East Carolina University
SMU
Gameday: ECU Hosts SMU In Season Finale
November 25, 2020 | Football
| SMU at East Carolina (Game 9) | |
| Date: | Saturday, Nov. 28 |
| Time: | 12 Noon (EDT) |
| Location: | Greenville, N.C. (Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium) |
| Game Program: | SMU Program |
| Live Game Coverage: | Radio: WNCT 107.9FM | TuneIn Radio Online Television: ESPN+ |
| Internet Options: | Live Stats |
| Official Web Sites: | ECU | SMU | The American |
| Game Notes: | ECU | SMU | The American |
| Statistics: | ECU | SMU |
| 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. – East Carolina officially completes its 2020 schedule by hosting SMU on Saturday for a 12 noon American Athletic Conference clash at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. The Pirates will try to capture their third home finale in the last four years after downing Cincinnati in 2017 and Connecticut in 2018 (before falling to Tulsa last season). Additionally, ECU will look to close out the 2020 campaign on a two-game AAC win streak - a first since 2015 - after knocking off Temple 28-3 in Philadelphia last week.
ECU RECORDS AND STREAKS
- Qualified for 10 bowl appearances since 2000 (eight in the last 14 years) ...
- Has averaged 406.4 total yards per game vs. AAC opponents this season ...
- Has scored on 39 of 45 redzone visits in its last 11 games (22-of-27 in 2020) ...
- Has forced at least one turnover in 18 of the last 19 games (15 total in the last six) ...
- Has netted fi ve interceptions in the last four games ...
- Has tallied a total of 39.0 TFLs and 12.0 sacks in its last six games ...
- Has averaged 32.7 yards per kickoff return in its last three games ...
- Has won 40 of the last 45 games when leading at the half (13-3 since 2015) ...
THE SERIES
Tied 4-4 ... The Pirates and Mustangs both turned in respective sweeps as Conference USA inter-divisional opponents - ECU taking 2005 and 2006 matchups before SMU posted consecutive victories in 2009 and 2010 ... The Pirates bounced back by capturing the first two (of four) American Athletic Conference meetings, posting wins in 2014 and 2015 under Ruffin McNeill before suffering setbacks in 2016 and 2019 ... The Mustangs' visit to Greenville in 2014 also marked East Carolina's inaugural AAC clash.
MIKE HOUSTON AGAINST THE MUSTANGS
East Carolina's 59-51 loss at SMU last year serves as Mike Houston's only prior meeting against the Mustangs.
SONNY DYKES AGAINST THE PIRATES
While Saturday's contest will be Sonny Dykes' second (2019) against East Carolina as a head coach, he did face the Pirates once as an assistant ... During his first year as Texas Tech's co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach in 2000, ECU raced out to a 34-0 second-quarter lead before posting a 40-27 victory in the galleryfurniture.com Bowl at the Astrodome ... Leonard Henry (20-92, 2 TDs) led a 252-yard rushing attack and David Garrard completed 17-of-27 passes for 229 yards and another score to lead the Pirates offensively ... Quarterback Kliff Kingsbury threw for 307 yards on a 31-of-49 passing eff ort to headline the Red Raiders' attack.
AGAINST THE LONE STAR STATE
The Pirates have won 21 of 36 all-time matchups (21-15) against FBS programs from the state of Texas ... East Carolina is 7-7 against UH, 4-4 vs. SMU, 3-1 vs. UTEP, 2-2 vs. Rice, 2-1 vs. TCU, 1-0 vs. Texas Tech, 1-0 vs. North Texas and 1-0 against Texas State ... ECU has never faced Baylor, Texas, Texas A&M or UTSA on the gridiron ... At Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, the Pirates are 12-6 overall when playing Texas-based teams - one of those wins earning the 2009 Conference USA Championship (with a 38-32 triumph vs. Houston on Dec. 5, 2009).
THE AMERICAN - YEAR SEVEN
East Carolina has posted an 80-78 (.506) all-time mark against current members of the American Conference ... The Pirates currently sport series records against Memphis (15-8), Cincinnati (13-11), Tulane (11-6), UCF (10-9), Temple (9-9), Tulsa (8-8), Houston (7-7), SMU (4-4), USF (2-9) and Navy (1-7) … Includes a 5-1 mart against former league member Connecticut.
AAC, NON-AAC STATISTICAL COMPARISONS
The Pirates have averaged 27.0 points, 137.3 rushing yards, 304.7 passing yards and 441.9 total yards in their 55 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
ECU's 2020 opponents posted a combined 72-44 (.621) record in 2019 and are currently 39-32 (.549) this season ... The Pirates' only non-conference 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).
WHO WENT BOWLING ... In all, ECU's current slate featured 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 are 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).
AT DOWDY-FICKLEN STADIUM
East Carolina's all-time record at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium is 191-109 (.637) ... The Pirates opened the facility on Sept. 21, 1963 with a 20-10 win over Wake Forest in front of 17,000 fans, celebrated the stadium's 50th anniversary in 2013 and recently hosted its 300th game vs. Tulane ... Before a 2-4 record last year and a collective 11-15 mark from 2015-2108, 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 8,901,966 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 2,630,680 fans.
