Preview 2019: Previewing and looking ahead to the East Carolina season with what you need to know.
– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Schedule Analysis
– East Carolina Previews 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
2018 Record: 3-9 overall, 1-7
Head Coach: Mike Houston, 1st year
5. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE EAST CAROLINA OFFENSE
– It just didn’t work. The Pirate O had a few good games, but had massive power outages – scoring 20 points or fewer – seven times. In comes new head coach Mike Houston from James Madison along with offensive coordinator – and former ECU assistant Donnie Kirkpatrick. Step One is to find some semblance of consistency. With seven starters returning, there’s hope to be more balanced and better against the teams that actually play defense.
– With Kingsley Ifedi transferring to North Carolina A&T, the quarterback battle is between Holton Ahlers and Reid Herring, with Ahlers the better passer last season with 12 touchdowns and just three picks, and with Herring a bit more experienced. It’s Ahlers’ gig unless he falls flat on his face in fall camp. Four starters are back up front to a line that was okay in pass protection, but couldn’t generate much of a push for the ground game.
– Ahlers was the team’s leading rusher. Good – he can move. Bad – he was the team’s leading rusher. Top running back Anthony Scott is done, but senior Hussein Howe is a quick option with decent upside, and junior Darius Pinnix scored three times last year. Top target Trevon Brown is done from the receiving corps, but six of the top eight pass catchers are back.
NEXT: What You Need To Know About the Defense, Top Players, Keys to the Season, What Will Happen
4. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE EAST CAROLINA DEFENSE
– New defensive coordinator Bob Trott created a killer at James Madison over the last few years. ECU’s defense was able to get into the backfield last season, and overall it wasn’t nearly as miserable as it was in previous years, but it still needs to improve in all areas – fast.
– Seven starters return, but five of the top nine tacklers are done. Losing star pass rusher Nate Harvey from one defensive end spot hurts, but the other three starters return up front. Bruce Bivens and Aaron Ramseur are veteran linebackers to start with, but finding the production to replace Harvey and his 14.5 sacks is a problem.
– The secondary that was so inconsistent takes the biggest personnel hit with three starters gone. The D only picked off five passes last season and was hit for 249 passing yards or more in seven of the last nine games and three touchdown passes in eight games overall. CB Colby Gore and FS Davondre Robinson are the returning parts to build around.
NEXT: Top Players, Keys To the Season, What Will Happen
3. TOP EAST CAROLINA PLAYERS
Best East Carolina Offensive Player
QB Holton Ahlers, Soph.
He’s in a fight with Reid Herring for the starting job, but be shocked if he’s not the main man for the offense. The 6-3, 236-pounder was one of the few bright spots in the team’s season, throwing for 1,785 yards and 12 touchdowns with three picks, and leading the Pirates with 592 rushing yards and six touchdowns. However, he has to be far, far more accurate and consistent, failing to connect on half of his throws.
2. PK Jake Verity, Sr.
3. RB Darrius Pinnix, Jr.
4. WR Deondre Farrier, Soph.
5. RB Hussein Howe, Sr.
Best East Carolina Defensive Player
S Davondre Robinson, Jr.
The Pirates need a few defensive players to emerge as stars and difference-makers. They need more takeaways, more sacks now that Nate Harvey is gone, and more good parts. Robinson is coming off a solid sophomore season, finishing second on the team with 77 tackles with three broken up passes. He has to do more when the ball is in the air, but he’s a good veteran player who should grow into a bigger producer.
2. DT Alex Turner, Sr.
3. DE Kendall Futrell, Sr.
4. LB Bruce Bivens, Jr.
5. P Jonn Young, Jr.
NEXT: Keys to the Season, Prediction & What Will Happen
2. KEYS TO THE SEASON
Biggest Key To The East Carolina Offense
The passing game needs to be more efficient. The quarterbacks were young and trying to fight through the growing pains, and they didn’t get a whole lot of help from the running game, but now Holton Ahlers and Reid Herring are veterans, and they have to make the passing attack stronger. Ahlers looks like a possible star, but he only hit 48% of his passes and didn’t do enough down the field. The Pirates have to average more than six yards per pass and have to keep the picks to a minimum.
Biggest Key To The East Carolina Defense
ECU has to force more turnovers. The D has to be better on third downs, it has to come up with a stop or three in the red zone, and it has to be nasty again at getting into the backfield, but more than anything else, it has to come up with takeaways. The Pirates generated one fumble recovery in the first eight games and two picks in the first nine. The team was -14 in turnover margin – it has to turn that around.
Key Player To A Successful Season
DE Kendall Futrell, Sr.
Hurt this spring, he missed out on some key playing time to get his chance to grow into the team’s new star pass rusher. Nate Harvey was a dominant force last season with 14.5 sacks and 25.5 tackles for loss, but he’s gone after not getting an extra year of eligibility from the NCAA. Futrell was second with four sacks, but he has to get healthy to be the main man to work the pass rush around.
Key Game To The East Carolina Season
Temple, Oct. 3
Call this the big test to see where the program is at. Last year, the Pirates started out 2-2 and showed promise thanks to a win over North Carolina, and then they got roasted by Temple 49-6 to start a brutal run going 1-7 the rest of the way. With a week off to follow, and a run of at UCF, USF, and at SMU right after, this is a key moment in the season. Win, and getting to six wins and a bowl isn’t a crazy dream.
– East Carolina Schedule Breakdown & Analysis
2018 East Carolina Fun Stats
– 1st Quarter Scoring: Opponents 123 – East Carolina 58
– Penalties: Opponents 95 for 861 yards – East Carolina 58 for 547 yards
– Field Goals: Opponents 14-for-14 – East Carolina 19-for-21
NEXT: What Will Happen
1. EAST CAROLINA WIN TOTAL PREDICTION: WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN
New head coach Mike Houston is getting his shot at trying to revive what used to be – and what should be again – a Group of Five star program that’s good enough to at least push for the American Athletic Conference title on a regular basis.
It’s not going to happen overnight, but after three straight 3-9 seasons and with no bowl since 2014, it’s time.
This year’s team needs sure-thing playmakers and better depth, but at least there’s experience. QB Holton Ahlers leads a decent and promising backfield that will make more of a commitment to the run, and the O line is full of veterans, but again, the production has to follow after was too many mediocre performances.
The defense wasn’t any good, but it was light years better than the miserable 2017 version that got touched way too easily and often. The pass rush has to emerge right away without star DE Nate Harvey around, and the secondary has to figure out what a takeaway looks like.
Set The Regular Season Win Total At … 5
It’s not going to be a rags-to-riches story like UCF was a few seasons ago, but the Pirates will make a positive move forward.
Playing FCS teams hasn’t meant much over the last few seasons – losing the last two openers, including to new head man Mike Houston’s James Madison team to kickoff 2017 – but there are two on the slate this year that have to be wins.
In all, there are seven games against teams that didn’t go bowling last season. Winning five of them isn’t asking for the world, and it would be nice to come up with a big upset or two late in the season just to show that things really are on the right track.
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– Schedule Analysis
