Saturday, October 19
West Point, N.Y.
12 noon
East Carolina University
at
Army
East Carolina Heads To West Point For AAC Contest With No. 23 Army
October 17, 2024 | Football
| Game Seven: East Carolina (3-3, 1-1 AAC) at No. 23 Army (6-0, 5-0 AAC) | |
| Date | Saturday, October 19th |
| Time | 12:00 p.m. (ET) |
| Location | Michie Stadium | West Point, N.Y. |
| Live Game Coverage | Radio: WNCT 107.9FM Streaming: ESPN2 |
| Internet Options | Live Stats |
| Official Web Sites | East Carolina | Army | The American |
| Game Notes | East Carolina | Army | The American Weekly Release |
| 2024 Statistics | East Carolina | Army | The American |
| ECU Football Central | East Carolina Media Hub | Roster | NCAA Football | College Scoreboard |
| Official Social Media Sites | |
| East Carolina | The American | |
| East Carolina | ECU Football (in-game updates) | The American | |
| Twitter Hashtags | #PirateNation | #AmericanFB |
| East Carolina | The American | |
GREENVILLE, N.C. – East Carolina encounters its first ranked foe of the campaign Saturday afternoon when it battles No. 23 Army at Michie Stadium in West Point.
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Kickoff is scheduled for Noon and the game will air live on ESPN2 with Roy Philpott (play-by-play), Sam Acho (analyst) and Taylor Davis (sideline) handling the broadcast.
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The Pirates (3-3, 1-1 AAC) are under the direction of sixth-year head coach Mike Houston.
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Last Time Out
Charlotte 55, East Carolina 24
(Oct. 5 @ Jerry Richardson Stadium, Charlotte, N.C.)
East Carolina headed to Charlotte with hopes of redemption against its in-state and American Athletic Conference rival, but the 49ers recorded a 55-24 victory at Jerry Richardson Stadium. Charlotte piled up 307 yards on the ground and 513 total yards as the Pirates could never come up with a much-needed stop. A defense playing without leading tackler Zakye Barker and top defensive back Shavon Revel Jr. due to injuries surrendered 14 plays of 11 yards or more – eight runs amassing 242 yards and six passes totaling 149 yards. Quarterback Jake Garcia started for the fifth-straight game and completed six of eight passes for 111 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Michigan State transfer Katin Houser entered later in the game and connected on 11 of 28 passes for 84 yards and an interception, which Charlotte returned for a score. Winston Wright Jr. provided the bulk of the highlights for ECU, returning a kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown while registering all four of his catches in the second half. Penn State transfer London Montgomery made the most of his opportunities with a 48-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.
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About The Black Knights
Army (6-0, 5-0 AAC), led by 11th-year head coach Jeff Monken, preserved its unbeaten start via a comfortable 44-10 victory over league opponent UAB last Saturday at Michie Stadium. The Black Knights, who have not trailed at any point this season, utilized another stellar performance by quarterback Bryson Daily to become bowl eligible. The senior accounted for five touchdowns (four rushing) while accumulating 102 passing yards and rushing for 136, becoming the first Army rusher with four ground scores in a game since 2018. Army's defense set the tone for the day on the opening series of the game, forcing a turnover on downs, before finishing the affair with a 515-303 advantage in total offense. Kanye Udoh tallied 97 rushing yards and a touchdown on a team-high 17 carries while Casey Reynolds paced the receiving corps with two catches for 84 yards and a touchdown. The Black Knights have scored 40 or more points in three-straight games while eclipsing 400 yards of total offense in all six outings.
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East Carolina Records, Streaks and Trends
- The Pirates rank 73rd nationally in total offense (385.2 yards per game) and 89th in total defense (382.2 yards allowed per game). ECU also averages 70.3 offensive plays run per game which is tied for 26th among FBS institutions.
- Twenty-one (21) different Pirate defenders have recorded at least a half tackle for loss through six games. In all, East Carolina has tallied 55.0 tackles for loss for minus 175 yards and ranks third nationally in tackles for loss per game at 9.2.
- ECU stands fifth in the American Conference in scoring defense (24.7 points allowed per game) as well as sixth in scoring offense (26.5 points per game).
- The Pirates have forced at least one turnover in 44 of the last 49 games (and in 55 of the last 63).
- Since the start of the 2023 campaign, East Carolina has scored five defensive touchdowns.
- Punter Luke Larsen currently holds the school record for career net punting average at 38.70 yards per game.
