East Carolina coach Blake Harrell noted that Rice would be playing in Greenville for the first time since 2009 when the Pirates open their 2026 American Conference schedule at home against the Owls on Saturday at 4 p.m. (ESPN+).

Rice was among six schools to join the American from Conference USA on July 1, 2023.

The Owls took a 24-17 win over ECU in Houston on Sept. 30, 2023, on a 40-yard scoring pass by J.T. Daniels to Landon Ransom-Goelz with 6:24 remaining. The much-traveled Daniels had previously been at Southern California, Georgia and West Virginia.

The Pirates went 2-10 overall and 1-7 in the American in 2023 after a 30-3 loss at eventual national champion Michigan in the season opener.

Series with Rice

The Owls lead the series with the Pirates, 3-2, with each team winning all of the matchups on its home field.

ECU won, 49-13, over Rice in Greenville in 2009 before a crowd of 43,023. The Pirates won their second straight C-USA championship under Skip Holtz that season, topping Houston, 38-32, at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium in the title game.

Parallels

ECU appears to be better than the ’23 team that struggled after the loss in Ann Arbor, but there are related factors. The Pirates started the season three years ago with Mason Garcia at quarterback and later turned to Alex Flinn.

ECU started this season with a 48-10 loss at Alabama, now ranked No. 6 going into a home game with No. 2 Georgia on Saturday. The current Pirates have switched from Mitch Griffis at quarterback to Emory Williams.

One difference is that Garcia and Flinn were developed within the program and neither had taken significant snaps before 2023, while Griffis and Williams both came in prior to this season with starting experience at Power Four programs.

In 2023, ECU defeated Gardner-Webb, a Football Championship Subdivision opponent, 44-0, to improve to 1-3 going into the contest at Rice.

The Pirates are 2-2 this season after turning back FCS foe N.C. Central, 42-9, at home before an open date last weekend.

The QBs

Harrell commented on the quarterbacks on Monday.

Williams completed 25 of 35 for 341 yards with three touchdowns and one interception in his first start at ECU against NCCU.

Griffis has completed 36 of 67 for 425 yards with three TDs and two picks for the season.

“We’re playing better at that position, and we need to play better in that position than we did earlier in the year too to go win football games,” Harrell said. “Emory did some good things last game.

“Mitch has continued to do some good things in practice. I think we’ll continue to grow with that position. Their best football is ahead of them.”

Shout out to Gavin 

Harrell follows baseball as an Atlanta fan.

He gave a shout out to former ECU pitcher Gavin Williams on Monday.

Williams started game two of the divisional series with the Chicago White Sox for host Cleveland. Williams had 11 strikeouts in five innings but was not involved in the decision as the White Sox rallied for a 2-0 series lead with a 4-3 win.

Option Owls

Harrell has previous experience with option offenses in his career and noted the challenge at hand.

The ECU coach compared the attack the Owls will present with the option offenses the Pirates have seen from Army and Navy.

Rice (1-4) is coming off a 16-14 loss at home to Texas-San Antonio in its league opener.

“They’re going to run the triple option,” Harrell said. “They’re going to shorten the game. UTSA really only had about nine possessions in that game.

“They’re going to shorten down much like we would see the academies do. … The only difference is you’re going to see these guys out of the gun. They’re not going to be under center like an academy team.”

Jacurri Brown

Owls quarterback Jacurri Brown came to Rice by way of Miami and Central Florida. He has passed for 410 yards and run for 495, leading the team in both categories.

“Big, tall kid who has explosive runs all over the field,” Harrell said. “He has a live arm, too.”

The Owls are averaging 243.8 yards rushing per game, which ranks 17th nationally.

Homecoming

This will be homecoming weekend for Pirates, who have a 56-13 record in homecoming games going back to 1955.

It will be a homecoming of sorts for second-year Rice coach Scott Abell, who coached previously in the state at Davidson, winning two Pioneer League titles. The Wildcats led the FCS in rushing six times.

Abell played minor league baseball before becoming a successful high school coach in Virginia. He won three ODAC championships at Washington & Lee.

Abell’s offense is called the gun option.

Restful weekend

Harrell spent time with his family last weekend before getting into the demands of the American Conference schedule.

One of his daughters is a freshman at Rose High and the Harrell family took in the Rampants’ 43-0 win at South Central on Friday night.

Harrell was home watching games with his family on Saturday.

Quick turnaround

The Pirates will follow a two-week break between games with s short week before their second league encounter at Alabama-Birmingham on Thursday, Oct. 15 at 7:30 p.m. (ESPN).

Navy demise

The Blazers dealt Navy, the American’s preseason favorite, a 24-20 defeat at UAB on Sept. 25.

Navy is 0-2 in the league and 1-3 overall with a 14-9 nonconference loss at Air Force on Saturday.

Upbeat

Harrell believes ECU is ready to start league play.

“We’re trending in the right direction,” he said. “We’re getting guys back healthy at the right time. We’ve got to go play our best football each and every game.”