East Carolina coach Blake Harrell fielded questions from reporters at his Monday press conference. He made positive comments about the offensive, defensive and special teams efforts in the Pirates’ 48-22 homecoming rout of American Conference foe and cross-state rival Charlotte before turning his attention to this Saturday’s challenging league clash with Memphis (4:00 p.m., ESPNU). The contest with the Tigers will mark ECU’s senior day and will be the final home game of the season. Harrell indicated that he expects the degree of success of the running games of both teams will be a key factor in determining the outcome. Both teams have already achieved bowl eligibility. ECU enters the game 4-1 in the conference, 6-3 overall. Memphis, under sixth-year coach Ryan Silverfield, is 4-2, 8-2.

Play the YouTube clip of the presser below (17 minutes).

Courtesy of ECU Athletics

Courtesy of ECU Athletics