2018 East Carolina Pirates football team

The 2018 East Carolina Pirates football team represented East Carolina University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Pirates, led by third-year head coach Scottie Montgomery, played their home games at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, and were members of the East Division in the American Athletic Conference. They finished the season 3–9, 1–7 in AAC play to finish in fifth place in the East Division.

2018 East Carolina Pirates football
Conference	American Athletic Conference
Division	East Division
2018 record	3–9 (1–7 The American)
Head coach	Scottie Montgomery (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Tony Petersen (3rd season)
Defensive coordinator	David Blackwell (1st season)
Home stadium	Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium (Capacity: 50,000)
Uniform

2018 American Athletic Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
No. 11 UCF x$		8	–	0					12	–	1
Temple		7	–	1					8	–	5
No. 24 Cincinnati		6	–	2					11	–	2
South Florida		3	–	5					7	–	6
East Carolina		1	–	7					3	–	9
UConn		0	–	8					1	–	11
West Division
Memphis xy		5	–	3					8	–	6
Houston x		5	–	3					8	–	5
Tulane x		5	–	3					7	–	6
SMU		4	–	4					5	–	7
Navy		2	–	6					3	–	10
Tulsa		2	–	6					3	–	9
Championship: UCF 56, Memphis 41
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll

On November 29, head coach Socttie Montgomery was fired.[1] He finished at East Carolina with a three year record of 9–26. Defensive coordinator David Blackwell was the interim head coach during their final game of the season. On December 3, ECU hired James Madison head coach Mike Houston as their new head coach.[2]

Previous season

The Pirates finished the 2017 season 3–9, 2–6 in AAC play to finish in a three-way tie for fourth place in the East Division.

Preseason

Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released

Award	Player	Position	Year
Fred Biletnikoff Award[3]	Trevon Brown	WR	SR
Wuerffel Trophy[4]	Garrett McGhin	OL	SR

AAC media poll

The AAC media poll was released on July 24, 2018, with the Pirates predicted to finish in last place in the AAC East Division.[5]

Media poll (East)
Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	UCF	175 (25)
2	USF	140 (5)
3	Temple	132
4	Cincinnati	91
5	UConn	51
6	East Carolina	41

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2[lower-alpha 1]	3:30 p.m.	No. 14 (FCS) North Carolina A&T*	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium Greenville, NC	ESPN3	L 23–28	38,640
September 8	3:30 p.m.	North Carolina*	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium Greenville, NC	ESPNU	W 41–19	39,298
September 22	8:00 p.m.	at South Florida	Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL	ESPNews	L 13–20	34,562
September 29	3:30 p.m.	Old Dominion*	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium Greenville, NC	ESPN3	W 37–35	35,047
October 6	12:00 p.m.	at Temple	Lincoln Financial Field Philadelphia, PA	ESPNews	L 6–49	26,681
October 13	7:00 p.m.	Houston	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium Greenville, NC	CBSSN	L 20–42	29,851
October 20	7:00 p.m.	No. 10 UCF	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium Greenville, NC	ESPN2	L 10–37	31,159
November 3	12:00 p.m.	Memphis	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium Greenville, NC	ESPNU	L 41–59	29,127
November 10	4:00 p.m.	at Tulane	Yulman Stadium New Orleans, LA	ESPNews	L 18–24	20,860
November 17	7:00 p.m.	UConn	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium Greenville, NC	CBSSN	W 55–21	27,234
November 23	3:30 p.m.	at Cincinnati	Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH	CBSSN	L 6–56	21,230
December 1[lower-alpha 2]	12:00 p.m.	at NC State*	Carter–Finley Stadium Raleigh, NC (Victory Barrel)	ACCN Extra	L 3–58	57,223
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

1. The game against North Carolina A&T was originally scheduled for September 1 at 6:00 pm before being postponed to September 2 at 3:30 pm due to inclement weather.[6]
2. The game between ECU and Virginia Tech, originally scheduled for September 15, 2018, was canceled in anticipation of Hurricane Florence.[7] This game was scheduled on October 2, 2018 to replace East Carolina’s game at Virginia Tech and NC State’s game vs. West Virginia, both of which were canceled due to Hurricane Florence.[8]

Schedule Source:[9]

