East Carolina coach Blake Harrell fielded questions from reporters at his Monday press conference. He praised both the offensive and defensive efforts in the Pirates’ 45-14 Saturday road victory over American Conference foe Temple before turning his attention this Saturday’s league game with cross-state rival Charlotte at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium (3:00 p.m., ESPN+). Harrell noted that the matchup with the 49ers would be ECU’s first daytime home game of the year. Charlotte’s relatively young FBS program has won both games in the series, dominating the Pirates 55-24 last season after squeaking out a 10-7 victory in 2023. ECU enters the contest 3-1 in the conference, 5-3 overall, and is on the verge of bowl eligibility. The 49ers, under first-year coach Tim Albin, are 0-5, 1-7.

Play the YouTube clip of the presser below (16 minutes).

Courtesy of ECU Athletics

Courtesy of ECU Athletics