Your summary is labeled “MONDAY”, but it appears to be the same as SUNDAY’S summary.

Thurs. night overall I thought the Pirates looked solid, particularly Houser and a very good running game that allows KH to do his thing. Temple came very close to beating Navy last week, and at home upcoming I think will give ECU everything it can handle. Memphis stunningly losing to UAB last night says that ECU very definitely has a legit chance to compete for the top of the league.

Winning is always good, whether it’s accomplished in a nearly perfect fashion, or when it looks as ugly as sin. This year, the Pirates seem destined to keep us guessing. Flashes of offensive power, sprinkled with stupid penalties. Interrupting a strong rushing performance with “cutesy” wrinkles that seem to serve one purpose, be a “cutesy” wrinkle. We must also accept that Houser can put very little “touch” on his passes, strictly fastballs. That’s ok, if you structure the route trees to protect him from needing to throw a “touch” pass. Not easy, but doable. Nice to see Coach Harrell push the running attack when it’s working. The Pirate defense is worrisome, being porous against the pass, thereby negating solid performances against the run. It appears some players can’t even identify the player they should cover, much less maintain coverage. Tulsa didn’t have the skill set of Tulane, yet exposed the Pirates defense on several occasions. This prevented the Pirates from putting away Tulsa far earlier in the second half. With 7 games in the books, the Pirates have a chance to finish the season strong. On paper, only Memphis looks out of reach. The Pirates certainly have the “potential” to run the table, but have failed to show up against quality opponents. A 9-3 record, given the success of Memphis so far this season, would go far to heal some of the disappointments in 2025. The Pirates can’t afford to look ahead, and must really focus on what is immediately in front of them.

The TO on the fake punt was odd… second-guessing?? Too bad, as you pointed out, the fake worked perfectly. I thought the sideline-initiated fiasco at the goal line was simply stupid. Houser got the Pirates offense to the line quickly, as he has been taught to do, thereby freezing the Tulane defense. The sideline sends in a sub, causing the penalty. If you were writing a script, you couldn’t make this up.

What a very odd game, including many critical, first-game-of-the-season type mistakes by both teams, particularly Tulane; truth be told, and not to take anything away from ECU's defense (which manhandled TU's run game), but in some ways, TU itself was ECU's best defense. Yet the oddest miscue of all was when ECU called timeout on itself in virtual simultaneity with a fake punt on a critical 4th down play that worked perfectly, only to be nullified by the TO! ...never seen that before; it was painful to watch. In the end, Tulane's ability to pass and ECU's inability to do so was the difference in this one. Re the latter, Houser was generally not well protected, and ECU could not pressure Retzlaff. This would've been a quality win that TU sort of tried to hand the Pirates.

Stop me if you’ve heard this before, “Offensively, we couldn’t get it going. Didn’t think we had great energy in the first half.” Once again, the Pirate offense spent the first half sputtering as Tulane’s speed rush punched the Pirates offense in the mouth. It seemed as if the Pirates o-line had not prepared for Tulane’s defensive calling card. That’s hard to believe, considering every assessment of the Green Wave defense points to their rush abilities. What is also hard to believe is why the Pirates offense took so long to exploit the known Tulane vulnerability, run defense. I think Coach Harrell forced the issue on JB. Also, no mention of of Engleman in the article, who provided a spark when he was playing. What can’t be ignored are the penalties. The bonehead award goes to the offensive sideline staff, who sent out a substitute AFTER Houser had the offense in formation at the goal line on a third-and-one, drawing a delay-of-game penalty. The Pirates were lucky the referee stepped in because the center, thinking he heard the snap signal, snapped the ball. The Pirates followed this debacle with a pitiful pass to the flat which Tulane completely overwhelmed. Settling for a field goal to tie the game up, proved costly. The defense certainly had its’ good moments, keeping the score close in the first half, and getting a three-and-out to start the first half. However, the Pirates made Retzlaff look like an MVP, never solving the Tulane passing scheme. At times, including Tulane’s final drive, the Pirates looked foolish in coverage, or should I say, non-coverage. It’s very apparent the Pirates are not a good team. They can be, at times, but too often the “good” comes after digging a hole too deep to climb out. 6-6, maybe 7-5, looks to be all we can expect this season, unless immediate, sustained improvement comes quickly. Coach Harrell’s efforts have put some fire back into the program. It might take longer for the fire to translate into the level of success desired by Pirate Nation.

