Bonesville: The Authoritative Independent Voice of East Carolina

News & Features from ECU, the AAC and Beyond

  • Home
  • News & Features
  • Recruiting
  • Photos
  • Audio
  • Roundup
  • Comments
  • Legacy Archives

• ECU 2022 Football Schedule
• ECU 2022-23 Hoops Schedule
• ECU 2023 Baseball Schedule

— Recruiting Thumbnails —
Football: 2023 • Hoops: 2023-24

From the Anchor Desk
Pirates not out of bowl picture yet

October 8, 2019 By Brian Bailey 1 Comment

Tweet
Share
Share
Pin

East Carolina enters the team’s bye week with a 3-3 record after six games. For a program that has only won three games in each of the last three seasons the improvement is most evident.

Still, there is a long way to go. Thursday night’s loss to Temple was a great example of how far the program still has to go.

“There will be a day where we win those games,” said Pirate coach Mike Houston after the Owls prevailed 27-17. “We will learn to compete.”

Temple beat ECU for the sixth straight time. Last year’s loss in Philadelphia was a blowout. This game was competitive. The Owls just wore down on the smaller Pirates.

One NFL scout told me that Temple had perhaps the best defensive line on the East Coast. That includes the Power 5 schools. The Owls were men among boys at times in the game.

Still, the Pirates under Mike Houston certainly gave Temple a battle, especially early on.

“I loved our energy in the first quarter,” Houston said. “I didn’t like the play at the end of the first half. We just need to learn how to compete all four quarters. I have very little patience for guys holding their head. You have to compete every snap and we are trying to instill that in our program. We had a chance to win against a very good football team.”

East Carolina coach Mike Houston positions himself near the sideline during a break in the action in the Pirates’ American Athletic Conference contest with Temple Thursday night at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. ECU doesn’t play again until Oct.19 at Central Florida. (Photo by Al Myatt)

The Pirates are halfway to six wins, which could put ECU in the bowl talk from the American. Sources tell me that ECU would have to obtain a waiver to go to a bowl at 6-6, because two of the wins would be over FCS opponents. The second FCS team on the schedule came about because of the problems with Virginia Tech over the hurricane cancellation last year.

Winning games on the back half of the schedule will prove to be difficult.

Coach Houston and company had this past weekend off after the Thursday night loss. They will also be off this coming weekend before traveling to Central Florida in Orlando on October 19th. Beating UCF in Orlando will be extremely difficult.

ECU closes out October with a home game against South Florida. The game against the Bulls is a big key towards getting to that six-win plateau.

The Pirates then host Cincinnati to open the month of November. ECU will close out the regular season with road games at Southern Methodist and Connecticut followed by a home game against Tulsa.

On paper, the most winnable games left are USF, UConn and Tulsa.

The Pirates are .500 halfway thru the season. That’s certainly not where Mike Houston wants to be with his team.

“We are 3-3 and have played better every week,” Houston said. “We did some things very nicely and we reverted some in the loss.”

The Pirates will have to continue to play better each week to have a chance at the postseason.

Regardless of how it plays out, it’s evident that this ECU football team is much improved from a year ago. These Pirates are competitive for the most part in the American.

Houston still needs another recruiting class or two, but I believe he will certainly get it done.

We’ve got half a season to go. Time to take a deep breath and enjoy the weekend off.

Things will get tougher for ECU after the break when play in the AAC continues.

ECU 2019 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
PIRATES NOT OUT OF BOWL PICTURE YET
HERRING FOLLOWS TESTED PATH TO OPPORTUNITY
LIGHTS GO OUT AS ECU PLAYS OWLS CLOSER
TEMPLE GROUND GAME SINKS PIRATES
AUDIO: MIKE HOUSTON POSTGAME
GAME DAY PHOTO GALLERY
AUDIO: BONESVILLE PREGAME PODCAST

Related

Tweet
Share
Share
Pin

Filed Under: News & Features

Comments

  1. '83 Buc says

    October 8, 2019 at 7:44 am

    Brian, thanks for the ever optimistic outlook. True the team is looking better each week. Looking at the schedule pre-season I was looking at the South Florida game as my best chance to get to Greenville for a game so I plan to be in the stands hopefully pulling the Pirates through. Thanks for all your good work over the years.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent News & Features

Basketball News
Pirates top SMU, 77-72

VIEW FROM THE EAST: NORTH TEXAS
The new American

Basketball News
ECU rally falls short

ECU Recruiting News
More help is on the way to ECU secondary

Basketball News
Porter leads Shockers past Pirates

VIEW FROM THE EAST: FAU
The new American

Basketball News
Pirates rally past Tulsa to snap losing streak

ECU Recruiting News
Portal delivers blue chipper RaRa Dillworth

VIEW FROM THE EAST: CHARLOTTE
The new American

Basketball News
Owls pull away from ECU in second half

More News & Features

ECU Schedules

  • ECU 2021 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2020-21 Basketball Schedule
  • ECU 2021 Baseball Schedule