The Series
East Carolina leads Army 8-0 in a series which dates back to 1995. The Pirates have captured all four meetings in West Point and own a perfect 4-0 mark in Greenville. All meetings between the two programs, except for the game in 1995, were played when both schools were a part of Conference USA.
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Last Meeting
East Carolina 38, Army 28
(Oct. 30, 2004 @ Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, Greenville, N.C.)
James Pinkney threw three touchdown passes to Bobby Good to help East Carolina beat Army 38-28, ending the Black Knights' first winning streak in seven years. Army had snapped a 19-game losing streak earlier in the month with a victory over Cincinnati before following with a win at South Florida. East Carolina prevented Army from making it three in a row with perhaps its top overall offensive performance of the season. The Pirates piled up 462 yards of offense and forced two key turnovers in the second half to record their second win in the last three games. Pinkney finished 26-for-36 for 285 yards and made head coach John Thompson a winner in back-to-back home games. Good had a career-high eight catches for 118 yards and became the first Pirate since 1994 to haul in a trio of scoring passes. Army's Zac Dahman was 17-for-30 for 230 yards, but he was intercepted twice. Carlton Jones had a four-yard touchdown run in the third quarter to give the Black Knights their final lead at 14-10 before Chris Johnson capped a 68-yard East Carolina drive by bulling in from the five to make it 17-14. Pirate cornerback Donald Whitehead then recovered an Army fumble near the end of the third quarter to set up Pinkney's second touchdown to Good, this one an 11-yarder, to make it 24-14.
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Versus Associated Press (AP) Ranked Opponents
ECU is 13-66-1 against foes ranked in the AP Top 25 Poll at the time the game was played. The Pirates last faced a ranked opponent Nov. 4, 2023, when they dropped a narrow 13-10 decision to No. 21 Tulane at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
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Comparing 10-Year, Six-Game Results
East Carolina's 55-24 loss at Charlotte gave the Pirates a 3-3 ledger entering their bye week, marking the fifth time in the last 10 years that ECU has posted a 3-3 record through six contests. A win at Army would improve ECU's record to 4-3 for the third time since 2015, though a loss would drop them to 3-4 for the third time as well.
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On The Road
Since shedding independent status in 1997, East Carolina is 68-105 (.393) when playing away from Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. A year ago, ECU finished the year 1-5 on the road and, in 2022, it posted a 4-2 road slate (wins at South Florida/Boca Raton, Fla., BYU, Temple and Coastal Carolina/Birmingham, Ala., as well as losses to Tulane and Cincinnati). From a non-conference standpoint, ECU snapped a seven-game skid when it topped Old Dominion 24-21 on Sept. 28, 2019, but has only played in seven non-AAC road tilts since (3-4).
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Charting The Pirates Month By Month
Over its program lifespan, East Carolina is 4-3-0 in August, 136-130-1 in September, 169-171-4 in October, 147-137-5 in November, 10-12-0 in December and 1-4-0 in January. With the Pirates' win over Coastal Carolina in 2022, ECU remained somewhat productive in December - a month in which it has won five of its last nine outings (wins vs. Boise State/'07, Tulsa/'08, Houston/'09, Ohio/'13 and Coastal Carolina/'22; losses to Maryland/'10, UL-Lafayette/'12, UCF/'14 and NC State/'18).
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A Starters' Log
DL Chad Stephens enters the Charlotte contest having started 25 consecutive games as a member of the defensive unit. OL Hampton Ergle currently has the longest starting streak on the offense at 19. ECU has had 11 first time starters (in a Pirate uniform) this season: LB Zakye Barker, OL Darius Bell, LB Ryheem Craig, QB Jake Garcia, DB Gavin Gibson, TE Casey Kelly, DB Devon King, OL Emmanuel Poku, WR Anthony Smith, LB Dameon Wilson and WR Winston Wright Jr.
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2024 Graduates
OL Hampton Ergle, OL Dustyn Hall, DS Alex Harper, RB Rahjai Harris, LB Noah Holmes, DB Jordan Huff, TE Casey Kelly, P Luke Larsen, Dl Jaden McKenzie, DB Kingston McKinstry, OL Parker Moorer, TE Tyler Savage, DL Chad Stephens and WR Winston Wright Jr. each have earned their degrees heading into the 2024 season.
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Up Next
East Carolina returns to Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium Saturday, Oct. 26, when it welcomes in Temple for Homecoming and Letterwinners Weekend. Kickoff is slated for 2 p.m.
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