ECU Football
Schedule |
Sat
09/03/16
Western Carolina
Sat
09/10/16
North Carolina State
Sat
09/17/16
at South Carolina
Sat
09/24/16
at Virginia Tech
Sat
10/01/16
Central Florida*
Sat
10/08/16
at South Florida*
Thu
10/13/16
Navy*
Sat
10/22/16
at Cincinnati*
Sat
10/29/16
Connecticut*
Sat
11/05/16
at Tulsa*
Sat
11/12/16
Southern Methodist*
Sat
11/26/16
at Temple* |
Note: Asterisk (*)
denotes AAC game |
View
more details on on ECUPirates.com |
|
|
|
BASEBALL |
ECU takes opener with Jacksonville |
GREENVILLE —
East Carolina broke
a tie score at 3 with a pair of runs in the
sixth inning and went on to take a 6-3 win
over Jacksonville on Thursday night in the
opener of a three-game series at
Clark-LeClair Stadium.
...
More... |
|
Next:
Jacksonville at ECU
| Fri. 6:30 pm | Sat. 1 pm |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
BASEBALL |
Pirates rally past Duke for 8-6
win |
DURHAM —
East Carolina scored
two runs in the seventh and
three more in the eighth to
rally past Duke for an 8-6
nonconference win at Durham
Bulls Athletic Park on Tuesday
night.
...
More... |
|
|
|
|
|
BASEBALL |
Monmouth shuts out Pirates |
GREENVILLE — Monmouth pitchers Ricky
Dennis and Justin Andrews combined for a
one-hit shutout in a 4-0 win at East
Carolina on Sunday to prevent a three-game
sweep in the series by the Pirates.
...
More... |
|
ECU takes series with Monmouth |
GREENVILLE — East Carolina scored
three runs in the bottom of the eighth
inning for a 5-2 win over Monmouth on
Saturday, giving the Pirates a series win.
ECU (13-6), ranked No. 17 nationally by D1
Baseball, edged the Hawks 4-3 on Friday
night.
...
More... |
|
Pirates rally past Monmouth |
GREENVILLE — East Carolina scored
three runs in the last two innings to top
Monmouth 4-3 on Friday night. With the score
tied at 3 with one out in the bottom of the
ninth, Parker Lamm singled up the middle for
the Pirates. Charlie Yorgen's double put
Lamm at third. He came home on a wild pitch
for the game-ending run.
...
More... |
|
|
|
|
|
BASEBALL |
Long night for Pirates |
GREENVILLE
— East Carolina's youthful
midweek pitching corps was no
match for the meat of the North
Carolina order as an eight-run
outburst in the second inning
served as a launching pad for a
17-4 Tar Heels win on Tuesday
night.
A
crowd of 5,213, the third
largest ever at Clark-LeClair
Stadium and biggest this season,
saw the Pirates strike first but
the excitement of a possible
third straight win over UNC
didn't last long.
...
Story, pictures & postgame
audio... |
Pictured: East
Carolina met on the
mound often in a
17-4 home loss to
North Carolina
Tuesday evening as
eight different
pitchers made
appearances against
the Tar Heels. (W.A.
Myatt photo) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
By
Al Myatt
©2016 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
VIEW MOBILE VERSION OF THIS PAGE
Spring football at East
Carolina is a time of transition. A virtually new coaching staff is
installing new systems and the Pirates are in the process of
determining a starting quarterback.
The programs that ECU
will face the first four games during the nonconference portion of
the schedule are also in transition to varying degrees.
Here we'll take a look
at the teams the Pirates will match up against before getting into
the American Athletic Conference games.
A year ago, ECU had
nonconference games with Virginia Tech and Brigham Young in between
AAC opponents.
The schedule is more
compartmentalized this season. The out-of-conference contests are up
front and then the league schedule follows.
The demanding travel for
games at Southern Methodist and BYU in successive weeks in 2015 is
thankfully missing from the upcoming slate.
Once the Pirates get
into the AAC, they will have a home game followed by a road game for
the remainder of the regular season, which makes for a nice balance.
ECU will start off the
year with home games against Western Carolina and N.C. State before
road games at South Carolina and Virginia Tech.
The Pirates are not by
themselves in terms of going through changes.
Western Carolina (Sept.
3)
The quarterback search
is on during spring ball in Cullowhee. Troy Mitchell, the career
all-purpose yards leader for the Catamounts, was a senior on the
2015 team which went 7-4 overall and 5-2 in the Southern Conference.
Mitchell completed 208
of 330 passes for 2,337 yards with 14 touchdowns and eight
interceptions last year. He ran 96 times for 490 yards with three
scores.
WCU has run a spread
offense with some read option under coordinator Brad Glenn.
