ECU Paints It Black Hosting Tulsa On Night Of The Boneyard

Thursday, October 16

Greenville, N.C.

7:30 p.m.

East Carolina University

Tulsa

ECU Paints It Black Hosting Tulsa On Night Of The Boneyard

October 15, 2025 | Football

Tulsa (2-4, 0-3 American) at East Carolina (3-3, 1-1 American)
Date	Thursday, October 16
Time	7:30 p.m. (ET)
Location	Greenville, N.C. (Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium / 50,000)
Live Game Coverage	Radio: WNCT 107.9FM/94.3 The Game Television: ESPN
Internet Options	Live Stats
Official Web Sites	East Carolina \| Tulsa \| The American
Game Notes (PDF)	East Carolina \| Tulsa \| The American
2025 Statistics	East Carolina \| Tulsa
ECU Football Central	East Carolina Media Hub \| Roster \| NCAA Football \| College Scoreboard

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

GREENVILLE, N.C. – East Carolina returns home for its fourth and final Thursday night game playing host to Tulsa on ESPN ... The contest will be the 19th all-time between the two programs with the series tied at nine-all ... In Greenville, Tulsa holds a 5-4 advantage while wining two of the last three since 2015 ... The nationally televised game has been designated Night of the Boneyard/Paint It Black sponsored by Optimum.

THE HEAD COACH
Blake Harrell (Western Carolina '02) who is in his sixth overall season at East Carolina, was officially named the 23rd head football coach on Nov. 27, 2024.

Harrell, the program's interim head coach (Oct. 20-Nov. 26, 2024) and the squad's defensive coordinator/inside linebackers coach since his initial hire in January of 2020, led the Pirates (8-5, 5-3 AAC) to five wins over a six-game span which included a 26-21 come from behind victory over NC State in the 2024 Go Bowling Military Bowl in Annapolis, Md. On Dec. 28, 2024. The win was the first over a Power 4 team since 2018, when ECU topped North Carolina, 41-19.

During his time leading the program, ECU has posted a 8-4 (.667) record which trails only John Christenbury with the most wins and best win percentage by a ECU head coach through 12 games ... In 2024, he registered a 5-1 record and is currently 3-2 on the season heading into the Tulane contest. Last year, ECU secured bowl eligibility for the third time in the last four campaigns (2021 Military, 2022 Birmingham). Over the final six games in 2024, ECU scored 229 points (38.2 ppg) and 2,993 yards of total offense (498.8 pg) which included a stretch of four-straight games with over 500 yards of total offense – a first in program history.

THE SERIES
During the 18-game series, which began in 1984, each team has won nine games ... With last years victory, ECU snapped a Tulsa four-game win streak in the series ... ECU has won seven of the 11 contests dating back to 2008 and trails in the series with games being played in Greenville, 4-5.

FAST FACTS
Record – 3-3 (.500); American Record/Standings – 1-1 (.500)/T7th; Last 5 Games – 3-2; Last 10 Games – 6-4; Last 15 Games – 9-6; Streaks – When East Carolina hosts Tulsa, it will be the 13th game of the Blake Harrell era (8-4) ... The Pirates contest against the Golden Hurrican will be the 949th since the start of ECU football in 1932 (475-462-11/.507).

