ECU’s football team begins a stretch of three games in 12 days with Thursday’s contest at Alabama-Birmingham.
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Story and photo by ECU Sports Information
ast Carolina hits the road for the first of two consecutive Thursday night games when it travels to UAB (Protective Stadium/47,100) on Oct. 15 … Game time is set for 7:30 p.m. (ET) and will be televised nationally on ESPN with Matt Barrie (PxP), Chase Daniel (Analyst) and Paul Carcaterra (Sideline) calling the action … Thursday’s game will be the 14th all-time meeting between the schools and the first since 2013 when both were members of Conference USA … ECU holds a 9-4 lead in the all-time series having won seven-straight from 2007 to 2013 … The Pirates are coming off a 28-12 homcoming win over Rice in their American Conference opener pushing their win streak to three games … The Blazers dropped their last contest falling to Memphis, 38-13.
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 (9-4, 6-2 American) in 2025 and a share for fourth place in league play. His team stood among the FBS leaders (Top 25) in 15 statistical categories with his offense averaging 32.7 points per game while allowing 20.1, the fewest since at East Carolina since 1999. He has guided the Pirates to a 17-7 (.708) record in 24 games. He became the fastest head coach to 14 victories and the quickest to 10 wins in conference play, while becoming the second coach in program history to win consecutive bowl games with a 23-17 victory over Pittsburgh at the 2025 Go Bowling Military Bowl. In 2024, 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).
FAST FACTS
Record: 3-2 (.600); American Record/Standings: 1-0 (1.000); Last 5 Games: 3-2; Last 10 Games: 7-3; Last 15 Games: 10-5; Streaks: When East Carolina travels to UAB, it will be the 25th game of the Blake Harrell era (17-7/.708) … The Pirates contest against the Blazers will be the 961st since the start of ECU football in 1932 (484-465-11/.510).
ANALYZING THE 2026 OVERALL SCHEDULE
COMPOSITE RECORDS: ECU’s 2026 opponents posted a combined 77-76 (.503) record in 2025. The Pirates’ four non-conference foes were 24-29 (.453), while the eight American squads tallied a collective 53-47 (.530) mark. Five programs had eight or more wins – Alabama (11), Old Dominion (10), South Florida (9), N.C. Central (8) and Memphis (8).
SEVEN BOWL TEAMS: For the second consecutive season, ECU’s schedule features contests against seven teams which participated in bowl games a year ago. In addition to Alabama (CFP first round and Rose Bowl), Appalachian State (JLab Birmingham Bowl), Army (Wasabi Bowl), Memphis (Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl), Old Dominion (StaffDNA Cure Bowl), Rice (Lockhead Martin Armed Forces Bowl) and South Florida (StaffDNA Cure Bowl) each made FBS postseason appearances last December and January. Of the Pirates’ six home games, five will be against 2025 bowl qualifiers, while two of six road contests will be against postseason teams.
IN THE FINAL POLLS: Alabama is the lone ECU opponent that finished ranked in the two major polls (Associated Press, AFCA Coaches) to end the 2025 season coming in at No. 9. Old Dominion received votes in both polls, while Army garnered on vote in the AFCA poll along with East Carolina.
NON-SATURDAY ACTION: ECU will have three non-Saturday contests in 2026. For the seventh-straight campaign (and eighth in the last nine years), ECU will play at least one weeknight contest. The Pirates will have consecutive road Thursday night contests playing at UAB (Oct. 15) and at Memphis (Oct. 22), while hosting South Florida on Friday, Nov. 6. The Pirates regular season finale inside Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium against Florida Atlantic will be played either Nov. 27 (Friday) or Nov. 28 (Saturday). ECU is 40-50-1 (.451) all-time on non-Saturday games (17-24-1/home, 19-20/road, 4-6/neutral) after posting a 2-2 record in 2025.
CHARTING THE PIRATES MONTH-BY-MONTH
In all, East Carolina is 4-4-0 in August, 141-133-1 in September, 173-172-4 in October, 154-139-5 in November, 13-11-0 in December and 1-4-0 in January … With the Pirates win over Pitt in 2025, ECU remained somewhat productive in December – a month in which it has won seven of its last 11 outings (wins vs. Boise State/’07, Tulsa/’08, Houston/’09, Ohio/’13, Coastal Carolina/’22, NC State/’24, Pitt/’25; 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 76-110 (.409) when playing away from Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium … ECU closed out the 2025 season 4-3 away from home following a 23-17 win against Pittsburgh … In 2024, ECU also posted a 4-3 record … Three 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 played 15 road non-American tilts since, including bowl games (8-7).
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UP NEXT
ECU continues its two-game road swing playing at Memphis on Oct. 22 on ESPN2 with a scheduled 7:30 p.m. kickoff.