ECU completed its second week of fall camp with a scrimmage on Saturday.
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Photo credit: (ECU Sports Information)
East Carolina conducted its first intra-squad scrimmage of fall camp Saturday morning inside Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium with all three levels of offense, defense and special teams in a controlled scrimmage under partly cloudy skies with temperatures starting in the upper 70’s and ending in the low 80’s. The workout, which was the 10th of the fall, closed out the second week of preseason camp.
Second-year head coach Blake Harrell and his staff guided the Pirates through a two and half hour workout that began with individual and team drills before conducting the scrimmage. ECU works on all facets of the game with kickoff, offense versus defensive groups, punting, redzone drills that covered nearly 120 total snaps.
“Practice number 10 today,” Harrell said. “It was our first time in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. First time scrimmaging as a full-out practice and to the ground tackling. It’s good to be in Dowdy. Good to step in here. I talked to our players this morning and last night just about, when we turn step into Dowdy, it turns up. It’s different, and it needs to be different because how special this place is, how special our fan base makes it, and our environment makes it. So, thank you, to those folks that do that.
“Obviously, some things in scrimmage one you see, that you really like. I thought we did good early on, executing on both sides of football. We were playing the game the right way with effort and with energy. Now, we got to keep sharpening up that execution piece. I thought later in the scrimmage, we kind of faded a little bit. We did a little conditioning there at the end just to make sure we are moving to game ready for three weeks. I think we played about 120 snaps today. Obviously, a game would be about 150 snaps, offense, defense, plus special teams. So, we’re getting there. We’re getting closer. We got to keep continuing to push.”
Some key moments of the contest were a pair of rushing touchdowns by Ashton Gray (3 and 15 yards) and TJ Engleman Jr. (25 and 9 yards). Michael Allen had the longest run of the morning with a 60-plus yarder during the second half. All five quarterbacks saw time with various groups with Mitch Griffis, Emory Williams and Trey Burke leading the offense on scoring drives.
Defensively, the Pirates forced turnovers with David Coleman Jr. picking off two passes, while Angelo Ross, Terande Spencer and Alex Moye each registered an interception. Cade Law was credited with a sack, while the defensive front caused a fumble and had several plays in the backfield to stifle the offensives momentum at times.
Andrew Conrad was 2 of 2 on PATs and during the field goal session connected on kicks of 37, 42 and 47 yards. Noah Perez was 1 of 1 on PATs and 1 of 1 on FGs (37 made), while Everett Scott successfully made a 40-yard field goal.
“I challenged the guys from last Saturday’s practice forward to this Saturday,” Harrell added. “Did we get better every single day? I think we did, but I still think we have a long ways to go. I think this is not there, being game ready. I think we got a lot of things we got to clean up in communication, discipline and execution. Had too many penalties today, which is expected. First time you got officials out, we try to simulate that in practice with strength coaches officiating and stuff. But we got those guys out today, so that was good to have those guys. Appreciate them being here, but we got to continue to push. By next Saturday, we’ll scrimmage again. We got to push and say, see how much closer we can get to being game ready, and we don’t’ have much time. It’s going to count down quickly, and we got a long ways to go.”
Following an off day on Sunday, ECU will conduct practices Monday through Wednesday before taking another day off on Thursday. Friday the Pirates will prep for their second scrimmage, which will be Saturday, August 22 inside Dowdy-Ficklen stadium followed by ECU’s Annual Media Day event with Harrell, the Pirate assistant coaches and selected players.
The Pirates will open the 2026 season on Saturday, Sept. 5 when it travels to Tuscaloosa, Ala. to take on Alabama at Saban Field inside Bryant-Denny Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 12 noon (ET) and will be televised on ABC. Season ticket orders are currently on sale, with packages starting at just $75 for the six-game home slate at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium this fall. To purchase new season tickets, visit ECUPirates.com or contact the ECU Athletics Ticket Office at (252) 737-4500 during normal business hours (Monday – Friday, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.).