ECU And Pitt Square Off In 2025 Go Bowling Military Bowl

ECU And Pitt Square Off In 2025 Go Bowling Military Bowl

December 26, 2025 | Football

Go Bowling Military Bowl: Pittsburgh (8-4) vs. East Carolina (8-4)
Date	Saturday, December 27th
Time	11:00 a.m. (ET)
Location	Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium (34,000) \| Annapolis, Md.
Live Game Coverage	Radio: WNCT 107.9 FM Broadcast: ESPN
Internet Options	Live Stats
Official Web Sites	East Carolina \| Pittsburgh \| The American
Game Notes	East Carolina \| Pittsburgh \| The American Weekly Release
2025 Statistics	East Carolina \| Pittsburgh \| The American
ECU Football Central	East Carolina Media Hub \| Roster \| NCAA Football \| College Scoreboard

Official Social Media Sites
Facebook	East Carolina \| The American
X	East Carolina \| The American
Twitter Hashtags	#PirateNation \| #AmericanFB
Instagram	East Carolina \| The American

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – East Carolina makes its third bowl appearance in four seasons Saturday, Dec. 27 when it squares off against Pittsburgh at the Go Bowling Military Bowl in Annapolis, Md. Kickoff at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. and the game will air live on ESPN with Jay Alter (play-by-play), Rocky Boiman (analyst) and Madison Fitzpatrick (sideline) handling broadcast duties.

THE GAME
For the second consecutive year and the fourth time in five years, East Carolina will be playing in postseason traveling to Annapolis, Md. to square off against the Pittsburgh Panthers ... This will be the fifth meeting between the two programs with the series tied at two-all dating back to 1984 ... The Panthers won the first two contests in 1984 (17-10) and 1989 (47-42), before the Pirates claimed consecutive victories in the series 1991 (24-23) and 1992 (37-31).

FAST FACTS
Record – 8-4 (.667); American Record/Standings – 6-2 (.750)/T4th; Last 5 Games – 4-1; Last 10 Games – 7-3; Last 15 Games – 10-5; Streaks – When East Carolina plays Pitt in the Go Bowling Military Bowl, it will be the 19th game of the Blake Harrell era (13-5) ... The Pirates contest against the Panthers will be the 955th since the start of ECU football in 1932 (480-463-11/.509).

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 (8-4, 6-2 American) in 2025 and a share for fourth place in league play. His team stood among the FBS leaders (Top 25) in 13 statistical categories with his offense averaging 33.5 points per game while allowing 20.3, the fewest since at East Carolina since 1999.

Harrell has guided the Pirates to a 13-5 (.723) record in 18 games becoming the fastest head coach to 13 victories and quickest to 10 wins in conference play. A year ago, he posted a 5-1 record 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. Following the Charlotte win, ECU secured bowl eligibility in consecutive games and for the fourth time in the last five campaigns (2021 Military, 2022 Birmingham, 2024 Military).

As the defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach, his unit in 2024 ranked among the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) leaders (Top 30) in six categories including defensive touchdowns (12th/3 scores), red zone defense (13th/0.745), team tackles for loss (14th/7.2 per game), passes intercepted (27th/14 interceptions), turnovers gained (27th/22 total) and opponent 4th down conversion percentage (29th/0.457). In 2024, his defensive unit allowed 27.3 points per game while holding four opponents under 21 points in a contest. Safety Omar Rogers notched a team-best 104 tackles to lead the club becoming the first Pirate since linebackers Zeek Bigger and Brandon Williams to reach the century mark. Joining Rogers (third team) as an All-American Conference selection were LB Zakye Barker (second team) and DL J.D. Lampley (honorable mention).

A 2021 Broyles Award Nominee, Harrell has spearheaded a turnaround for a Pirate defensive unit that surrendered just 25.9 points per game from 2021-24 – East Carolina's best four-year total since 2012-15 (27.0 ppg). He has mentored 10 All-American Athletic Conference Team selections as well as 2022 All-American Ja'Quan McMillian and 2025 National Football League Third Round selection Shavon Revel by the Dallas Cowboys during his time in Greenville. 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 Pirates program.

THE SERIES
Saturday's game versus Pitt will be the fifth all-time between the two program and first since 1992 ... The series is all-tied at two-all in a series that began in 1984.

