East Carolina Closes 2023 Campaign Against Tulsa

Tulsa (3-8, 1-6 AAC) at East Carolina (2-9, 1-6 AAC) (Game 12)
Date	Saturday, November 25th
Time	2:00 p.m. (ET)
Location (Venue)	Greenville, N.C. (Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium) (50,000)
Live Game Coverage	Radio: WNCT 107.9FM Stream: ESPN+
Internet Options	Live Stats
Official Web Sites	East Carolina \| Tulsa \| The American
Game Notes	East Carolina \| Tulsa \| The American
2023 Statistics	East Carolina \| Tulsa \| The American
ECU Football Central	East Carolina Media Hub \| Roster \| NCAA Football \| College Scoreboard

Official Social Media Sites
Facebook	East Carolina \| The American
Twitter	East Carolina \| ECU Football (in-game updates) \| The American
Twitter Hashtags	#PirateNation \| #AmericanFB
Instagram	East Carolina \| The American

GREENVILLE, N.C. – East Carolina looks to end the 2023 season on a high note when it hosts American Athletic Conference opponent Tulsa Saturday, Nov. 25, at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. and the contest will stream live via ESPN+ with James Westling (play-by-play) and Reggie Walker, Jr. (color analyst) on the call.

ECU is under the direction of fifth-year head coach Mike Houston.

The Pirates will honor the following 14 seniors in a pregame ceremony: Ryan Beckman, David Chapeau, Eric Doctor, Keziah Everett, Jarrett Garner, Jsi Hatfield, Jeremy Lewis, Jaylen Johnson, Jonathan Jones, Owen Murphy, Jack Powers, Water Stribling, Archer Trafford and Julius Wood.

The Pirates (2-9, 1-6 AAC) put forth a stout defensive effort at Navy last Saturday but could not find the scoring column as the Midshipmen took a 10-0 victory at the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Quarterback Alex Flinn completed a career-high 24 of 38 pass attempts for 151 yards while the ECU defense forced a pair of turnovers. In all, the teams combined for 20 tackles for loss, 22 first downs, one missed field goal, one blocked field goal and 14 punts.

The Golden Hurricane (3-8, 1-6 AAC) carries a six-game losing streak to Greenville, including a 35-28 home setback to North Texas last Saturday. Tulsa surrendered 593 total yards (299 rushing) while racking up 434 itself. Kirk Francis threw for 251 yards and three touchdowns to complement a 115-yard rushing performance by Anthony Watkins.

East Carolina Records, Streaks and Trends

Looks for its second home win of the season (1-4 entering the game)
Ranks 31st nationally in total defense (331.8 yards allowed per game).
Will attempt to win its regular season finale for the third time in the last four seasons.
Has forced at least one turnover in 38 of its last 42 games (and 49 of the last 56).
Has scored three defensive touchdowns this season – two at Appalachian State and one at UTSA.
Recovered five fumbles against Gardner-Webb – a first since setting the standard against TCU on Nov. 23, 2002.
Blanked Gardner-Webb 44-0 to register its first defensive shutout since Sept. 2, 2000, versus Duke (38-0 victory).

The Series
The series between East Carolina and Tulsa is tied at eight wins apiece. Although Tulsa has won the last three meetings, the Pirates have captured six of the last nine matchups (a run which began with a 27-24 triumph in the 2008 Conference USA Championship Game). ECU has also won three of the last four played in Greenville.

Last Meeting
Tulsa 34, East Carolina 30
(Oct. 30, 2020 @ H.A. Chapman Stadium – Tulsa, Okla.)
T.K. Wilkerson's one-yard touchdown run with 29 seconds remaining capped the Golden Hurricane's 31-point second-half scoring output that lifted Tulsa to a 34-30 come from-behind American Athletic Conference victory over East Carolina at H.A. Chapman Stadium. The Pirates enjoyed a 17-3 halftime lead after holding TU to a paltry 109 yards (50 rushing) in the first 30 minutes of action, but the Golden Hurricane rallied back by scoring on five of their six second-half possessions after nearly tripling their yardage total (319). After allowing Tulsa to take its first lead of the night at 27-23 on JuanCarlos Santana's 39-yard TD reception at the 9:14 mark of the fourth quarter, ECU marched 85 yards on 11 plays to reclaim the edge on Holton Ahlers' four-yard scoring toss to Rahjai Harris with 4:24 remaining. TU answered on its ensuing drive, converting a pair of 4th-down plays to set up Wilkerson's game-winner ... East Carolina used a 36-yard kickoff return by Jsi Hatfield and a Tulsa pass interference penalty to advance to the TU 29 before running out of time. Ahlers completed a career-high 38 passes for 330 yards and three touchdowns, while Harris topped all rushers with 118 yards. The Pirates also controlled the clock (+10:18), logged three sacks and netted two interceptions.