Game summaries

North Carolina A&T

See also: 2018 North Carolina A&T Aggies football team

North Carolina A&T at East Carolina

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 14 (FCS) Aggies 7 7 0 14 28 Pirates 3 14 3 3 23 Date: September 2 Location: Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium Greenville, NC Game start: 3:30 p.m. EDT Elapsed time: 3:41 Game attendance: 38,640 Game weather: 90°F • 5–8 mph • Mostly Cloudy Referee: Henry Wimberg TV announcers (ESPN3): Josh Appel (play-by-play), Stan Lewter (analyst) Sources:[10][11]

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

North Carolina

See also: 2018 North Carolina Tar Heels football team

North Carolina at East Carolina

1 2 3 4 Total Tar Heels 6 13 0 0 19 • Pirates 7 14 7 13 41 Date: September 8 Location: Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium Greenville, NC Game start: 3:30 p.m. EDT Elapsed time: 3:33 Game attendance: 39,298 Game weather: 91°F • S 5 • Partly Cloudy Referee: Duane Heydt TV announcers (ESPNU): Mike Corey (play-by-play), Rene Ingoglia (analyst) Sources:[12][13]

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
4–12–1	September 20, 2014	W, 70–41

at South Florida

See also: 2018 South Florida Bulls football team

East Carolina at South Florida

1 2 3 4 Total Pirates 7 3 3 0 13 • Bulls 6 7 0 7 20 Date: September 22 Location: Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL Game start: 8:00 p.m. EDT Elapsed time: 3:05 Game attendance: 34,562 Referee: Charles Lamerti TV announcers (ESPNews): Dave Lamont (play-by-play), Ray Bentley (analyst) Sources:[14][15]

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
1–7	September 30, 2017	L, 31–61

Old Dominion

See also: 2018 Old Dominion Monarchs football team

Old Dominion at East Carolina

1 2 3 4 Total Monarchs 14 6 7 8 35 • Pirates 14 7 7 9 37 Date: September 29 Location: Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium Greenville, NC Game start: 3:30 p.m. EDT Elapsed time: 3:26 Game attendance: 35,047 Game weather: 84°F • NE 8 • Mostly Clear Referee: Rodney Burnette TV announcers (ESPN3): Robert Lee (play-by-play), Tyoka Jackson (analyst) Sources:[16][17]

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
4–3–1	August 31, 2013	W, 52–38

at Temple

See also: 2018 Temple Owls football team

East Carolina at Temple

1 2 3 4 Total Pirates 0 3 0 3 6 • Owls 14 21 7 7 49 Date: October 6 Location: Lincoln Financial Field Philadelphia, PA Game start: 12:00 p.m. EDT Game attendance: 26,681 TV announcers (ESPNews): Bill Roth (play-by-play), Ray Bentley (analyst) Sources:[18]

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
7–8	October 7, 2017	L, 10–34

Houston

See also: 2018 Houston Cougars football team

Houston at East Carolina

1 2 3 4 Total • Cougars 14 7 7 14 42 Pirates 0 3 3 14 20 Date: October 13 Location: Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium Greenville, NC Game start: 7:00 p.m. EDT Game attendance: 29,851 TV announcers (CBSSN): Dave Ryan (play-by-play), Corey Chavous (analyst) Sources:

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
7–8	November 4, 2017	L, 27–52

UCF

See also: 2018 UCF Knights football team

UCF at East Carolina

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 10 Knights 0 20 3 14 37 Pirates 3 0 7 0 10 Date: October 20 Location: Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium Greenville, NC Game start: 7:00 p.m. EDT Game attendance: 31,159 TV announcers (ESPN2): Beth Mowins(play-by-play), Anthony Becht (analyst), Rocky Boiman (sideline) Sources:

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
10–6	October 14, 2017	L, 21–63

Memphis

See also: 2018 Memphis Tigers football team

Memphis at East Carolina

1 2 3 4 Total • Tigers 10 14 14 21 59 Pirates 14 3 17 7 41 Date: November 3 Location: Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium Greenville, NC Game start: 12:00pm ET EDT Game attendance: 29,127 Sources: [19]

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
14–7	November 25, 2017	L, 13–70

