East Carolina Hosts Norfolk State In 2024 Opener

Norfolk State (0-1, 0-0 MEAC) at East Carolina (0-0, 0-0 AAC)
Date	Saturday, August 31st
Time	6:00 p.m. (EDT)
Location	Greenville, N.C. (Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium) (50,000)
Live Game Coverage	Radio: WNCT 107.9FM Streaming: ESPN+
Internet Options	Live Stats
Official Web Sites	East Carolina \| Norfolk State \| The American
Game Notes	East Carolina \| Norfolk State \| The American
2023 Statistics (Final)	East Carolina \| Norfolk State
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 is set to begin the 2024 season Saturday evening, welcoming Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) opponent Norfolk State to Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. and the contest will stream live via ESPN+ with Joe Tordy (play-by-play) and Reggie Walker Jr. (analyst) on the call.

The Pirates are under the direction of sixth-year head coach Mike Houston.

ECU looks to rebound from a 2-10 showing in 2023 while also attempting to better a 1-7 American Athletic Conference record. The Pirates return 17 total starters (seven/offense, six/defense, four/specialists) while junior quarterback Jake Garcia, a transfer from Southeastern Conference member Missouri, was tabbed the starting signal caller during preseason camp.

The Spartans (0-1) kickstarted their 2024 exploits last Saturday in Atlanta, falling to then FCS No. 25 Florida A&M 24-23 in the MEAC/SWAC Challenge at Georgia State University's Center Parc Stadium. Norfolk State outgained Florida A&M 227-117 on the ground, while the Rattlers won the passing battle 286-142. Kevon King led Norfolk State with a career-best 146 rushing yards on 14 carries, averaging 10.4 yards per attempt. Quarterback Jalen Daniels completed 7-of-9 passes for a team-best 142 yards.

East Carolina Records, Streaks and Trends
• Will attempt to open the season with a win for the first time since routing Western Carolina 52-7 back on Sept. 3, 2016
• Has earned bowl eligibility in two of the last three seasons under Houston
• Stood among the 2023 NCAA leaders (Top 40) in 13 categories
• Has forced at least one turnover in 39 of the last 43 games (and in 50 of the last 57)
• Scored three defensive touchdowns in 2023 (six total in the Houston era) – two at Appalachian State and one at UTSA
• Recovered five fumbles against Gardner-Webb in 2023 (the most in the Houston era) – a first since setting the standard versus TCU on Nov. 23, 2022 (a span of 253 games)
• Registered first defensive shutout since 2000 (38-0 win over Duke on Sept. 2) with a 44-0 victory over Gardner-Webb in 2023 (a span of 285 games)

The Series
Saturday's contest marks the first game between East Carolina and Norfolk State on the gridiron. The teams were scheduled to meet in 2020 until the game was cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic.

Against The FCS
The Pirates currently own an all-time 30-3 record against programs that currently compete or competed on the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly NCAA Division I-AA) level when the game was played. Among all of the ECU's previous FCS opponents, Appalachian State (2-0), Georgia Southern (3-0), UCF (2-0), Southwest Texas State (1-0, now referred to as Texas State) have since made the transition to the FBS level.

The Pirate Nation – Over 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 9,626,848 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 3,355,559 fans to the venue.

Among American Athletic Conference Attendance Leaders
East Carolina has been among the leaders in attendance every season since becoming a member of the American Athletic Conference in 2014. The Pirates have led the AAC in regular season attendance average three times - 2014, 2016 and 2017. ECU finished the 2023 season ranked 68th nationally (total), 66th (average), fourth in Group of 5 (total), third in the Group of 5 (average), third in AAC (total) and second in AAC (average) attendance.

Against Non-Conference Opponents
The Pirates have produced a 44-62 (.415) regular season non-league record since 1997, which includes an 1-3 clip in 2023. In 2022, East Carolina posted a 3-1 ledger picking up wins against Old Dominion, Campbell and BYU, while dropping the home opener to NC State. In 2021, they split their four non-conference games falling to Appalachian State and South Carolina to open the season before rallying back to post victories against Marshall and Charleston Southern. During his first season as head coach at ECU in 2019, Mike Houston led the Pirates to a 3-1 record - the program's first winning non-conference ledger since 2014. ECU has won 10 of last 18 non-conference games dating back to 2019.

1999 Pirates To Be Recognized At UTSA Game
East Carolina University Athletics officials have announced that the 1999 Pirate Football team will be recognized at the UTSA game on Saturday, Sept. 28 inside Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. The 1999 season was one of perseverance following the catastrophic damages left behind from Hurricane Floyd, which impacted Eastern North Carolina on Sept. 16. ECU started the season 2-0 after wins against West Virginia and Duke before traveling to South Carolina. Prior to the Pirates' 21-3 win in Columbia, S.C., Floyd made landfall and much of Eastern North Carolina received 15-20 inches of rain over the next 12 hours. Unable to travel back home, the Pirates stayed in Columbia, preparing for what would have been their home game against the ninth-ranked University of Miami Hurricanes. With portions of the city still reeling from the flood, the game was moved to Raleigh, N.C., and Carter-Finley Stadium. Trailing 23-10 after the third quarter, ECU rallied from 20 points down to defeat the Hurricanes and improved to 4-0. The 1999 team finished with a 9-3 overall record, played in the 1999 Mobile Alabama Bowl against TCU and was the recipient of the 1999 Disney's Wide World of Sports Spirit Award at the annual Home Depot College Football Awards.

In Season Openers
The Pirates are 40-47-1 (.460) on opening day since ECU started its program in 1932.

Charting The Pirates Month-By-Month
In all, East Carolina is 3-3-0 in August, 134-128-1 in September, 169-170-4 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).

2024 Graduates (14)
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.

At Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium
East Carolina's all-time record at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium is 201-119 (.628). 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 their 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, The Pirates were 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), East Carolina has posted 41 winning campaigns at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium since 1963.

Up Next
ECU plays the first of its scheduled six regular season road games Saturday, Sept. 7, when it travels up to Norfolk for a non-conference encounter with Sun Belt Conference member Old Dominion. Kickoff inside S.B. Ballard Stadium is slated for 6 p.m. and the game will stream live through ESPN+.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Hampton Ergle

Jake Garcia

Dustyn Hall

Alex Harper

Rahjai Harris

Noah Holmes

Jordan Huff

Casey Kelly

Luke Larsen

Jaden McKenzie

Kingston McKinstry

Parker Moorer

Tyler Savage

Chad Stephens

Winston Wright Jr.

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