Mike Houston Against The Golden Hurricane
East Carolina's 49-24 (2019) and 34-30 (2020) setbacks against Tulsa serve as Mike Houston's only meetings against the Golden Hurricane. 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 Tulsa.

At Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium
East Carolina's all-time record at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium is 201-118 (.630). 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 in 2020. ECU played seven home games in 2022 posting a 4-3 record. Before a 4-2 clip in 2021, a 1-3 record two years ago and a collective 13-19 mark from 2015-2019, 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). With its 34-13 win over UCF (Oct. 22, 2022), ECU posted its 41st winning campaign at DFS since 1963.

Looking For More Loot
Through 11 games this season, East Carolina is minus one in turnover margin (ECU 16, Opponents 15). ECU forced eight fumbles against Gardner-Webb and recovered five (most in Mike Houston era) - a feat that they last accomplished on Nov. 23, 2002, against TCU (span of 253 games). The Pirates have scored three defensive touchdowns on the season (2 at Appalachian State, 1 at UTSA).

Conrad Sets School Mark ... Ties NCAA Record
East Carolina place kicker Andrew Conrad had a career game in the Pirates 22-7 win at Florida Atlantic (Nov. 11). The sophomore connected on all-five field goal attempts (a new ECU single-game record) and converted on one PAT for a personal-best 16 points, which ranks as the third most points by a place kicker in program history. Conrad tied an NCAA record for most field goals made in a game of 40 or more yards (46, 47, 43, 46, 40) and became the second player in AAC history to connect on five FGs of 40-plus yards in a contest. His mark is also tied for the second-most FGs in a game by an AAC kicker and his performance was the seventh time at ECU that a kicker posted a 100.0 percent accuracy rate in a single game with at least four attempts. For his performance at FAU, Conrad was named The American Special Teams Player of the Week and College Football Network Special Teams Player of the Week.

The Pirate Nation – Over Nine 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 9,597,281 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 3,325,992 fans.

Shutout Streak Snapped At 322 Games
East Carolina entered the Navy contest boasting a streak of 322 games without a shutout (ranking Top 10 nationally). However, it was snapped in Annapolis (Nov. 18, 2023) with a 10-0 loss to the Midshipmen. The streak stood as a school record besting the previous mark of 110 set from 1971-78. Prior to the Navy game, the last time the Pirates were blanked was on Oct. 4, 1997 (56-0 at Syracuse). Florida stands first at 446 heading into their final regular season game against Florida State.

Analyzing The 2023 Overall Schedule
ECU's 2023 opponents compiled an overall record of 87-67 (.565) in 2022. The Pirates' four non-conference opponents were a combined 35-17 (.673) last season while the eight AAC teams on the state tallied a 52-50 (.510) mark. Seven programs had at least six or more wins including three teams that had 10-plus victories – Michigan (13-1), Tulane (12-2) and UTSA (11-3). Five of East Carolina's first six opponents finished last year at or above .500.
Who went Bowling? … The Pirates' 2023 schedule features contests against five teams who competed in bowl games last season, highlighted by Michigan's second-straight appearance in the College Football Playoff Semifinals and Tulane's comeback victory over USC in the Cotton Bowl ... Michigan (Fiesta), Tulane (Cotton), Marshall (Myrtle Beach), UTSA (Duluth Trading Cure), and SMU (New Mexico) … Three of the Pirates' six home games are against 2022 bowl qualifiers.
In the Final Polls … Two of ECU's 2023 opponents finished the 2022 season in college football's two major polls (Associated Press and USA Today/AFCA Coaches) – AAC champion Tulane (9/9) and Michigan (3/3).

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Holton Ahlers

Ryan Beckman

David Chapeau

Andrew Conrad

Keziah Everett

Alex Flinn

Rahjai Harris

Jsi Hatfield

Jaylen Johnson

Jonathan Jones

Jeremy Lewis

Owen Murphy

Jack Powers

Archer Trafford

Julius Wood

Footer