EAST CAROLINA RECORDS, STREAKS & TRENDS

Participated in 22nd bowl in program history at the Go Bowling Military Bowl (has qualified for 23 bowls all-time - did not play in 2021 Military Bowl/CoVID-19) ...
Won 11th bowl game in ECU history at Go Bowling Military Bowl (vs. NC State 26-21) ...
Earned bowl eligibility in 2021 (Military), 2022 (TicketSmarter Birmingham/champions) and 2024 (Go Bowling Military Bowl/champions) ...
Tallied seven or more wins (7 in '21, 8 in '22, 8 in '24) in 3 of last 4 years ...
Tallied 400-plus yards of total offense in 10 of 12 contests under Harrell (500 or more on five occasions with a season-high in 2024 against FAU/581) ...
Forced at least one turnover in 65 of the last 77 games since 2019 (at least one in 5 of 6 games in 2025) ...
On the season, the Pirates rank 27th nationally in TOs gained (10) and 20th in TO margin (0.83) ... In all, ECU is +5 in the turover column having forced 10 on the season (7 fumbles, 3 interceptions), while turning the ball over five times (1 fumble, 4 interceptions) ...
Since the start of 2023, ECU's defense has scored six TDs (2/ASU '23, 1/UTSA '23; 1/NSU '24, 1/ASU, 1/TEM) ...
ECU had 15 players with at least one reception in home opener against Campbell, which established a new single-game record ... ECU along with North Texas (vs. Washington, Sept. 13, 1995) are the most by any FBS programs this season (as of Oct. 12) and the most since Penn State had 17 different players with one catch in a single-game on Sept. 10, 2022 vs Ohio ...
According to Stathead Football, since 1995 only 15 teams have had a game with 15 different players recording a catch in a single game, ECU is one of those 13 (only in 2025) ...
This season, only 12 teams have had a game where seven or more different players have scored a touchdown in a game (as of Oct. 12) ... Against Campbell, the Pirates had seven different offensive players score with London Montgomery with two rushing touchdowns ...
Katin Houser completed at least one pass to 11 different players against Campbell, which is a new single-game Pirate record ... It is also the most by an FBS quarterback this season ...
Through six games in 2025, Houser has completed 42 passes of 15 or more yards (11/NC State, 6/Campbell, 6/Coastal Carolina, 7/BYU, 7/Army, 5/Tulane) ...
The Pirates have outscored their opponents 171 to 93 (+78) through six games ... Since the beginning of the fourth quarter at NC State, ECU has outscored its opponents 164 to 76 (+88) over a 21-quarter span ...
ECU has tallied 48.0 TFLs through 6 games for (-154 yards), ranking 7th nationally (8.0 pg) ...
ECU's 38-0 win at Coastal Carolina marked the Pirates' first road shutout since Sept. 2, 2000 (at Duke, 38-0) - a span of 307 games ...
Through six games, ECU has had 11 different players record their first ever college starts ranking 11th nationally (Mason Brown, TyMir Brown, Preston Carr, Jayvontay Conner, DJ Johnson Jr., J.D. Lampley, London Montgomery, Marleo Neolien, Jasiyah Robinson, Bryce Weaver, Zion Wilson) ...
Entering the Tulsa contest, ECU ranks among the FBS national leaders (Top 25) in 12 statistical catargories - see pages 53 and 54 of notes ...
ECU's 11 consecutive quarters without allowing an opponent offensive touchdown (from NC State end 3Q to BYU 2Q) set a new American Conference record ...

DID YOU KNOW (PRIOR TO '25 SEASON)

The average age of ECU's head coach, offensive and defensive coordinator is 38.0 years old, which is the fifth lowest in FBS according to Doug Waters at North Texas ...
Noah Holmes (current graduate student), his grandfather (Randell '56-58) and father (Joe '89) both played football at East Carolina ... His aunt (Vickie Holmes) played one year of softball at ECU ... First cousin McCallum Wright currently play at ECU ... Grandfather was college roommate with Ed Emory (former ECU head coach, ECU Hall of Fame) ... Father was recruited by Emory at ECU ... In all, Noah Holmes is the 13th member of his family to earn a degree from ECU ...
Offensive coordinator John David Baker at age 35, is still among the 15 youngest coordinators in the nation (FBS) ...
J.D. Lampley's father (Danny Lampley) was a pitcher at Wingate and inducted into their hall of fame in 2004 ... Currently he holds the DII career record in strikeouts ...
DJ Johnson Jr.'s father Dwight played at Baylor (defensive end) and spent time in the National Football League with the Philadelphia Eagles (2000), New York Giants (2002) and New England Patriots (2003) ... His uncle is Derrick Johnson who played for the Kansas City Chiefs (2005-17) and Oakland Raiders (2018) ...
O'Marion Lewis' brother Tyquan Lewis was drafted in the second round by the Indianapolis Colts out of Ohio State ... Has been a member of the Colts organization since 2018 ...
Zion Wilson is the nephew of former ECU players DE C.J. Wilson (2006-09) and OL Willie Smith (2007-10) ... Has another uncle Amos Wilson who currently is a member of ECU's strength staff ...
Offensive lineman Cooper Trnavsky also played lacrosse in high school ...
Brock Spalding and Samuel Dankah were high school teammates at South County ...
Tomas O'Halloran has never played American Football until coming to ECU ...
Transfer Mike Wright Jr. has a full-time job with Georgia Power while playing football ...