ECU Recruiting

  • Football Recruiting Class of 2021
  • Football Recruiting Class of 2020
  • Football Recruiting Class of 2019
  • Football Recruiting Class of 2018
  • Football Recruiting Class of 2017
  • Hoops Recruiting Class of 2021-22
  • Hoops Recruiting Class of 2020-21
  • Hoops Recruiting Class of 2019-20
  • Hoops Recruiting Class of 2018-19
  • Hoops Recruiting Class of 2017-18
  • Hoops Recruiting Class of 2016-17

Past Football Schedules

  • ECU 2020 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2019 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2018 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2017 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2016 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2015 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2014 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2013 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2012 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2011 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2010 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2009 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2008 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2007 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2006 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2005 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2004 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2003 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2002 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2001 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2000 Football Schedule
  • Historical Schedules

Past Basketball Schedules

  • ECU 2019-20 Basketball Schedule
  • ECU 2018-19 Basketball Schedule
  • ECU 2017-18 Basketball Schedule
  • ECU 2016-17 Basketball Schedule
  • ECU 2000-2015 Basketball Archives

Past Baseball Schedules

  • ECU 2020 Baseball Schedule
  • ECU 2019 Baseball Schedule
  • ECU 2018 Baseball Schedule
  • ECU 2017 Baseball Schedule
  • ECU 2016 Baseball Schedule
  • ECU 2015 Baseball Schedule
  • ECU 2001-2014 Baseball Archives

Recruiting Class Profiles

ECU Recruiting News
More help is on the way to ECU secondary

ECU Recruiting News
Portal delivers blue chipper RaRa Dillworth

Class of 2023 Early Signing Review (UPDATED)
Pirates tap transfer portal for more talent

AAC Early Signing Review
New members dive into AAC recruiting wars

Class of 2023 Early Signing Review
First wave of recruits just the beginning

ECU Recruiting News
Brown finds way to ECU through portal

ECU Recruiting News
Transfer safety McDaniel destined for ECU

ECU Recruiting News
Pirates land coveted Spartanburg quarterback

ECU Recruiting News
Swift ECU recruit ‘in a class of his own’

ECU Recruiting News
Pirates win out for Georgia prep linebacker

ECU Recruiting News
Linebacker with pedigree charts path to ECU

ECU Recruiting News
Pirates find a gem in Palmetto State receiver

ECU Recruiting News
Official visit swayed North Mecklenburg star

ECU Recruiting News
Physical Georgia receiver poses tough matchup

ECU Recruiting News
Pirates project lineman Durant as center

ECU Recruiting News
ECU spotted potential in Conley lineman

ECU Recruiting News
ECU lands fleet-footed Georgia defensive back

ECU Recruiting News
‘Football town’ helps draw Short to Pirates

ECU Recruiting News
ECU targets edge rushers

ECU Recruiting News
Pirates aim high for interior line talent

ECU Recruiting News
Well stocked Pirates enter fray for O-linemen

ECU Recruiting News
ECU faces uphill battle in hunt for tight ends

ECU Recruiting News
Pirates cast wide net for wide receivers

ECU Recruiting News
Loaded Pirates still courting running backs

ECU Recruiting News
ECU targets quarterbacks of the future

Recent Web Roundups

GREG VACEK'S WEB ROUNDUP
Monday, February 6, 2023

GREG VACEK'S WEB ROUNDUP
Sunday, February 5, 2023

GREG VACEK'S WEB ROUNDUP
Saturday, February 4, 2023

Writer Archives

  • Bonesville Staff
  • Brian Bailey
  • Sammy Batten
  • Bethany Bradsher
  • Brett Friedlander
  • Al Myatt
  • NFF
  • Greg Vacek
  • Danny Whitford

Recent Web Roundups

GREG VACEK'S WEB ROUNDUP
Monday, February 6, 2023

GREG VACEK'S WEB ROUNDUP
Sunday, February 5, 2023

GREG VACEK'S WEB ROUNDUP
Saturday, February 4, 2023

GREG VACEK'S WEB ROUNDUP
Friday, February 3, 2023

GREG VACEK'S WEB ROUNDUP
Thursday, February 2, 2023

GREG VACEK'S WEB ROUNDUP
Wednesday, February 1, 2023

GREG VACEK'S WEB ROUNDUP
Monday, January 30, 2023

More Web Roundups

Copyright © 2023 Bonesville.net · Website by Seaport Webworks. · Log in · Privacy Policy