EAST CAROLINA RECORDS, STREAKS, TRENDS & TID-BITS

Will participate in its 23rd bowl taking on Pitt in 2025 Go Bowling Military Bowl ...
Qualified for 24 bowls all-time - did not play in 2021 Military Bowl/CoVID-19 ...
Won 11th bowl game in at Go Bowling Military Bowl (vs. NC State 26-21) ...
Earned bowl eligibility in four of last five seasons (twice under Blake Harrell) with its 48-22 win over Charlotte on Nov. 8, 2025 ...
The 2025 Go Bowling Military Bowl will mark the fourth time ECU has been invited to the Military Bowl (others: 2010/51-20 loss vs. Maryland; 2021/game not played due to Co-VID 19; 2024/26-21 win vs. NC State) ...
ECU was named the Cheez-It Crunch Time Play of the Week by the FWAA (Nov. 17) following Payton Mangrum's 31-yard TD reception with 1:08 remaining against Memphis in a 31-27 win ...
With its 42-3 win at Florida Atlantic (Nov. 29, 2025), ECU earned its eighth win of the year marking the first time since 2014 with eight or more regular season wins (22nd time in program history) ...
Six conference wins are the most in The American and most since 2013 as a member of C-USA … Ninth time in program history with 6-plus wins in league play …
Nine all-conference selections in are tied for the most ever in The American since 2014, the first year in the league …
Tallied 524 yards of total offense at Florida Atlantic (258 pass, 266 rush) marking the 16th time in last 18 games (all under Harrell) with 400 or more yards of total offense (500 or more eight times with a Harrell-era high 614 at Temple in 2025) ...
Forced at least one turnover in 70 of the last 83 games since 2019 (at least one in 9 of 12 contests in 2025) ...
Its five forced turnovers at Florida Atlantic marked the second time this season with five turnovers (other: at Coastal Carolina) ...
With TyMir Brown's 45-yard interception return for a touchdown in the first quarter against Charlotte, ECU has scored seven defensive TDs since the start of (2/ASU '23, 1/UTSA '23; 1/NSU '24, 1/ASU '24, 1/TEM '24. 1/CLT '25) ...
ECU had 15 players with at least one reception in home opener vs. Campbell establishing a new ECU single-game record ... ECU along with North Texas (vs. Washington, Sept. 13, 1995) are the most by any FBS program in 2025 (entering bowl season) and the most since Penn State had 17 with one catch 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 game, ECU is one of those 13 (only one in 2025) ...
In 5 of 12 contests, ECU has had at least 10 receivers catch at least one pass (nine receivers with one reception in 7 of 12 games) ...
In 2025, only 14 teams have had a game where seven or more different players have scored a TD in a game (entering bowl season) ... Against Campbell, the Pirates had seven different offensive players score with London Montgomery with two rushing TDs ...
The Pirates rank 32nd nationally in TOs gained (19) and 29th in TO margin (0.50) in 2025 ... In all, ECU is +6 in the turnover column having forced 19 on the season (10 fumbles, 9 interceptions), while turning the ball over 13 times (7 fumbles, 6 interceptions) ...
ECU has outscored their opponents 402 to 244 (+158) on the year ... ECU's 402 points are the most since scoring 446 in 2014 ... The 244 allowed are the fewest since 1999 (225) ... Its +158 in point differential is the highest since 2013 (+183) ...
ECU is averaging 33.5 ppg - the most since averaging 37.2 in 2014 ...
The Pirates defense is allowing 20.3 ppg - the fewest since 1999 (18.8) ...
ECU has tallied 94.0 TFLs (-326 yards) with 30.0 sacks (-180 yards) in 2025 … It is averaging 7.8 TFLs per pg ranking 4th in FBS, while standing 27th in team sacks (2.50) …
ECU has registered 292 first downs (24.3 avg.) ranking 9th in FBS and they are the mose since 2014 (378) ... The defense has allowed 226 (18.8 avg.) ranking 48th in the nation ...
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 ...
ECU is averaging 184.0 rush yards pg in 2025 - the most since 2001 (202.3) …
The defense held four opponents to seven or less points in a game for the third time in the last 42 years (others: 1978 and 1999) ...
ECU's 53-point win vs. Campbell ranks as the third largest margin of vitory in program history ...
ECU has scored 40-plus points in five games - most since 2013 (six times) ...
Had four 30-plus wins on the season - most since 1979 (four times) ...
During the regular season, ECU has had 11 different players record their first ever college starts (Mason Brown, TyMir Brown, Preston Carr, Jayvontay Conner, DJ Johnson Jr., J.D. Lampley, London Montgomery, Marleo Neolien, Jasiyah Robinson, Bryce Weaver, Zion Wilson) ...
ECU's 11 consecutive quarters without allowing an offensive touchdown (from NC State end 3Q to BYU 2Q) set a new American Conference record ...
Entering the Pittsburgh contest, ECU ranks among the FBS national leaders (Top 25) in 13 statistical categories (see pages 69-70) …
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 …
ECU's 16-day break between games (from Tulsa to Temple) was 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 ...
ECU is averaging 78.3 offensive snaps per game which leads all of FBS ... Defensively, it is averaging 67.1 snaps which is the 83rd fewest in FBS ...
Over ECU's last five games (4-1), it is averaging 38.0 ppg while allowing 24.8 ... They are also averaging 477.6 yards of total offense (262.6 pass, 2115. rush) and 24.4 first downs over the five-game stretch ...
ECU had won four consecutive American games (Oct. 16-Nov. 15) before a set back at UTSA marking the third time in the last five years (2021, 2024, 2025) ... Also just the third time since joining the league in 2014 ...
Last time ECU won four-straight league games at home came in 2013 (C-USA) ... ECU finished 4-0 in American home games in 2025 ...
ECU has won seven of their last eight American home game since Sept. 28, 2024 (vs. UTSA) while claiming road wins in four of the last six since Nov. 14, 2024 (at Tulsa) ...
The Pirates offense has tallied 5,576 total yards (seventh all-time at ECU), 464.7 yards per game (fifth all-time) and 33.5 points per game (sixth all-time) ...
The defense held opponents to 30.2 percent on third downs (52 of 172) which is the lowest percentage in program history ...
Senior Mike Wright Jr. is the only player in FBS this season to have played at quarterback, running back, receiver, cornerback, return specialist and punter ...
Anthony Smith has recorded six career 100-plus yard receiving games entering Pitt game ... Since beginning of 2024 season, he has caught at least one pass in 24 of 25 games played (21-straight) ... Over two years with the Pirates, he has tallied 101 career receptions for 1,696 yards with 11 receiving scores ... He enters the Pittsburgh game needing 103 yards to reach 1,000 ...

