2018 East Carolina Pirates football team

2018 East Carolina Pirates football
2018 East Carolina Pirates football
Conference	American Athletic Conference
	East Division
Record	3–9 (1–7 The American)
Head coach	Scottie Montgomery (3rd season; first 11 games); David Blackwell (interim; final game);
Offensive coordinator	Tony Petersen (3rd season)
Defensive coordinator	David Blackwell (1st season)
Home stadium	Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium
Uniform
	Seasons ← 2017 2019 →

The 2018 East Carolina Pirates football team represented East Carolina University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Pirates, led by third-year head coach Scottie Montgomery, played their home games at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, and were members of the East Division in the American Athletic Conference. They finished the season 3–9, 1–7 in AAC play to finish in fifth place in the East Division.

2018 American Athletic Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
East Division
No. 11 UCF x$	8	–	0	12	–	1
Temple	7	–	1	8	–	5
No. 24 Cincinnati	6	–	2	11	–	2
South Florida	3	–	5	7	–	6
East Carolina	1	–	7	3	–	9
UConn	0	–	8	1	–	11
West Division
Memphis xy	5	–	3	8	–	6
Houston x	5	–	3	8	–	5
Tulane x	5	–	3	7	–	6
SMU	4	–	4	5	–	7
Navy	2	–	6	3	–	10
Tulsa	2	–	6	3	–	9
Championship: UCF 56, Memphis 41
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll

On November 29, head coach Scottie Montgomery was fired.^[1] He finished at East Carolina with a three-year record of 9–26. Defensive coordinator David Blackwell was the interim head coach during their final game of the season. On December 3, ECU hired James Madison head coach Mike Houston as their new head coach.^[2]

Preseason

Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released

Award	Player	Position	Year
Fred Biletnikoff Award^[3]	Trevon Brown	WR	SR
Wuerffel Trophy^[4]	Garrett McGhin	OL	SR

AAC media poll

The AAC media poll was released on July 24, 2018, with the Pirates predicted to finish in last place in the AAC East Division.^[5]

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
Media poll (East)
1	UCF	175 (25)
2	USF	140 (5)
3	Temple	132
4	Cincinnati	91
5	UConn	51
6	East Carolina	41

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2^[a]	3:30 p.m.	No. 14 (FCS) North Carolina A&T*	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium Greenville, NC	ESPN3	L 23–28	38,640
September 8	3:30 p.m.	North Carolina*	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium Greenville, NC	ESPNU	W 41–19	39,298
September 22	8:00 p.m.	at South Florida	Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL	ESPNews	L 13–20	34,562
September 29	3:30 p.m.	Old Dominion*	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium Greenville, NC	ESPN3	W 37–35	35,047
October 6	12:00 p.m.	at Temple	Lincoln Financial Field Philadelphia, PA	ESPNews	L 6–49	26,681
October 13	7:00 p.m.	Houston	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium Greenville, NC	CBSSN	L 20–42	29,851
October 20	7:00 p.m.	No. 10 UCF	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium Greenville, NC	ESPN2	L 10–37	31,159
November 3	12:00 p.m.	Memphis	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium Greenville, NC	ESPNU	L 41–59	29,127
November 10	4:00 p.m.	at Tulane	Yulman Stadium New Orleans, LA	ESPNews	L 18–24	20,860
November 17	7:00 p.m.	UConn	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium Greenville, NC	CBSSN	W 55–21	27,234
November 23	3:30 p.m.	at Cincinnati	Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH	CBSSN	L 6–56	21,230
December 1^[b]	12:00 p.m.	at NC State*	Carter–Finley Stadium Raleigh, NC (Victory Barrel)	ACCN Extra	L 3–58	57,223
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll (and CFP Rankings, after October 30) - Released prior to game All times are in Eastern time

Schedule Source:^[9]

Game summaries

North Carolina A&T

North Carolina A&T at East Carolina

	1	2	3	4	Total
• No. 14 (FCS) Aggies	7	7	0	14	28
Pirates	3	14	3	3	23

Date: September 2
Location: Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium
Greenville, NC
Game start: 3:30 p.m. EDT
Elapsed time: 3:41
Game attendance: 38,640
Game weather: 90°F • 5–8 mph • Mostly Cloudy
Referee: Henry Wimberg
TV announcers (ESPN3): Josh Appel (play-by-play), Stan Lewter (analyst)

Sources:^[10]^[11]

North Carolina

North Carolina at East Carolina

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tar Heels	6	13	0	0	19
• Pirates	7	14	7	13	41

Date: September 8
Location: Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium
Greenville, NC
Game start: 3:30 p.m. EDT
Elapsed time: 3:33
Game attendance: 39,298
Game weather: 91°F • S 5 • Partly Cloudy
Referee: Duane Heydt
TV announcers (ESPNU): Mike Corey (play-by-play), Rene Ingoglia (analyst)

