East Carolina expanded its lead in its football series with Memphis to 18-8 with a dramatic 31-27 win Saturday at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium on Senior Day.

The outcome gave the Pirates a 3-game winning streak in close contests with the Tigers. In the preceding matchup on Oct. 15, 2022, ECU edged Memphis, 47-45, in four overtimes in Greenville.

Holton Ahlers passed for 304 yards and threw the winning 2-point conversion to C.J. Johnson in that epic battle.

The previous year, the Pirates became bowl eligible with a 30-29 overtime win at Memphis as the Tigers failed on a game-ending 2-point attempt.

Down 27-24 with 70 seconds remaining Saturday, another overtime appeared possible with ECU at the Memphis 31-yard line — within Nick Maggie’s field goal range.

ECU’s trend of winning close games with the Tigers continued.

Katin Houser’s touchdown pass to Parker Mangrum put the Pirates ahead. An interception by Mike Wright Jr. sealed the outcome as moved ECU to 7-3 overall and 5-1 in the American Conference.

“Just amazing,” said Coach Blake Harrell before expressing his appreciation to every segment of the Pirate community. “It takes everyone.”

Next Man(grum) up

Payton Mangrum was not a household name to Pirate Nation before making the decisive leaping catch with 1:08 left.

He was ready when needed after Yannick Smith went out with a foot injury. Mangrum, who wears glasses, initially walked on at South Carolina and played primarily on special teams. He is a native of Greenville, SC.   He transferred to ECU for a graduate season after the 2024 season.

Coming into the Memphis game, he had six catches this season with a for 93 yards.

He had caught a pass similar to the game winner in practice last week as the Pirates worked on their 2-minute operation.

“We talk about preparing for your moment, always going to work and you never know when that moment’s going to come,” Harrell said. “Payton has been exceptional on special teams this year. I think he had six catches offensively, so nobody expects him to make the play.

“But when that moment came, he was ready. He was prepared. … It’s always next man up.”

Mr. Wright 

Mike Wright Jr. has been amazing with his versatility. He came to ECU from Northwestern, but the Atlanta native was previously at Mississippi State (2023) and Vanderbilt (2020-22).

He was in the prevent package defensively when the versatile 6-feet, 4-inch redshirt senior extended up for the final pick.

“Mike Wright was obviously prepared for his moment,” Harrell said. ” … I don’t know what he can’t do. He’s played receiver.  He’s played running back. He’s played quarterback. He’s thrown the ball, caught the ball, carried the ball. He’s played corner. He’s made a tackle. He’s made a pick. He’s blitzed. He punted the ball. He can return kicks.

“You never know. I mean we will find out what else he can do. I don’t think he can play O-line. I mean I don’t know about that. He might could rush the passer. We’ll see.

“It’s not just that he’s a really good player. He’s an outstanding person and just a great representative of the Pirates. He does an exceptional job of leading our football team with his attitude and leadership. Just so proud of him.”

UTSA home streak

ECU plays Texas San Antonio at the Alamodome on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. (ESPN+).

The Pirates will have to do something no other team in the Roadrunners’ conference has been able to do since Jeff Traylor became coach prior to the 2020 season. UTSA has won 24 straight against Conference USA and American Conference teams at home.

The Roadrunners are 5-5 overall and 3-3 in the American this season.

ECU was dealt a 41-27 loss in San Antonio in 2023 during a 2-10 season for the Pirates.

A 30-20 win over the Roadrunners in Greenville last season was the opening league game in 2024 and marked the final win for ECU in the Mike Houston coaching era.

McCown back

Owen McCown is back as quarterback for UTSA.

He completed 24 of 49 for 251 yards with one TD, two picks and he was sacked twice.

His numbers through 10 games this season show that he has completed 208 of 309 passes for 2,186 yards with 20 scores and six interceptions.

The left-handed McCown appeared in four games as a true freshman at Colorado in 2022. His dad, Josh, had an 18-year career in the NFL.

“He kind of reminds me a little bit of Holton Ahlers,” Harrell said. “I don’t know if it’s just because he’s left-handed or just because he does such a great job of getting the ball in playmakers’ hands.”

Roadrunners running back Robert Henry has 1,042 rushing yards and nine TDs.

Recruiting impact

The value of the dramatic triumph over Memphis may show up in future recruiting classes.

“We had, I don’t know, 200 guys here,” Harrell said. “Again, high school recruits and then some unofficial, official visits going on. Just for them to see that and see what kind of atmosphere we have here in Greenville, we have here at East Carolina, was pretty special.

“You can always talk about it or tell a guy about it or show him a video. … But until you see something, then you really feel it when somebody tells you. … When you see it with your own eyes, then you believe it.”

Shirtless support

Although he was involved in the game, Harrell did take note of a section of bare-chested males who were waving their shirts in support of the Pirates.

Shedding shirts has become a national trend.

“I got chill bumps just kind of seeing all of ’em,” Harrell said. “And it was just like you must’ve thought they were giving away free money up there. That must’ve been where the drink vouchers were.

“You could just see everybody sprinting up there. I don’t know if it was college students or 12-year-olds or 40-year-olds, but everybody was sprinting up there and just getting into it.

“That was pretty special just to see that and thank you to those folks who did that. I thought that was the spark we needed there.”