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...]

East Carolina and Gardner-Webb have one win between them this season and that lone victory is not on the Pirates' side of the ledger. After three matchups with favored teams, including road trips to No. 2 Michigan and Appalachian State, the schedule appears to give the Pirates a break with a contest at home against a Football Championship Subdivision opponent, Gardner-Webb, … [Read more...]