East Carolina Welcomes In UTSA For AAC Opener - East Carolina University Athletics (2025)

Football September 26, 2024

GREENVILLE, N.C. – East Carolina returns to Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium Saturday afternoon, hosting UTSA in both teams' American Athletic Conference opener. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. and the contest will stream live through ESPN+ with Richard Cross (play-by-play) and Reginald Walker Jr. (analyst) on the call.

The Pirates are under the direction of sixth-year head coach Mike Houston.

ECU closed out the non-conference portion of its schedule with a 2-2 record, picking up wins against Norfolk State and Old Dominion to begin the season before dropping consecutive decisions to Appalachian State and Liberty.

Last Time Out
A long night doesn't begin to describe East Carolina's first-ever visit to Liberty. The Pirates showed no ill effects from a storm delay of four-and-a-half hours Saturday evening, dominating for one quarter before seeing a double-digit lead slip away for the second-straight week in a 35-24 loss. The Flames, which extended streaks to 16 straight regular-season victories and 11 consecutive home wins, rallied from a 17-0 deficit, outscoring ECU 28-7 in the second half to improve to 4-0 for the second straight year and the third time in five years. Liberty's comeback in a game that kicked off at 6:02 p.m. and ended at 2 a.m. came on the strength of converting 13 of 17 third downs, including all four of Kaidon Salter's touchdown passes. The Flames won despite Salter's first interception of the year and a fumble, as well as a rash of penalties that included five personal fouls. The Pirates made all the plays early in seizing the momentum. With a mix of quarterback Jake Garcia and running back Rahjai Harris, ECU found its offensive rhythm and racked up 134 yards in the first quarter but managed just 197 the rest of the way. Garcia finished 20 of 36 for 204 yards and also rushed for 28 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries. Liberty, meanwhile, sputtered to just 24 first-quarter yards but still surpassed 400 yards of total offense for the fourth straight game, finishing with 414. Quinton Cooley gave the Flames a 100-yard rusher for the fourth straight game with 105 yards on 19 carries, punctuated by a 21-yard touchdown run with 2:00 to play.

About The Roadrunners
UTSA also carries a 2-2 overall record to Greenville having picked up victories over Kennesaw State (28-16) and Houston Christian (45-7) while losing to the nation's current No. 1 team in Texas (56-7) as well as Texas State (49-10). The Roadrunners piled up a season-high 536 yards of offense and a school-record 34 first downs and held Houston Christian to just 177 yards in a 45-7 victory on Saturday afternoon at the Alamodome. UTSA's offensive output added up to the most yards since a school-record 643 against South Florida on Nov. 17, 2023, and featured a balanced attack with 269 rushing yards – the most since 287 versus North Texas on Nov. 4, 2023 – and 267 passing yards. The 34 first downs eclipsed the previous Roadrunner standard done five times before, most recently in the win against South Florida last fall. Bryson Donnell and Brandon High Jr. each rushed for a game-high 74 yards, while Kevorian Barnes added 64 yards to lead the ground game, and Owen McCown completed 18 of 25 passes for 226 yards and three touchdowns. Devin McCuin had a team-best five receptions for 43 yards and a touchdown, and Willie McCoy racked up 85 yards and a score on two catches.

East Carolina Records, Streaks & Trends

• The Pirates are 2-2 through four games for the fourth time under Houston (2019, 2021, 2022 and 2024)
• ECU ranks 59th nationally in total defense (330.0 yards allowed per game) and 61st in total offense (406.8 yards per game).
• East Carolina is averaging 72.3 offensive plays per game which is tied for 21st nationally. On the flip side, the defense is averaging 74.8 - tied for the eighth most per game in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
• Twenty-one (21) different Pirate defenders have recorded at least a half tackle for loss in the first four games. In all, ECU has tallied 44.0 tackles for loss for minus 129 yards and ranks second nationally in tackles per loss per game at 11.0.
• East Carolina stands 41st nationally (second in the American Conference) in scoring defense, allowing 18.3 points per game.
• Since the start of the 2023 campaign, the Pirate defense has scored five touchdowns (2/App State '23, 1/UTSA '23, 1/Norfolk State '24, 1/App State '24)
• Forced at least one turnover in 43 of the last 47 games (and in 54 of the last 61).

The Series
Saturday's encounter with UTSA marks the second all-time meeting between the two programs. Last year, the Roadrunners claimed a 41-27 victory inside the Alamodome.

