East Carolina is preparing to take the national stage as it hosts Southern Methodist on Thursday night for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff. The American Athletic Conference contest will be shown on ESPN. “I know it’s Monday to most people," said Pirates coach Mike Houston from TowneBank Tower at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. "It’s Wednesday to us. We’ve got Wednesday afternoon practice this … [Read more...]

It was the 2011 season. Ruffin McNeill was in his second year as coach at his alma mater and East Carolina was 1-4. In fact, the Pirates were coming off a setback in Houston — just as ECU (1-4) finds itself this week after a mystifying 24-17 loss at Rice. The '11 Pirates were dealt a crushing 56-3 loss at Houston, the only points provided by Mike Barbour's 54-yard field … [Read more...]

HOUSTON — East Carolina's last hope for a win in its American Athletic Conference opener at Rice ended with Alex Flinn being flushed out of the pocket and tackled for a loss at his own 39 with 24 seconds left on a 4th-and-14 from the ECU 46. A scan of the statistics would indicate a more favorable outcome than the actual 24-17 loss to the Owls. ECU led 391-277 in total yards … [Read more...]

East Carolina had its first victory dinner of the season on Sunday as a follow-up to a 44-0 win over visiting Gardner-Webb on Saturday. "It was good," said Pirates coach Mike Houston. "Kids came, families came, everybody was there. So, it was a pretty festive environment." The fare became familiar in the last two seasons as ECU had 15 wins. "Steak and shrimp," Houston … [Read more...]

GREENVILLE — Needing a win for confidence and momentum going into the start of the American Athletic Conference schedule, East Carolina put together a thorough 44-0 victory over Gardner-Webb on Saturday night. The Pirates recorded their first shutout since a season-starting 38-0 win at Duke in 2000. The Bulldogs were limited to 107 total yards, the fewest by an ECU opponent … [Read more...]