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 ...
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 and NFL players DE C.J. Wilson (2006-09) and OL Willie Smith (2007-10) ... He 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 ...
Jayden Askew (OL) officially changed his middle name to Panda, which he goes by now, 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, 154-139-5 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 74-109 (.404) when playing away from Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium ... ECU closed out the 2024 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 ... Two years 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-American tilts since, including bowl games (5-6).

LOOKING FOR MORE LOOT
At the end of the regular season, East Carolina ranked 29th nationally in turnover margin (0.50) and 32nd in FBS in turnovers gained (19) ... On the season, the Pirates have intercepted nine passes and have recovered 10 fumbles (5th in FBS), while turning the ball over 13 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 70 of the last 83 contests, as well as 40 of 50 games dating back to the start of the 2022 campaign.

2025 PIRATE GRADUATES (21+15=36)
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 Tiston O'Brien, DB Ladarian Paulk, WR Kyler Pearson, DB Rasheed Reason, DL Jasiyah Robinson, WR Anthony Smith, OL Jasyon Tarpeh, DB Teagan Wilk, DL Zion Wilson, QB Mike Wright Jr. each have earned their degrees heading into the 2025 season ... DB TyMir Brown, *PK Andrew Conrad, Samuel Dankah, Katin Houser, *DB Jonathan Jean, *P Ryan Leavy, *PK Nick Mazzie, *WR Payton Mangrum, *DS Triston O'Brien, *DB Ladarian Paulk, *WR Kelan Robinson, *WR Brock Spalding, *DB Teagan Wilk, LB Dameon Wilson, *QB/DB Mike Wright Jr. received their degrees during ECU Commencement in December 2025.
*=second degree or graduate certificate

A STARTERS' LOG
OLB Ryheem Craig enters the bowl game having made 25 consecutive starts as a member of the defensive unit ... OL Emmanuel Poku and WR Anthony Smith lead the offensive unit having started 25-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 Neolien, WR Jaquaize Pettaway, DB Rasheed Reason, DL Jasiyah Robinson, OL Cooper Trnavsky, OL Bryce Weaver, DL Zion Wilson, QB Mike Wright Jr.