Sources:^[12]^[13]

At South Florida

East Carolina at South Florida

	1	2	3	4	Total
Pirates	7	3	3	0	13
• Bulls	6	7	0	7	20

Date: September 22
Location: Raymond James Stadium
Tampa, FL
Game start: 8:00 p.m. EDT
Elapsed time: 3:05
Game attendance: 34,562
Referee: Charles Lamerti
TV announcers (ESPNews): Dave Lamont (play-by-play), Ray Bentley (analyst)

Sources:^[14]^[15]

Old Dominion

Old Dominion at East Carolina

	1	2	3	4	Total
Monarchs	14	6	7	8	35
• Pirates	14	7	7	9	37

Date: September 29
Location: Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium
Greenville, NC
Game start: 3:30 p.m. EDT
Elapsed time: 3:26
Game attendance: 35,047
Game weather: 84°F • NE 8 • Mostly Clear
Referee: Rodney Burnette
TV announcers (ESPN3): Robert Lee (play-by-play), Tyoka Jackson (analyst)

Sources:^[16]^[17]

At Temple

East Carolina at Temple

	1	2	3	4	Total
Pirates	0	3	0	3	6
• Owls	14	21	7	7	49

Date: October 6
Location: Lincoln Financial Field
Philadelphia, PA
Game start: 12:00 p.m. EDT
Game attendance: 26,681
TV announcers (ESPNews): Bill Roth (play-by-play), Ray Bentley (analyst)

Sources:^[18]

Houston

Houston at East Carolina

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Cougars	14	7	7	14	42
Pirates	0	3	3	14	20

Date: October 13
Location: Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium
Greenville, NC
Game start: 7:00 p.m. EDT
Game attendance: 29,851
TV announcers (CBSSN): Dave Ryan (play-by-play), Corey Chavous (analyst)

Sources:

UCF

UCF at East Carolina

	1	2	3	4	Total
• No. 10 Knights	0	20	3	14	37
Pirates	3	0	7	0	10

Date: October 20
Location: Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium
Greenville, NC
Game start: 7:00 p.m. EDT
Game attendance: 31,159
TV announcers (ESPN2): Beth Mowins(play-by-play), Anthony Becht (analyst), Rocky Boiman (sideline)

Sources:

Memphis

Memphis at East Carolina

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Tigers	10	14	14	21	59
Pirates	14	3	17	7	41

Date: November 3
Location: Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium
Greenville, NC
Game start: 12:00pm ET EDT
Game attendance: 29,127

Sources: ^[19]

The high-scoring affair features a combined 1,200 yards by the two teams. Holton Ahlers, in his second start in relief of Reid Herring, led the Pirates in both rushing (17 carries for 57 yards) and passing, completing 34 of his 62 passes for 449 yards (fourth in school history to Shane Carden's 480 in 2013, Blake Kemp's 465 in 2015, and Gardner Minshew's 463 in 217)^[20] and three touchdowns without an interception. Trevon Brown had 10 receptions for 193 yards (eighth in ECU history) and two of those touchdowns. The second of these tied the game at 31 midway through the third quarter, but the Pirates were outscored 28-17 the rest of the way in the loss.^[19]

At Tulane

East Carolina at Tulane

	1	2	3	4	Total
Pirates	3	7	0	8	18
• Green Wave	7	7	7	3	24

Date: November 10
Location: Yulman Stadium
New Orleans, LA
Game start: 4:00 p.m. EDT
Game attendance: 20,860
Game weather: Sunny, 54 °F (12 °C)
Referee: Mike Roche
Television network: ESPNews

UConn

UConn at East Carolina

	1	2	3	4	Total
Huskies	7	14	0	0	21
• Pirates	7	27	14	7	55

Date: November 17
Location: Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium
Greenville, NC
Game start: 7:00 p.m. EDT
Game attendance: 27,234

At Cincinnati

East Carolina at Cincinnati

	1	2	3	4	Total
Pirates	0	6	0	0	6
• Bearcats	21	21	7	7	56

Date: November 23
Location: Nippert Stadium
Cincinnati, OH
Game start: 3:30 p.m. EDT
Game attendance: 21,230

At NC State

East Carolina at NC State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Pirates	0	0	0	3	3
• Wolfpack	17	10	14	17	58

Date: December 1
Location: Carter–Finley Stadium
Raleigh, NC
Game start: 12:00 p.m. EST
Game attendance: 57,223
Game weather: Mostly Cloudy
Referee: C. Lamertine
TV announcers (ACCN Extra): Kevin Fitzgerald, Stan Lewter

Note: This game was scheduled on October 2, 2018, to replace NC State's game vs. West Virginia and East Carolina's game at Virginia Tech, both of which were canceled due to Hurricane Florence. This game will not take place if either NC State or ECU qualifies for their respective conference championship.

References

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[5]

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[b]

[9]

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