Rising junior Wes
Holcombe saw action in all 11 games last year, completing 16 of 28
tosses for 130 yards without a score or an interception. Rising
sophomores Tyrie Adams and Kalen Whitlow have also been taking
snaps.
Adams was the SoCon high
jump champion as a freshman, clearing 2.09 meters. Whitlow's
brother, Jalen Whitlow, is a former starting quarterback at
Kentucky.
The Catamounts are a
Football Championship Subdivision program with a limit of 63
scholarships.
After making trips to
Tennessee and Texas A&M last season, the returning WCU players
should not face a severe adjustment to the atmosphere at
Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
Five of the Catamounts'
top six tacklers are back, which creates the possibility that the
defense can buy some time for the team until the new quarterback
settles in.
N.C. State (Sept. 10)
N.C. State brought in
offensive coordinator Eli Drinkwitz in January to replace Matt
Canada, who was reportedly a candidate for the head coaching
position at ECU prior to his dismissal.
The change was made
after the Pack went 7-6 overall and 3-5 in the ACC in 2015 with a
51-28 loss to Mississippi State in the Belk Bowl.
Jacoby Brissett
completed 237 of 395 passes as a senior for 2,662 yards with 20 TDs
and six picks. He also provided a running dimension with 139 keepers
for a net of 370 yards with six trips to the end zone.
Rising redshirt
sophomore Jalan McClendon was Brissett's backup in 2015.
McClendon saw limited
action in eight games, completing eight of 14 for 69 yards.
There are others in the
QB mix for Drinkwitz, who has been a part of successful programs at
Auburn, Arkansas State and Boise State. Characterized as a disciple
of Auburn coach Gus Malzahn, Drinkwitz called a Broncos offense that
averaged 39.1 points and over 500 yards per game last year.
The Wolfpack's season
opener on Sept. 1 in Raleigh with William & Mary will get plenty of
attention in the Pirates football office before the game in
Greenville to see what NCSU is doing and the personnel that's doing
it.
At South Carolina (Sept.
17)
The changes are
comprehensive for the Gamecocks with Will Muschamp emerging as Steve
Spurrier's successor.
The former Florida coach
takes over a program that managed just three wins in 2015.
Pirates coach Scottie
Montgomery should have a feel for what Kurt Roper will provide as
co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach of the Gamecocks.
Roper was offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Duke from
2008-2013.
Montgomery was promoted
from Blue Devils receivers coach to take on Roper's former
responsibilities when Roper left to join Muschamp and the Gators in
2014.
Roper will be looking at
Perry Orth as the most experienced returning quarterback for the
Gamecocks. Orth played in all 12 games last year, completing 143 of
262 attempts for 1,929 yards with 12 TDs and nine interceptions.
True freshman Brandon
McIlwain also is getting some snaps this spring after enrolling
early. Connor Mitch, who started the season-opening 17-13 win over
North Carolina last year, and Michael Scarnecchia are also in the QB
picture.
Lorenzo Nunez, who
started twice last season at quarterback, is in a leg cast for the
remainder of spring ball.
Muschamp moved up the
ladder as a defensive coordinator at Texas and Auburn. He was 28-21
in four seasons as head coach at Florida, 17-15 in the Southeastern
Conference.
The contest with ECU
will be South Carolina's first home game under Muschamp, following
league trips to Vanderbilt and Mississippi State.
At Virginia Tech (Sept.
24)
Virginia Tech had the
reputation for being rather conservative offensively and playing to
Bud Foster's defense during the lengthy regime of alumnus Frank
Beamer as coach.
Foster remained in place
in the aftermath of Beamer's retirement when Justin Fuente was
summoned from Memphis. The Tigers were 9-4 overall in 2015 and 5-3
in the AAC.
The Tigers averaged 40.2
points last year, 11th nationally in the Football Championship
Subdivision, which indicates a potential for the Hokies to increase
their offensive production.
New Virginia Tech
offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Brad Cornelson came
with Fuente from Memphis.
Brenden Motley, a
redshirt senior, appears to be the heir apparent to Michael Brewer
at quarterback. Motley started six games last year, completing 93 of
167 passes for 1,172 yards with seven interceptions and three
scores.
One of his starts was at
ECU while Brewer was hurt. Motley completed 20 of 35 against the
Pirates for 281 yards and a TD. He ran 19 times for 85 yards and a
score in
a 35-28 loss.
Former ECU defensive
coordinator Brian Mitchell, who was on Ruffin McNeill's staff at ECU
as defensive coordinator from 2010 to 2012, was named cornerbacks
coach on Fuente's staff earlier this month after spending three
years at West Virginia.
The Pirates will have
tape of the Hokies to review from games with Liberty, Tennessee and
Boston College before ECU makes the trek to Blacksburg.
The matchup with the
Volunteers will be on the infield at Bristol (TN) Motor Speedway.