ECU has another nationally-televised game on tap Thursday as the Pirates host Army on ESPN.
Below are more details from ECU Sports Information. Videos are from Pirate Radio.
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East Carolina opens up American Conference play on national television (ESPN) against defending league champion Army on Thursday night at Bagwell Field inside Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. The contest has been designated as Military Appreciation Day sponsored by Mountain Dew.
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 com 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 7-3 record (5-1 in 2024, 2-2 in 2025) and helped 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
East Carolina opens American Conference play hosting Army on Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. (ET) on ESPN … The Pirates lead the all-time series 8-1 having one their first eight of the series until a road set back last year in West Point, N.Y. … Following the Thursday night tilt, ECU will enjoy a bye week before playing consecutive midweek games at Tulane (Oct. 9) and then hosting Tulsa (Oct. 16).
FAST FACTS
Record – 2-2 (.500); American Record/Standings – 0-0 (.0-0)/—; Last 5 Games – 3-2; Last 10 Games – 7-3; Last 15 Games – 8-7; Streaks – When East Carolina plays host to Army, it will be the 11th game of the Blake Harrell era (7-3) … The Pirates contest against the Black Knights will be the Pirates 947th since the start of football in 1932 (474-461-11/.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 nine of 10 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 75 games since 2019 (at least one in 3 of 4 games in 2025) …
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- On the season, the Pirates rank 7th nationally in TOs gained and 13th in TO margin (1.25) … In all, ECU is +5 in the turnover column having forced eight on the season (5 fumbles, 3 interceptions), while turning the ball over three times …
- 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 (only in 2025) …
- This season, only nine teams have had a game where seven or more different players have scored a touchdown in a game (as of Sept. 21) … 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 four games in 2025, Houser has completed 30 passes of 15 or more yards (11/NC State, 6/Campbell, 6/Coastal Carolina, 7/BYU) …
- The Pirates have outscored their opponents 124 to 61 (+63) through four games … Since the beginning of the fourth quarter at NC State, ECU has outscored its opponents 117 to 44 (+73) over a 13-quarter span …
- ECU has tallied 36.0 TFLs through 4 contests for (-133 yards), ranking 7th nationally (9.0 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 four games, ECU has had eight different players record their first ever college starts (TyMir Brown, Preston Carr, Jayvontay Conner, J.D. Lampley, London Montgomery, Jasiyah Robinson, Bryce Weaver, Zion Wilson) …
- Entering the Army contest, ECU ranks among the FBS national leaders (Top 25) in 10 statistical categories – see pages 53 and 54 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 …
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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) …
- 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 …
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 9,933,596 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 3,662,307 fans … ECU is 66,404 fans away from reaching the 10 million mark.CHARTING THE PIRATES MONTH-BY-MONTH
In all, East Carolina is 4-4-0 in August, 138-131-1 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).
AT DOWDY-FICKLEN STADIUM
East Carolina’s all-time record at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium is 206-121 (.630) … 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 match-ups 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.
NON-SATURDAY MAYHEM
East Carolina is 25-33 (.431) in non-Saturday games since 2000 … Oddly, the Pirates have fared better on the road (17-16; 8-17 at home) … In terms of days (including bowls), ECU is 5-1 on Sundays, 1-1 on Mondays, 3-1 on Tuesdays, 0-3 on Wednesdays, 9-14 on Thursdays and 6-13 on Fridays … Most recently, ECU is 14-18 when deviating from the normal Saturday routine since 2010 … This season, ECU is 0-1, but posted a 2-1 record in 2024 and had one non-Saturday game in 2023 hosting SMU on Oct. 12 (loss/31-10) … In 2022, ECU played three non-Saturday contests posting a 2-1 ledger (win at BYU/27-24, win vs. Coastal Carolina/53-29; loss at Cincinnati/27-25) … With their win in Tulsa, Okla. (2024) the Pirates became bowl eligible for the third time in the last four years.
LOOKING FOR MORE LOOT
Early in 2025, East Carolina ranks 13th nationally in turnover margin (1.25) and is seventh in FBS in turnovers gained (8) … On the season, the Pirates have intercepted three passes and have recovered five fumbles, while just turning the ball over three times … 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 75 contests, as well as 34 of 42 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 Thursday’s game against Army, three of ECU’s six home opponents are ranked or receiving votes … BYU entered both polls after a win at ECU (No. 25/AP, No. 24/AFCA Coaches), while Memphis is receiving votes in both … Tulane is also receiving votes in the AFCA Coaches Poll.
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 headlng into the 2025 season.
A STARTERS’ LOG
OLB Ryheem Craig enters the Army game having made 17 consecutive starts as a member of the defensive unit … OL Emmanuel Poku and WR Anthony Smith lead the offensive unit having started 17-straight games … ECU has had 15 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, OL Bryce Weaver, DL Zion Wilson.