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Photo credit: (ECU Sports Information)
East Carolina will conclude its non-conference schedule this weekend welcoming in Big 12 member BYU on Saturday … The contest has been designated as Family Weekend sponsored by ECU Health.
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 and 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 7-2 record notching consecutive wins over Temple, Florida Atlantic, Tulsa and North Texas helping the Pirates secure 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 GAME
It will be the fourth meeting between the two programs with the Pirates holding a 2-1 edge in the all-time series … In 2022, ECU walked away with a 27-24 win in Provo thanks to Andrew Conrad’s 33-yard field as time expired earning bowl eligibility … The first game of the series took place in Provo in 2015 with BYU claiming a 45-38 victory … Two years later, ECU evened the series with a 33-17 victory in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
FAST FACTS
Record – 2-1 (.667); American Record/Standings – 0-0 (.0-0)/—; Last 5 Games – 3-2; Last 10 Games – 7-3; Last 15 Games – 9-6; Streaks – When East Carolina plays host to BYU, it will be the 10th game of the Blake Harrell era (7-2 overall). The Pirates contest against the Cougars will be the Pirates 946th since the start of football in 1932 (474-460-11/.507).
EAST CAROLINA RECORDS, STREAKS & TRENDS
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- 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 eight of nine contests under Harrell (500 or more on five occasions with a season-high in 2024 against FAU/581) …
- Forced at least one turnover in 63 of the last 74 games since 2019 with Teagan Wilk’s interception at NC State in the season opener …
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- On the season, the Pirates rank first nationally in turnover margin (2.33) and tied for first nationally in turnovers gained (8) heading into the BYU contest … In all, ECU is +7 in the turnover column having forced eight on the season (5 fumbles, 3 interceptions), while turning the ball over just once …
- 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 … It is the most by an FBS program this season (as of Sept. 6) 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 13 teams have had a game with 15 different players recording a catch in a single game, ECU is one of those 13 …
- This season, only eight teams have had a game where seven or more different players have scored a touchdown in a game (as of Sept. 13) … Against Campbell, the ECU has seven different offensive players score with London Montgomery cashing two rushes in for 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 three games in 2025, Houser has completed 23 passes of 15 or more yards (11/NC State, 6/Campbell, 6/Coastal Carolina) …
- The Pirates have outscored their opponents 111 to 27 on the season (+84) and over the last 10 quarters their are +94 outscoring opponents 104-10 since halftime at NC State in the season opener …
- ECU has tallied 28.0 TFLs through three contests for minus 108 yards, which ranks fifth among the national FBS leaders (9.3 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 three games, ECU has had seven different players record their first ever college starts (TyMir Brown, Preston Carr, Jayvontay Conner, J.D. Lampley, London Montgomery, Jasiyah Robinson, Zion Wilson) …
- In the last two games, ECU has not allowed an opponent offensive touchdown for the first time in consecutive games since 1999 (Duke and South Carolina) …
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- 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) …
- JD 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 …
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 9,886,383 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 3,615,094 fans.
In all, East Carolina is 4-4-0 in August, 138-130-1 in September, 170-172-4 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).
East Carolina’s all-time record at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium is 206-120 (.632) … 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 1-0 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 42 winning campaigns at DFS sine 1963.LOOKING FOR MORE LOOT
Early in 2025, East Carolina leads all FBS teams in turnover margin (2.33) and is tied for first with four other teams in turnovers gained (8) … On the season, the Pirates have intercepted three passes and have recovered five fumbles, while just turning the ball over once … Last year the Pirates finished with a -0.62 in turnover margin (ECU 30, Opponents 22) … ECU forced two or more turnovers in a game (2024 season) in eight of 13 contests … The Pirates turned the ball over six times (3 fumbles, 3 INTs) against Norfolk State marking the most since they gave up seven against UAB in 2011 … East Carolina finished the 2023 campaign with a -0.42 turnover margin (ECU 21, Opponents 16) ranking 101st nationally … The Pirates tied a program-best record with eight forced fumbles against Gardner-Webb recovering five – a feat that they last accomplished on Nov. 23, 2002 against TCU (span of 253 games) … The Pirates also scored three defensive touchdowns on the season (2 at Appalachian State, 1 at UTSA) … 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 63 of the last 74 contests, as well as 34 of 41 games dating back to the start of the 2022 campaign.
FACING RANKED OPPONENTS AT HOME
In seven of the last eight seasons (2017-2024), East Carolina has welcomed at least one nationally-ranked Associated Press opponent into Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium – 2017 (No. 16 Virginia Tech/No. 18 South Florida), 2018 (No. 10 UCF), 2019 (No. 17 Cincinnati), 2020 (No. 13 UCF), 2021 (No. 4 Cincinnati), 2022 (No. 13 NC State), 2023 (No. 21 Tulane) and 2024 (none) … Prior to Saturday’s game against BYU, two of ECU’s six home opponents are receiving votes in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll (Sept. 20) in BYU and Tulane, while three are in the AFCA Coaches Poll in BYU, Tulane and Memphis.
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 headling into the 2025 season.
A STARTERS’ LOG
OLB Ryheem Craig enters the BYU game having made 16 consecutive starts as a member of the defensive unit … OL Emmanuel Poku and WR Anthony Smith lead the offensive unit having started 16-straight games … ECU has had 14 first time starters in a Pirate uniform: TE Mason Brown, DB TyMir Brown, DL Preston Carr, TE Jayvontay Conner, DB Jonathan Jean, DL J.D. Lampley , OL Kyle Long, DB Jordy Lowery, RB London Montgomery, WR Jaquaize Pettaway, DB Rasheed Reason, DL Jasiyah Robinson, OL Cooper Trnavsky, DL Zion Wilson.