East Carolina Visits AAC Foe Tulsa Thursday Night

Thursday, November 14

Tulsa, Okla.

7:30 p.m.

East Carolina University

Tulsa

November 12, 2024 | Football

Game Ten: East Carolina (5-4, 3-2 AAC) at Tulsa (3-6, 1-4 AAC)
Date	Thursday, November 14th
Time	7:30 p.m. (ET)
Location	H.A. Chapman Stadium (30,000) \| Tulsa, Okla.
Live Game Coverage	Radio: WNCT 107.9 FM Broadcast: ESPN
Internet Options	Live Stats
Official Web Sites	East Carolina \| Tulsa \| The American
Game Notes	East Carolina \| Tulsa \| The American Weekly Release
2024 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. – Just one win away from securing bowl eligibility for the third time in the last four seasons, East Carolina travels west Thursday night for an American Athletic Conference showdown with Tulsa at H.A. Chapman Stadium.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. The game will air live to a national audience on ESPN with Matt Barrie (play-by-play), Dan Mullen (analyst) and Harry Lyles Jr. (sideline) handling the broadcast duties.

ECU (5-4, 3-2 AAC) is under the direction of interim head coach Blake Harrell.

Last Time Out
East Carolina 49, Florida Atlantic 14
(Nov. 7 @ Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, Greenville, N.C.)
A quarterback change followed by a coaching change injected new life into East Carolina, and a bowl game that once seemed unreachable is now more than possible. Behind another stellar performance from sophomore quarterback Katin Houser, the Pirates overwhelmed another American Athletic Conference opponent by rolling past Florida Atlantic 49-14 on Thursday night at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. ECU, which has won all three meetings in the series with the Owls, delivered Blake Harrell his second-straight win as interim head coach following the dismissal of Mike Houston. Combined with last week's 56-34 win over Temple, the Pirates have put up 105 points and1,051 total yards in two games under Harrell. Houser, who tossed five touchdown passes for the second-straight game, ran for another and finished with a career-high 343 yards passing. ECU punted just once, played its first turnover free game and never gave FAU a hint of snapping a three-game losing streak. The Pirates unleashed an ultra-aggressive and creative offense early in striking for touchdowns on their first three possessions for a 21-0 lead and led 35-7 at halftime. By air or by ground, ECU moved quickly and reeled off yardage in big chunks on the way to a staggering 418 total yards – striking for five passes of at least 25 yards and five rushes of 14 yards or more. Three of ECU's touchdowns came in lightning-quick fashion of 37 seconds or less. All five first-half scores needed less than three minutes. ECU finished with a season-high 581 total yards – its third game this year with at least 500.

About The Golden Hurricane
Tulsa (3-6, 1-4 AAC) enters Thursday's contest off a bye week, having taken the field last on Nov. 2 when it lost at UAB by a 59-21 score. The Blazers scored on their first two possessions for a 14-0 lead and ended the first 15 minutes with a 21-0 advantage on the way to a 45-7 halftime lead. UAB put up 537 yards, while passing for 424 yards and a TU opponent record seven touchdowns. The Golden Hurricane's Cooper Legas completed 21-of-31 passes for 230 yards and two touchdowns, while true freshman Joseph Williams pulled in six of those passes for 112 yards and one touchdown. Tulsa ranks last in The American in scoring defense, allowing 38.4 points per game, while slotting 10th in scoring offense (24.8 points per game). The Golden Hurricane sports a 2-2 home record with wins over Northwestern State (62-28) and UTSA (46-45) as well as losses to Oklahoma State (45-10) and Army (49-7). Tulsa is under the direction of second-year head coach Kevin Wilson.

Interim Head Coach Blake Harrell
Harrell was named interim head coach at East Carolina on Oct. 20, 2024. He joined the Pirate program as the defensive coordinator on Jan. 29, 2020, after spending a year with Kennesaw State (2019). He has spearheaded a turnaround for a unit that surrendered just a combined 27.3 points per game from 2020-23 (ECU's highest four-year total since 2012-15) and forced 75 turnovers. In addition, East Carolina has tallied at least one takeaway in 43 of 53 contests since his arrival in Greenville. Harrell has helped the Pirates earn bowl eligibility in consecutive seasons – a first since the 2013-14 campaigns – which included a bowl win over Coastal Carolina (53-29) in 2022. Last year, he had guided a defensive unit that established new seasonal bests since 2019 at East Carolina including points per game allowed (22.4), pass yards allowed (219.2) and total yards allowed (341.1). The North Carolina native has also had coaching stops at Western Carolina (2001-02), McDowell HS (2003), Fuquay-Varina HS (2004), Franklin HS (2005-06), Lenoir-Rhyne (2007-13), The Citadel (2014-18) and Kennesaw State (2019) before joining the Pirate program.