CAUSE AND EFFECT (ECU's COVID-19 TIMELINE)
Like all programs across the country, East Carolina has also obviously been impacted by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) throughout the 2020 season with practice pauses, game postponements and limited S-A availability (not to mention thrice weekly testing protocols, social distancing, limited travel parties, team bubble protection, etc...):
Practice Pause – August 20 to September 1 (12 days/preseason camp)
Game PPD's – Marshall (Aug. 29), South Carolina (Sept. 12), Norfolk State (Sept. 19)
Of Note – vs. Navy (Oct. 17); fi ve two-deep players DNP, including QB Holton Ahlers
SHUTOUT-FREE ... 286 AND COUNTING
East Carolina will enter the SMU contest with an active streak of 286 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 286-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, 163-164-4 in October, 141-132-5 in November, 9-10-0 in December and 1-4-0 in January ... The Pirates will close out November play against SMU, a month in which East Carolina has lost 16 of its last 21 contests (and 19 of 26 since the 2013 campaign) ... At home, ECU has won two (Cincinnati/2017, Connecticut/2018) of its last six, but has also dropped nine of the last 11 dating back to 2015 (including all three in the Mike Houston era) ... Overall, the Pirates are 7-19 vs. the AAC in Month 11.
THE YOUTH MOVEMENT
East Carolina currently has 83 underclassmen in its program, which accounts for 72.2 percent of the Pirates' 2020 roster - the third-highest clip nationally ... On the flipside, ECU has a combined 15 seniors/graduates on its roster, which is the 10th-lowest number nationally (Stanford has the fewest with 10, Colorado is second with 11).
GETTING THEIR FEET WET
The Pirates have utilized 20 true freshmen in their first eight games, 13 against UCF in the opener alone - nine offensive (TE Shane Calhoun, OL Isaiah Foote, QB Mason Garcia, RB Rahjai Harris, WR Taji Hudson, RB Keaton Mitchell, OL Jaquaez Powell, WR Tyler Savage, OL Walter Stribling), 10 defensive (ILB Teylor Jackson, DL D'Anta Johnson, DB David Laney, DL Xavier McIver, DL Elijah Morris, DL Jason Romero, DL Jason Shuford, 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 624 rushing yards on 128 carries, while Morris has recovered a unit-best three fumbles and Larsen has experienced punting action in four games (42.3 ypp).
FIRST-TIME STARTERS
Additionally, there have been a combined 21 first-time ECU starters in the Pirates' lineup so far this year - 11 on the offensive side of the ball (TE Shane Calhoun, RT Justin Chase, QB Mason Garcia, RB Rahjai Harris, LG Avery Jones, TE Jeremy Lewis, RT Bailey Malovic, RB Keaton Mitchell, OR Audi Omotosho, LT Walter Stribling, RG Nishad Strother) and 10 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 Chad Stephens, DE Chris Willis, OLB Jireh Wilson).
IN SELECT RUSHING COMPANY
Rahjai Harris' 624 rushing yards ranks as the fi fth-highest ground total by an East Carolina running back through the first eight games of a season ... Among freshmen, Harris' current total stands first in program history.
TRIPLE-DIGIT MAGIC ... INDIVIDUALLY
Rahjai Harris (USF/115, Navy/172, TLS/118) will enter the SMU contest looking to become the first Pirates' RB in seven years to post four 100-yard rushing contests in a single season ... Tay Cooper last accomplished the feat in 2013 after racking up 186 vs. North Carolina, 126 vs. UAB, 148 vs. NC State and 198 vs. Ohio in the Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl ... Dominique Lindsay posted fi ve during ECU's C-USA championship season in 2009.
TRIPLE-DIGIT MAGIC ... COLLECTIVELY
For the first time since 1990, ECU features multiple ball-carriers with multiple 100-yard rushing performances in the same season ... Rahjai Harris (3) and Keaton Mitchell (2) are the first Pirate duo since Jeff Blake (2) and David Daniels (2) accomplished the feat 30 years ago ... The 1996 (Scott Harley) and 2001 (Leonard Henry) campaigns produced the most overall century mark rushing eff orts with eight, all done individually however.
AMONG TOP PASSING UNITS IN AMERICAN HISTORY
Since joining the AAC in 2014, the Pirates stand second in passing yards over a combined seven year period despite utilizing nine starting quarterbacks, four offensive coordinators and three head coaches: 1. Memphis (25,364), 2. East Carolina (24,646), 3. UCF (22,833), 4. SMU (21,774) and 5. Cincinnati (21,604) ... In addition, the Pirates top the league in completions (2,099) and attempts (3,489) ... ECU has also accounted for a conference-high 18 400-yard passing games and surpassed the 300-yard mark on 42 occasions during the 80-game span ... On a related note, the top two receivers in NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision history by career receptions - Zay Jones (399 from 2013-16) and Justin Hardy (387 from 2011-2014) - are former East Carolina players.
LIVING A PIRATES' LIFE
After having its 11-game streak with at least one takeaway (longest since '09) snapped during the season opener vs. UCF, East Carolina's defense has started a new run by generating at least one turnover in the last seven-straight contests ... In all, the Pirates will enter the SMU clash having forced a TO in 18 of the last 19 games.
MR. UTILITY & MR. RELIABILITY
Slot receiver/return specialist Tyler Snead has averaged 138.3 all-purpose yards in his last four games (244 vs. Temple alone), while outside receiver Blake Proehl has caught at least one pass in 23 consecutive games (dating back to 2018) - tops on the unit.
STARTERS' LOG
C Fernando Frye (16 games) and ILB Xavier Smith (12) own the program's longest starting streaks on offense and defense entering the SMU contest.
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