CHARTING THE PIRATES MONTH-BY-MONTH
In all, East Carolina is 4-4-0 in August, 139-131-1 in September, 171-172-4 in October, 150-138-5 in November, 11-12-0 in December and 1-4-0 in January ... With the Pirates win over NC State in 2024, ECU remained somewhat productive in December - a month in which it has won six of its last 10 outings (wins vs. Boise State/'07, Tulsa/'08, Houston/'09, Ohio/'13, Coastal Carolina/'22, NC State/'24; losses to Maryland/'10, UL-Lafayette/'12, UCF/'14 and NC State/'18).

AT DOWDY-FICKLEN STADIUM
East Carolina's all-time record at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium is 207-121 (.631) ... 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, hosted its 300th game vs. Tulane in 2020 and won its 200th game at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium in 2022 with a 34-13 victory over UCF ... This season, ECU is 2-1 at home after posting a 4-2 record in 2024 marking the third time in the last four years it has won four home contests in a season ... The Pirates played seven home games in 2022 posting a 4-3 record and a 4-2 clip in 2021, 1-3 in 2020 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 49-14 won over FAU (Nov. 7, 2024), ECU posted its 42nd winning campaigns at DFS sine 1963.

NON-SATURDAY MAYHEM
East Carolina is 40-50-1 (.445) on non-Saturday games since 1932 ... Oddly, the Pirates have fared better on the road (19-20; 17-24-1 at home; 4-6 neutral sites) ... In terms of days (including bowls), ECU is 5-1 on Sundays, 0-2 on Mondays, 3-1 on Tuesdays, 2-4 on Wednesdays, 16-17 on Thursdays and 14-25-1 on Fridays ... Most recently, ECU is 14-20 when deviating from the normal Saturday routine since 2010 ... This season, the Pirates (1-2) have four Thursday night games - the most of any FBS team.

LOOKING FOR MORE LOOT
Halfway through the 2025 campaign, East Carolina ranks 20th nationally in turnover margin (0.83) and is 27th in FBS in turnovers gained (10) ... On the season, the Pirates have intercepted three passes and have recovered seven fumbles, while just turning the ball over five times ... In 2022, the Pirates finished with a +13 turnover magin forcing 10 fumbles, recovering nine and picked off 11 passes for 154 return yards ... ECU led the country in fewest offensive turnovers with seven ... Against UCF, ECU forced a season-high four turnovers (3 INTs, 1 fumble) and had five multi-turnover games on the year ... Despite its impressive 45-3 win, East Carolina's 16-game streak of forcing at least one turnover came to a halt against Temple on Nov. 6 (2021) ... The run, which began on Oct. 3, 2020 at Georgia State and produced 36 takeaways (22 interceptions, 14 fumble recoveries), was the program's longest since a 33-game streak (from 2007 to 2010) ... In all, ECU still has at least one takeaway in 65 of the last 77 contests, as well as 36 of 44 games dating back to the start of the 2022 campaign.

2025 PIRATE GRADUATES (22)
OL Darius Bell, PK Andrew Conrad, OLB Ryheem Craig, DB Chance Graves, LB Noah Holmes, DB Jonathan Jean, DL J.D. Lampley, P Ryan Leavy, WR Payton Mangrum, PK Nick Mazzie, DL Xavier McIver, LS Triston O'Brien, DB Ladarian Paulk, WR Kyler Pearson, DB Rasheed Reason, DL Jasiyah Robinson, WR Anthony Smith, OL Jayson Tarpeh, DB Teagan Wilk, DL Zion Wilson, QB Mike Wright Jr. each have earned their degrees heading into the 2025 season.

A STARTERS' LOG
OLB Ryheem Craig enters the Tulsa game having made 19 consecutive starts as a member of the defensive unit ... OL Emmanuel Poku and WR Anthony Smith lead the offensive unit having started 19-straight games ... ECU has had 18 first time starters in a Pirate uniform: TE Mason Brown, DB TyMir Brown, DL Preston Carr, TE Jayvontay Conner, DB Jonathan Jean, LB DJ Johnson Jr., DL J.D. Lampley, OL Kyle Long, DB Jordy Lowery, RB London Montgomery, OL Marleo Neolien, WR Jaquaize Pettaway, DB Rasheed Reason, DL Jasiyah Robinson, OL Cooper Trnavsky, OL Bryce Weaver, DL Zion Wilson, QB Mike Wright Jr.