Last Meeting
UTSA 41, East Carolina 27
Oct. 28, 2023 @The Alamodome (San Antonio, Texas)
Coming off one of its most lackluster performances in the Mike Houston era, East Carolina found some life early Saturday in the Alamodome but simply couldn't keep pace with big-play UTSA and fell 41-27. The Pirates led 17-14 after an impressive first quarter before an aggressive Roadrunner defense cranked up the pressure and put the clamps on quarterback Alex Flinn and the ECU offense the rest of the way. East Carolina amassed 169 yards in the first quarter – surpassing last week's total output of 127 yards in a 10-7 loss to Charlotte – but managed only 197 yards in the final three quarters. UTSA, meanwhile, piled up a season-high 516 total yards as it recorded its 14th consecutive conference win and stayed in the chase for the AAC regular-season title. ECU did limit the Roadrunners to 151 yards in the second half – 87 of which came on three plays. Flinn, back in a starting role, turned in a gritty performance against a UTSA defense that registered 13 hurries and sacked him five times – three by two-time AAC defensive player of the week Trey Moore. He completed a career-high 23 passes on 43 attempts for 225 yards and set a personal best with two touchdown passes – a 13-yarder to senior Jaylen Johnson in the first quarter and a 4-yarder to freshman Chase Sowell with 15 seconds to play. Johnson, who finished with eight catches for 105 yards, not only accounted for the first touchdown reception by a receiver this season but also the longest scoring play of the year. Flinn also had a team and career-high 20 rushing attempts for 53 yards. Flinn's counterpart, seventh-year senior Frank Harris, burned the Pirates for several big plays but also threw one costly interception that Dontavius Nash returned for a touchdown and was sacked four times. Harris, who holds 38 school records, completed 20 of 32 passes with season highs of 395 yards and four touchdowns.

Recognizing The 1999 Pirate Football Team
East Carolina University Athletics officials have announced that the 1999 Pirate Football team will be recognized at the UTSA game. The 1999 season was one of perseverance following the catastrophic damages left behind from Hurricane Floyd, which impacted Eastern North Carolina on Sept. 16. ECU started the season 2-0 after wins against West Virginia and Duke before traveling to South Carolina. Prior to the Pirates' 21-3 win in Columbia, S.C., Floyd made landfall and much of Eastern North Carolina received 15-20 inches of rain over the next 12 hours. Unable to travel back home, the Pirates stayed in Columbia, preparing for what would have been their home game against the ninth-ranked University of Miami Hurricanes. With portions of the city still reeling from the flood, the game was moved to Raleigh, N.C., and Carter-Finley Stadium. Trailing 23-10 after the third quarter, ECU rallied from 20 points down to defeat the Hurricanes and improved to 4-0. The 1999 team finished with a 9-3 overall record, played in the 1999 Mobile Alabama Bowl against TCU and was the recipient of the 1999 Disney's Wide World of Sports Spirit Award at the annual Home Depot College Football Awards.

The Pirate Nation – Over 9 Million Strong
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 9,709,432 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 3,438,143 fans.

At Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium
East Carolina's all-time record at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium is 202-120 (.629). 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 and recently hosted its 300th game vs. Tulane in 2020. Before a 4-2 clip in 2021, a 1-3 record two years ago 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 34-13 win over UCF (Oct. 22, 2022), ECU has posted 41 winning campaigns inside the friendly confines since 1963.

Comparing 10-Year, Four-Game Results
For the fourth time in the Mike Houston era, the Pirates sit at 2-2 (.500) through four games. A win against UTSA would push their record to 3-2 for fourth time since 2015, while a loss would result in a 2-3 ledger the first since 2018.

Houston In AAC Openers
Houston has won two of five American Athletic Conference openers (Tulane/2021, South Florida/2020) since taking the head coach position at East Carolina. The losses occurred in 2019 (Navy), 2022 (Navy) and 2023 (Rice).

2024 Graduates
OL Hampton Ergle, OL Dustyn Hall, DS Alex Harper, RB Rahjai Harris, LB Noah Holmes, DB Jordan Huff, TE Casey Kelly, P Luke Larsen, Dl Jaden McKenzie, DB Kingston McKinstry, OL Parker Moorer, TE Tyler Savage, DL Chad Stephens and WR Winston Wright Jr. each have earned their degrees heading into the 2024 season.

Up Next
ECU makes its first-ever appearance at Jerry Richardson Stadium next Saturday (Oct. 5) when it faces off against AAC opponent Charlotte. Kickoff is slated for 3:30 p.m. and the game will air live on ESPNU.