East Carolina has been dealt two Thursday night American Conference losses on the road in overtime going into a league game at home against Temple on Saturday at 3 p.m. (ESPN+).
The Pirates are 3-4 overall and 1-2 in the league. It’s not much of a stretch to say that ECU could be 6-1 and 3-0.
“We’ve lost three G6 (group of six) games, two in overtime,” said Pirates coach Blake Harrell on Monday. “You’re talking about the end of regulation, you’re tied up (30-17 loss at Alabama-Birmingham and 41-34 loss at Memphis) and then one by three points (27-24 loss in Greenville to Appalachian State, Sept. 12). So very close.
“Sometimes those games are more frustrating than going and losing by 14 or 20 just because you know you’re that close.
“You know you’re a play away. Hey, it’s this break or that break and it doesn’t really come down to one play at the end of the ball game. It’s a number of plays throughout the game that we’d all love to have back and go attack and have a different outcome to it.”
Temple (2-5, 1-2 American) has three losses by a total of 12 points.
“You look at Temple,” Harrell said. ” … They’ve had some close ball games. It could have went the other way, just a play or two here or there and they’re probably looking at a totally different season.
“They were up 14 with two minutes left versus Toledo and ended up losing in overtime (49-48, Sept. 19). I’m sure they would love to have that one back. The Army game (21-17 Temple loss, Sept. 25), I’m sure they would love to have that back as well. …
“Similar in some ways as far as you catch a break here or there, but at the end of the day, like I told our team just a few minutes ago at the end of practice, we can’t leave it down to one play.
“We can’t leave it down to one call or this or that. We’ve got to go attack it from start to finish. Do our job. If we’ll do that, the game won’t be close at the end. We’ll be comfortable. We’ll be celebrating in the locker room.”
Quarterback situation
Harrrell mentioned true freshman Trey Burke when commenting on Pirate radio Thursday night regarding the quarterback dynamic.
He said evaluations will continue at his news conference Monday.
Emory Williams started at Memphis and completed five of 13 for 61 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions. The Pirates went to Mitch Griffis in the second quarter. He was 14-for-26 for 199 yards with one TD and two picks.
Memphis defensive back Ellis Ellis Jr. appeared to push Landon Sides off his route before making a game-ending pick.
“Everybody around the quarterback is starting to play better,” Harrell said. “We saw some good things in the offense on Thursday of last week, over 400 yards of offense, scored some points, moving the ball down the field.
“But we also want to be very careful that we don’t just think, ‘Hey, we’ve arrived.’ We’ve got to keep evaluating, keep putting the guys in the best situation.
“I thought Mitch did some good things in the game. Like to see him, obviously, take better care of the football.
“We just made a decision during the game (regarding Williams) that we weren’t really getting what we needed to get out of the offense. Made a flip. (Griffis) brought a little juice to us. We’ll see how that continues in practice this week.”
Checking out the Owls
When Harrell became ECU’s interim head coach on Oct. 20, 2024, the first team the Pirates played was Temple in Greenville. The Harrell era began with a 56-34 win over the Owls.
K.C. Keeler’s first season as coach at Temple was 2025. The Owls went 5-7 overall and 3-5 in the American last season.
“They’ve had a bye week,” Harrell noted. “They’ve had 14 days to prepare. K.C. Keeler does a great job there. Very solid on the offensive side of the ball. He’s made a few changes on the defense side of the ball, but those guys are still a four-man front, playing various covers over there. They do some good things. They’ve got some talented guys.”
ECU downed Temple, 45-14, in Philadelphia last year.
“Offensively, you’ll see a system very similar to last year,” Harrell said. “You’ve got the zone inside, some actions off of that. Quarterback run game is a factor and (Ajani Sheppard) does a good job pushing the ball down the field.”
Sheppard is averaging 161.0 yards per game passing He is completing 61.7 percent of his throws with eight touchdowns and no interceptions. Keveun Mason is Temple’s leading rusher with 13.4 carries for 73.3 yards per game.
Temple is scoring 25.7 points per game while allowing 28.0.
Focus from within
ECU’s preparation involves knowing the opponent but also being ready to compete as the most determined version of the Pirates.
“We’re going to respect our opponent, know our opponent inside and out, but at the end of the day, it’s about how we respond,” Harrell said. “Obviously the last two weeks have been difficult. … How we respond in life I think is all that matters. … You’ve got to get up, go back at it, go back to work, keep fighting, keep pushing forward. That’s what we’ve got to do right now.”
Late struggles
ECU has seen 14-point leads erased in the last two overtime losses.
“A big part of that is we can help ourselves,” Harrell said. “In the second half last week there were some third down, fourth down key situations where we’ve got to get stops and get off the field.
“We probably need to rotate guys earlier just to make sure those guys are fresh in the fourth quarter. That way we don’t lose a little bit of our oomph in the fourth quarter, second half and we keep pressing forward.”
Demanding schedule
Harrell was glad to be playing a Saturday game at home.
“Yeah, those Thursday night games,” he said. “You’re looking at a 12-day stretch in there. We had three games and two Thursday night games.
“You’re just out of your schedule and routine. That’s never an excuse. We’ve always got to go play the game. The other team does too. But it is nice to be back home, back in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, back with Pirate Nation, playing on a Saturday, all those things.
“Halloween, all the things that come with being here in Greenville, excited about that, excited about that opportunity. We’ve got five opportunities left. The most important one is this Saturday and I’m sure glad it’s in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.”
Sides steps up
North Texas transfer Landon Sides had his best game as a Pirate with seven catches for 130 yards and one touchdown at Memphis.
Sides was out with a hamstring injury for several games.
“Proud of Landon, proud of his efforts,” Harrell said. “It’s good to see him back. That’s the Landon we saw throughout the summer.
“He’s fully back, full speed healthy now. He made some big plays and clutch plays. Hey, it’s a fourth down, you need a touchdown and he certainly hauls it in. He made a big 2-point conversion down there as well.”
Indoor practice facility ready
The Isley Performance Center and Wornum Family Field, which will serve as the long-awaited indoor football practice facility, will be the site of a ribbon cutting and dedication on Friday at 4 p.m.
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