accounted for a conference-high 18 400-yard passing games and surpassed the 300-yard mark on 40 occasions during the 76-game span.
1K RECEIVER IN SEVEN OF LAST EIGHT YEARS
East Carolina has featured at least one 1,000-yard receiver in seven of the last eight seasons ... Its FBS-best run of seven-straight years came up just 92 yards short as freshman C.J. Johnson closed his rookie campaign with 908 reception yards in 2019 ... Pirate 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 a total of 10 1,000-yard pass catchers over the last decade.
A FULL PASS-CATCHING CUPBOARD
ECU is just one of 16 FBS programs that returned four or more pass catchers (WR,TE,RB) who tallied at least 250 yards last season: 6 (Troy); 5 (Colorado State, La. Tech, Purdue, Washington State); 4 (East Carolina, Appalachian State, Iowa, North Carolina, North Texas, Stanford, Texas Tech, UCF, ULM, Utah and Wisconsin) ... The quartet of Pirates include C.J. Johnson (908), Tyler Snead (759), Blake Proehl (670) and Jsi Hatfield (260).
MULTIPLE RECEPTION DOUBLES
When Blake Proehl (11) and Tyler Snead (11) each turned in 10+ reception totals against Georgia State on Oct. 3, it marked the first time since 2017 that multiple East Carolina pass-catchers eclipsed the double-digit mark in the same contest (and only the fifth time in the last 10 years - since 2010).
A STARTERS' LOG
QB Holton Ahlers (15 games) and ILB Xavier Smith (7) own the program's longest starting streaks on offense and defense entering the Navy contest.
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