ECU Travels North To ODU For Saturday Contest

GREENVILLE, N.C. – East Carolina travels to Old Dominion for its second street contest of the season on Saturday, Sept. 19 … Kickoff is scheduled for six p.m. (ET) at Kornblau Field inside S.B.Ballard Stadium in Norfolk, Va. … The two groups have squared off 5 occasions courting again to 2013 with the Pirates holding a 5-0 all-time lead within the collection … Both groups are coming off a loss as ECU fell to App State 27-24, whereas ODU dropped a street sport at Virginia Tech, 44-21.

THE HEAD COACH

Blake Harrell (Western Carolina ’02), who’s in his sixth general season at East Carolina, was formally named the twenty third head soccer coach on Nov. 27, 2024. Harrell, this system’s interim head coach (Oct. 20-Nov. 26, 2024) and the squad’s defensive coordinator/inside linebackers coach since his preliminary rent in January of 2020, led the Pirates (9-4, 6-2 American) in 2025 and a share for fourth place in league play. His crew stood among the many FBS leaders (Top 25) in 15 statistical classes along with his offense averaging 32.7 factors per sport whereas permitting 20.1, the fewest since at East Carolina since 1999. He has guided the Pirates to a 14-7(.667) document in 21 video games changing into the quickest head coach to 14 victories and quickest to 10 wins in convention play, whereas changing into the second coach in program historical past to win consecutive bowl video games with a 23-17 victory over Pittsburgh on the 2025 Go Bowling Military Bowl. In 2024, he posted a 5-1 document over a six-game span which included a 26-21 come from behind victory over NC State within the 2024 Go Bowling Military Bowl in Annapolis, Md. On Dec. 28, 2024. The win was the primary over a Power 4 crew since 2018, when ECU topped North Carolina, 41-19. Following the Charlotte win, ECU secured bowl eligibility in consecutive video games and for the fourth time within the final 5 campaigns (2021 Military, 2022 Birmingham, 2024 Military).

FAST FACTS

Record: 0-2 (.000); American Record/Standings: 0-0 (.000); Last 5 Games: 2-3; Last 10 Games: 6-4; Last 15 Games: 9-6; Streaks: When East Carolina travels to Old Dominion, it is going to be the twenty second sport of the Blake Harrell period (14-7) … The Pirates contest in opposition to the Monarchs would be the 958th because the begin of ECU soccer in 1932 (481-465-11/.508).

ANALYZING THE 2026 OVERALL SCHEDULE

COMPOSITE RECORDS: ECU’s 2026 opponents posted a mixed 77-76 (.503) document in 2025. The Pirates’ 4 non-conference foes had been 24-29 (.453), whereas the eight American squads tallied a collective 53-47 (.530) mark. Five applications had eight or extra wins – Alabama (11), Old Dominion (10), South Florida (9), N.C. Central (8) and Memphis (8).

 

SEVEN BOWL TEAMS: For the second consecutive season, ECU’s schedule options contests in opposition to seven groups which participated in bowl video games a 12 months in the past. In addition to Alabama (CFP first spherical and Rose Bowl), Appalachian State (JLab Birmingham Bowl), Army (Wasabi Bowl), Memphis (Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl), Old Dominion (StaffDNA Cure Bowl), Rice (Lockhead Martin Armed Forces Bowl) and South Florida (StaffDNA Cure Bowl) every made FBS postseason appearances final December and January. Of the Pirates’ six residence video games, 5 will likely be in opposition to 2025 bowl qualifiers, whereas two of six street contests will likely be in opposition to postseason groups.

IN THE FINAL POLLS: Alabama is the lone ECU opponent that completed ranked within the two main polls (Associated Press, AFCA Coaches) to finish the 2025 season coming in at No. 9. Old Dominion obtained votes in each polls, whereas Army garnered on vote in the AFCA ballot together with East Carolina.

NON-SATURDAY ACTION: ECU could have three non-Saturday contests in 2026. For the seventh-straight marketing campaign (and eighth within the final 9 years), ECU will play at the least one weeknight contest. The Pirates could have consecutive street Thursday evening contests enjoying at UAB (Oct. 15) and at Memphis (Oct. 22), whereas internet hosting South Florida on Friday, Nov. 6. The Pirates common season finale inside Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium in opposition to Florida Atlantic will likely be performed both Nov. 27 (Friday) or Nov. 28 (Saturday). ECU is 40-50-1 (.451) all-time on non-Saturday video games (17-24-1/residence, 19-20/street, 4-6/impartial) after posting a 2-2 document in 2025.

CHARTING THE PIRATES MONTH-BY-MONTH

In all, East Carolina is 4-4-0 in August, 139-133-1 in September, 172-172-4 in October, 154-139-5 in November, 12-12-0 in December and 1-4-0 in January … With the Pirates win over NC State in 2024, ECU remained considerably productive in December – a month through which it has received six of its final 10 outings (wins vs. Boise State/’07, Tulsa/’08, Houston/’09, Ohio/’13, Coastal Carolina/’22, NC State/’24; losses to Maryland/’10, ULLafayette/’12, UCF/’14 and NC State/’18).

ON THE ROAD

Since changing into a convention member in 1997, East Carolina is 75-110 (.405) when enjoying away from Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium … ECU closed out the 2025 season 4-3 away from residence following a 23-17 win in opposition to Pittsburgh … In 2024, ECU additionally posted a 4-3 document … Three years in the past, ECU completed the 12 months 1-5 on the street and in 2022, they posted a 4-2 street slate (wins at South Florida/Boca Raton, Fla., BYU, Temple and Coastal Carolina/Birmingham, Ala.; losses to Tulane and Cincinnati) … From a non-conference standpoint, ECU snapped a seven-game skid when it topped Old Dominion 24-21 on Sept. 28, 2019 however has solely performed 11 street non-American tilts since, together with bowl video games (5-6).

AGAINST NON-CONFERENCE OPPONENTS

The Pirates have produced a 48-68 (.414) common season non-league document since 1997, which features a 2-2 clip in 2025. Last 12 months, ECU was 2-2, 1-3 in 2023 and 3-1 in 2022 choosing up wins in opposition to Old Dominion, Campbell and BYU, whereas dropping the house opener to NC State … In 2021, they break up their 4 non-conference video games falling to Appalachian State and South Carolina to open the season earlier than rallying again to put up victories in opposition to Marshall and Charleston Southern … In 2019, the Pirates posted a 3-1 document – this system’s first successful non-conference ledger since 2014 … ECU has received 13 of final 25 non-conference video games courting again to 2019.

UP NEXT

ECU closes out non-conference motion when it performs host to N.C. Central on Saturday, Sept. 16 inside Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 4 p.m. and will likely be streamed on ESPN+.