East Carolina Records, Streaks and Trends

Houser topped the ESPN Total QBR List for Week 11, turning in a 99.7 rating.
The Pirates established a new single-game program record for yards per play against Florida Atlantic (10.4), besting the previous record of 9.7 set versus Western Carolina in 2016.
ECU scored a season-high 35 first-half points against FAU which were the most for the Pirates since scoring 41 in a 48-28 victory over South Florida Oct. 1, 2022, at a neutral site in Boca Raton.
East Carolina tallied 418 yards of total offense in the first half versus Florida Atlantic, its most in a half since netting 459 against North Carolina in the 70-41 triumph Sept. 20, 2014, in Greenville. The marks rank first and second in both program and Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium history.
The Pirates set a program modern-day record for points scored in a single quarter with 29 in the victory over Temple two weeks ago. The quarterly point total also represents the sixth most in an FBS game this season.
ECU had eight different players (seven offense, one defense) score a touchdown against Temple, tying a school record.
The Pirates have produced eight offensive scoring drives of 44 seconds or less this season.
With the win over Florida Atlantic, East Carolina secured at least four home wins for the third time in the last four years.
ECU currently ranks 45th nationally in total offense (417.2 yards per game) and 95th in total defense (393.2 yards allowed per game). The Pirates are also 36th in scoring offense (32.4 points per game) and 86th in scoring defense (26.8 points allowed per game).
Twenty-four (24) different East Carolina defenders have recorded at least a half tackle for loss through nine games. In all, the Pirates have tallied 70.0 tackles for loss for minus 229 yards and rank ninth nationally in tackles for loss per game at 7.8.
ECU has forced at least one turnover in 45 of the last 55 games (and in 56 of the last 67 since 2019).
Since the start of the 2013 campaign, the Pirate defense has scored six touchdowns.

The Series
Tulsa leads the all-time series with East Carolina by a 9-8 margin. Although the Golden Hurricane has won the last four encounters, the Pirates have captured six of the last 10 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 five games played at H.A. Chapman Stadium.

Last Meeting
Tulsa 29, East Carolina 27
(Nov. 25, 2023 @ Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, Greenville, N.C.)
East Carolina stood less than three minutes away from a Senior Day victory celebration Saturday, but an unfortunate turn of events resulted in a 29-27 season-ending loss to Tulsa. After a defensive stand, the Pirates owned a 27-26 lead and the ball at the Golden Hurricane 24 with just 2:31 to play. Disaster then struck on first down when running back Rahjai Harris mishandled a direct snap, and Tulsa's Ben Kopenski recovered at the 33. The Golden Hurricane, looking to end a six-game losing streak, then drove in position for Chase Meyer to knock through a 37-yard kick with one second left, spoiling the day for 14 ECU seniors on a chilly Saturday afternoon at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. Meyer's first miss of a point-after kick this year in the first quarter loomed as a large point throughout the day, and he also had a field goal attempt blocked before converting three second-half field goals. Before the bitter end, the Pirates put together many of the ingredients to produce a win. They rushed for a season-best 225 yards on the way to a season-best 409 total yards and had their highest-scoring half of the year, striking on four of five first-half possessions for a 24-20 lead. ECU produced both its longest scoring plays by ground and by air for the year, getting a 50-yard run from Harris in the first quarter and a 31-yard reception by senior Jsi Hatfield in the second. Harris, who carried just once for minus one-yard a week prior at Navy, ground out a season-high 145 yards on 21 carries. Transfer Chase Sowell led the receiving corps with five catches for 108 yards. Tulsa countered behind true freshman quarterback Kirk Francis, the fourth starter for the Golden Hurricane this year, and bullish senior running back Anthony Watkins. Francis completed 23 of 37 passes for 297 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Watkins rushed for 106 yards on 18 carries -- the third 100-yard game this season and fifth of his career. Although it finished with 446 total yards, Tulsa hurt itself with three personal foul penalties, two penalties on fourth-and-1 situations that forced it to punt, one interception, a missed PAT and a blocked punt. After their fast start, the Pirates managed just an Andrew Conrad field goal in the second half and turned the ball over on three of six possessions.

Non-Saturday Exploits
East Carolina is 24-31 (.436) in non-Saturday games since 2000. Oddly, the Pirates have fared better on the road (16-15; 8-16 at home). In terms of days (including bowls), ECU is 5-1 on Sundays, 1-1 on Mondays, 3-1 on Tuesdays, 0-3 on Wednesdays, 9-13 on Thursdays and 6-12 on Fridays. Most recently, ECU is 13-16 when deviating from the normal Saturday routine since 2010. The Pirates, 1-0 this season, had one non-Saturday game in 2023 hosting SMU on Oct. 12 (loss/31-10). In 2022, ECU played three non-Saturday contests posting two victories in three attempts (win at BYU/27-24, win vs. Coastal Carolina/53-29; loss at Cincinnati/27-25).

On The Road
Since shedding independent status in 1997, East Carolina is 68-106 (.391) when playing away from Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. This season, the Pirates are 1-3 following a 45-28 loss at No. 23 Army (other road games: W/ODU, 20-14; L/Liberty, 35-24, L/Charlotte, 45-28). A year ago, ECU finished the year 1-5 on the road and, in 2022, they posted a 4-2 road slate (wins at South Florida/Boca Raton, Fla., BYU, Temple and Coastal Carolina/Birmingham, Ala.; losses to Tulane and Cincinnati).

Comparing 10-Year, Nine-Game Results
East Carolina's win over Temple pushed its record to 5-4 on the season. It marks just the second time in the last 10 years that the Pirates own a record of .500 or better through nine games - joining the 2022 squad that went 6-3 through nine contests.

A Starters' Log
DL Chad Stephens enters the Tulsa contest having started 28 consecutive games as a member of the defensive unit. OL Hampton Ergle currently has the longest starting streak on the offense at 22 prior to Thursday's game. ECU has had 16 first time starters in a Pirate uniform this season: LB Zakye Barker, OL Darius Bell, LB Ryheem Craig, LB Samuel Dankah, QB Jake Garcia, DB Gavin Gibson, QB Katin Houser, TE Casey Kelly, DB Devon King, OL Jimarion McCrimon, OL Emmanuel Poku, DB Ja'Marley Riddle, WR Anthony Smith, LB Dameon Wilson, DB Andrew Wilson-Lamp and WR Winston Wright Jr.

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.

Up Next
East Carolina plays its final true road game of the regular season Saturday, Nov. 23, at North Texas. Kickoff at DATCU Stadium is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. and the game will stream live through ESPN+.