Great win for the Pirates, considering last year’s game against Army, and last week’s game with BYU. The Pirates offense started hot, and for most of the game seemed capable of moving the ball against Army. A couple of QB errors ended chances for more points. Let’s hope KH can clean these up over the bye week. The Pirates offense came up empty in the second half, despite moving the ball fairly well. I give credit to Army for fighting back. The Pirate defense came up lucky early in the game, thanks to Army dropping two touchdown passes. For the remainder of the game, minus Army’s 2nd half opening drive, the defense played well. However, they need to clean up the breakdowns in the secondary, which would have given at least twelve points to Army. Clearly, the highlight of the game was the gutsy call by Coach to fake the field goal. With the offense unable to finish, the field goal unit executed the fake perfectly. The Pirates would have been happy with a first down, but Pearson got a couple of great blocks and took it to the house. The score was huge for the defense, which now had a large cushion. Overall, not the prettiest win ever, but a solid win. I don’t think this effort by the Pirates will be good enough against Tulane, and other teams. However, if the Pirates can find a way to finish more drives on offense, and clean up the secondary breakdowns, they have what it takes to play with anybody in the conference.

It’s no sin to lose to a better team, and BYU was the better team. The Pirate defense didn’t have the answer for the balance and discipline of the Cougars offense. Losing Teagan Wilk certainly didn’t help. He should know better. The Pirate offense, once again, was its’ own worst enemy. Houser’s two picks were killers, no doubt. You can’t do that against any team that’s playing as well as BYU. However, more disappointing to me was the lack of discipline displayed by the Pirate offense. Pre-snap penalties should be few and far between by the fourth game of the season. Coach Baker doesn’t run a tight ship. The same problems that stopped the Pirates against NC STATE are still problematic. The “correctable” problems haven’t been corrected. The Pirates have performed well enough, at times, to show they can compete against good teams. The lack of consistency and discipline make the Pirates a mediocre team. With Army coming next Thursday, it could be a very ugly night. I hope the coaches and players dig deep to find some answers. The Army game needs to be the pivot point for the season, going forward. If the Pirates don’t play well against Army, I see a largely disappointing season ahead. Opponents don’t have to beat you when you’re beating yourself.

ECU going from down 6 - 3 to down 13 - 3 with possession and less than a minute left in the half was a 100% game-changer; from there they wilted, and BYU strengthened. The defense battled, but got worn down; the offense kept making execution mistake after mistake after mistake. …numerous dropped passes, critical interceptions, key false starts, and bad snaps. This wasn’t a case of being outclassed; it was self destruction. How ECU responds vs. a very difficult Army at home this week will tell us a LOT about what to expect for the rest of the season; they’re in for a very long haul if the offense can’t clean things up.

This will be the first time I have ever traveled so far for a football game. I’m excited. Wishing y’all the best (except the final score! Haha)

Solid win, very happy to see that. My comment is in appreciation for how "NICE" Dowdy Fick and our game day environment is!! What a contrast. Not a fan of the teal field at all. And the noise maker disguised as a sound system, too much. Just turn it down please. The bright lights on the field goal attempt, bush league at best. CC needs to come to us from here forward!! Looking forward to being back in GVegas next week. Let's pack it out!!! Go Pirates!!!

Progress is always good and the offense and defense both took steps in the right direction. Still, far to many penalties and missed opportunities to score to beat really good teams. ECU must fix these issues for this tough 3 game stretch coming up. Run blocking is the key issue we need to fix.

Congratulations to the Pirates on a convincing win over Coastal. While CC shot themselves in the foot more than once, it was clear ECU had the better team. Certainly, the Pirates still have some rough spots to smooth out. I hope JDB and BH have a come-to-Jesus moment on the offensive play-calling. I don’t believe the o-line performance will allow a “run first” approach to the offense, going forward. Yes, there was success later in the game when the Coastal defense was exhausted. BYU, and most of the remaining schedule, have defenses who won’t collapse. Still, the Pirates showed demonstrable improvement going into a tough matchup with BYU. The disappointment of the NC State game can be wiped away if the Pirates can pass the test with BYU.

Nothing terrible, as far as I know, but, if Jeter can’t get playing time in front of Chaston Ditta, then chances are he’s just occupying space in the qb room. JDB is playing his younger players, not someone who, unfortunately, is a holdover from “Donny” ball. Also, Jeter doesn’t have a lot of time remaining at ECU. He’s in his Jr year. I would’ve liked to have seen him get a chance to run the offense during the fourth quarter. Loyalty should count for something. Not sure the Pirates will get many chances to play that many reserves, going forward. Of course, there is always the possibility the staff is doing him a favor by keeping him in uniform.

What happened to Jeter?