The high-scoring affair features a combined 1,200 yards by the two teams. Holton Ahlers, in his second start in relief of Reid Herring, led the Pirates in both rushing (17 carries for 57 yards) and passing, completing 34 of his 62 passes for 449 yards (fourth in school history to Shane Carden's 480 in 2013, Blake Kemp's 465 in 2015, and Gardner Minshew's 463 in 217)[20] and three touchdowns without an interception. Trevon Brown had 10 receptions for 193 yards (eighth in ECU history) and two of those touchdowns. The second of these tied the game at 31 midway through the third quarter, but the Pirates were outscored 28-17 the rest of the way in the loss.[19]

at Tulane

See also: 2018 Tulane Green Wave football team

East Carolina at Tulane

1 2 3 4 Total Pirates 3 7 0 8 18 • Green Wave 7 7 7 3 24 Date: November 10 Location: Yulman Stadium New Orleans, LA Game start: 4:00 p.m. EDT Game attendance: 20,860

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
11–4	November 11, 2017	L, 24–31 ^OT

UConn

See also: 2018 UConn Huskies football team

UConn at East Carolina

1 2 3 4 Total Huskies 7 14 0 0 21 • Pirates 7 27 14 7 55 Date: November 17 Location: Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium Greenville, NC Game start: 7:00 p.m. EDT Game attendance: 27,234

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
3–1	September 24, 2017	W, 41–38

at Cincinnati

See also: 2018 Cincinnati Bearcats football team

East Carolina at Cincinnati

1 2 3 4 Total Pirates 0 6 0 0 6 • Bearcats 21 21 7 7 56 Date: November 23 Location: Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH Game start: 3:30 p.m. EDT Game attendance: 21,230

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
13–8	November 18, 2017	W, 48–20

at NC State

See also: 2018 NC State Wolfpack football team

East Carolina at NC State

1 2 3 4 Total Pirates 0 0 0 3 3 • Wolfpack 17 10 14 17 58 Date: December 1 Location: Carter–Finley Stadium Raleigh, NC Game start: 12:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 57,223

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
13–16	September 10, 2016	W, 33–30

Note: This game was scheduled on October 2, 2018 to replace NC State’s game vs. West Virginia and East Carolina’s game at Virginia Tech, both of which were canceled due to Hurricane Florence. This game will not take place if either NC State or ECU qualifies for their respective conference championship.

References

1. https://www.apnews.com/4fc375b072844aebae6fdec06daae08a
2. Igoe, Stephen. "New coach, new AD — a new era for Pirates". Wilson Daily Times. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
3. "2018 Biletnikoff Award Watch List". July 19, 2018. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
4. "Wuerffel Trophy Unveils 2018 Watch List". July 26, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
5. "UCF Tabbed as Favorite in 2018 Preseason Media Poll". TheAmerican.org. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
6. "ECU–N.C. A&T Game Postponed Until Sunday, Sept. 2 At 3:30 P.M." ECU Pirates Official Athletics Site. September 1, 2018. Retrieved September 1, 2018.
7. "Safety Concerns, Catastrophic Florence Forecast Forces ECU To Cancel Blacksburg Trip". ECU Pirates Official Athletics Site. September 11, 2018. Retrieved September 23, 2018.
8. "NC State, East Carolina to play on Dec. 1, add games in 2025, 2028". FB Schedules. October 2, 2018. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
9. "2018 ECU Football Schedule | Pirates | FBSchedules.com". FB Schedules. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
10. "ECU Game Notes – North Carolina A&T: Game 1" (PDF). August 27, 2018. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
11. "North Carolina A&T (2–0) vs. East Carolina (0–1)". ECU Pirates Official Athletic Site. September 2, 2018. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
12. "ECU Game Notes – North Carolina: Game 2" (PDF). September 3, 2018. Retrieved September 8, 2018.
13. "North Carolina (0–2) vs. East Carolina (1–1)". ECU Pirates Official Athletic Site. September 8, 2018. Retrieved September 8, 2018.
14. "ECU Game Notes – South Florida: Game 3" (PDF). September 21, 2018. Retrieved September 23, 2018.
15. "South Florida (3–0) vs. East Carolina (1–2)". ECU Pirates Official Athletic Site. September 22, 2018. Retrieved September 23, 2018.
16. "ECU Game Notes – Old Dominion: Game 4" (PDF). September 28, 2018. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
17. "Old Dominion (1–4) vs. East Carolina (2–2)". ECU Pirates Official Athletic Site. September 22, 2018. Retrieved September 23, 2018.
18. "ECU Game Notes – Temple: Game 5" (PDF). October 2, 2018. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
19. "Memphis at East Carolina Box Score, November 3, 2018". College Football at Sports-Reference.com.
20. "ECU Pirates 2018 Factbook" (PDF).