ECU Returns To Action Saturday At Temple

Saturday, November 1

Philadelphia, Pa.

2:00 p.m.

East Carolina University

Temple

November 01, 2025 | Football

East Carolina (4-3, 2-1 American) at Temple (5-3, 3-1 American)
Date	Saturday, November 1
Time	2:00 p.m. (ET)
Location	Philadelphia, Pa. (Lincoln Financial Field / 67,594)
Live Game Coverage	Radio: WNCT 107.9FM/94.3 The Game Television: ESPN+
Internet Options	Live Stats
Official Web Sites	East Carolina \| Temple \| The American
Game Notes (PDF)	East Carolina \| Temple \| The American
2025 Statistics	East Carolina \| Temple
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

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – East Carolina travels to Temple for its first Saturday game since hosting BYU on Sept. 20 ... The contest, which will begin at 2 p.m. (ET), will be played at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia .... ECU holds a 12-9 all-time advantage in the series that dates back to 1982 ... Since 2014, when ECU began play in the American Conference, the Owls own a 6-4 record and also are hold a slim 3 to 2 series advantage in Philadelphia ... ECU returns home on Nov. 8 hosting Charlotte for Homecoming, Hall of Fame and Letterwinners Weekend with a 3 p.m. (ET) scheduled kick.

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 9-4 (.692) record which trails only John Christenbury with the most wins and best win percentage by a ECU head coach through 13 games ... In 2024, he registered a 5-1 record and is currently 4-3 on the season heading into the Temple 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
Officially ECU leads the all-time series 12-9 ... On the field however, the ECU has posted 10 wins, while Temple has nine victories, but the 1986 match-up, which Temple won 45-28, was later forfeited to the Pirates because of the utilization of an ineligible player ... The Pirates are 7-4 in Philadelphia and own a 5-5 record in Greenville ... In American Conference play since 2014, the Pirates are 4-6 against the Owls (2-3 in Philadelphia).

FAST FACTS
Record – 4-3 (.571); American Record/Standings – 2-1 (.667)/7th; 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 14th game of the Blake Harrell era (9-4) ... The Pirates contest against the Owls will be the 950th since the start of ECU football in 1932 (476-462-11/.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 11 of 13 contests under Harrell (500 or more on six occasions with a season-high in 2024 against FAU/581) ...
Forced at least one turnover in 65 of the last 78 games since 2019 (at least one in 5 of 7 games in 2025) ...
On the season, the Pirates rank 56th nationally in TOs gained (10) and 22nd in TO margin (0.71) ... In all, ECU is +5 in the turnover 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. 26) 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 14 teams have had a game where seven or more different players have scored a touchdown in a game (as of Oct. 26) ... 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 seven games in 2025, Houser has completed 46 passes of 15 or more yards (11/ NCSU, 6/CAM, 6/CCU, 7/BYU, 7/Army, 5/TLN, 4/TLS) ...
The Pirates have outscored their opponents 212 to 120 (+97) through seven games ... Since the beginning of the fourth quarter at NC State, ECU has outscored its opponents 205 to 103 (+102) over a 25-quarter span ...
ECU has tallied 58.0 TFLs through 7 games for (-198 yards), ranking 3rd nationally (8.3 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 seven 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 Temple contest, ECU ranks among the FBS national leaders (Top 25) in 16 statistical categories - see pages 54 and 55 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 ...
Katin Houser tied a school record in 2024 throwing consecutive 5-TD passing games (Temple, Florida Atlantic) … In the program history, there have been 14 total five-TD passing games with Holton Ahlers holding the single-game record with six (SMU '19; USF '22) … A list of at least five-TD passing games: Shane Carden (4 games), Holton Ahlers (3), Dominique Davis (3), Katin Houser (2), Jeff Blake (1) and Philip Nelson (1) …
In Blake Harrell's first game as the interim head coach at East Carolina, the Pirates defeated Temple 56-34 scoring eight total touchdowns which came from eight different players (7/offense, 1/defense) ... It tied a school record that was set in 1975 (8/offense) ... Against Campbell in the 2025 home opener, ECU had seven different players score an offensive touchdown in a 56-3 victory …
East Carolina's 16-day break between playing games (from Tulsa to Temple) is the longest break in program history with regards to regularly scheduled games (not including bowls) ... The longest break before 2025 occurred in 2008 when the Pirates had 15 days in between games against Memphis and UCF with ECU coming out victorious in both contests ...
Katin Houser enters the Temple game having thrown for 250-plus yards in a game 11 times (tied 6th among all-time Pirate QBs) ... Included in that, Houser has five 300-plus yard passing games (5th all-time at ECU) ...
Anthony Smith has recorded five career 100-plus yard receiving games entering Temple game ... Since beginning of 2024 season, he has caught at least one pass in 19 of 20 games played (16-straight) ...
Yannick Smith has one career 100-plus receiving game and enters Temple having caught at least one pass in 17 of 20 games (11 consecutive) ...

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 ...
Panda Askew (OL) officially changed his middle name to Panda as a youngster after being given the nickname by his little league baseball coach after his favorite player Panda Sandoval (third baseman of the San Francisco Giants) ...

CHARTING THE PIRATES MONTH-BY-MONTH
In all, East Carolina is 4-4-0 in August, 139-131-1 in September, 172-172-4 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).

ON THE ROAD
Since becoming a conference member in 1997, East Carolina is 72-108 (.400) when playing away from Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium ... ECU closed out the season with a 4-3 overall road record following a 26-21 win versus against NC State in the Go Bowling Military Bowl (3-3 regular season) in 2024 ... 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) ... 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 11 road non-AAC tilts since, including bowl games (5-6).

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 margin 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 Temple game having made 20 consecutive starts as a member of the defensive unit ... OL Emmanuel Poku and WR Anthony Smith lead the offensive unit having started 20-straight games ... ECU has had 19 first time starters in a Pirate uniform: OL Panda Askew, 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 Neoliean, WR Jaquaize Pettaway, DB Rasheed Reason, DL Jasiyah Robinson, OL Cooper Trnavsky, OL Bryce Weaver, DL Zion Wilson, QB Mike Wright Jr.