2021 East Carolina Pirates football team explained

Year:	2021
Team:	East Carolina Pirates
Sport:	football
Conference:	American Athletic Conference
Short Conf:	The American
Record:	7–5
Conf Record:	5–3
Head Coach:	Mike Houston
Hc Year:	3rd
Off Coach:	Donnie Kirkpatrick
Oc Year:	3rd
Off Scheme:	Spread
Def Coach:	Blake Harrell
Dc Year:	2nd
Def Scheme:	3–4 or 4–2–5
Stadium:	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium
Bowl:	Military Bowl
Bowl Result:	vs. Boston College, Canceled

The 2021 East Carolina Pirates football team represented East Carolina University in the 2021 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Pirates, led by third-year head coach Mike Houston, play their home games at Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium as members of the American Athletic Conference.

After compiling a 7–5 regular season record, the Pirates received a bid to the Military Bowl,^[1] where they were due to face the Boston College Eagles. On December 26, the Eagles withdrew from the game, due to COVID-19 issues; the bowl was subsequently canceled.^[2]

Preseason

American Athletic Conference preseason media poll

The American Athletic Conference preseason media poll was released at the virtual media day held August 4, 2021.^[3] Cincinnati, who finished the 2020 season ranked No. 8 nationally, was tabbed as the preseason favorite in the 2021 preseason media poll.

Media poll
1	Cincinnati	262 (22)
2	UCF	241 (2)
3	SMU	188
4	Houston	181
5	Memphis	168
6	Tulsa	153
7	Tulane	132
т-8	East Carolina	85
т-8	Navy	85
10	Temple	46
11	South Florida	43

Schedule

^[4]

Notes

This game was initially scheduled for ESPNU at 4PM ET, but moved to 9:20PM ET on ESPNews because of a rain delay.

Game summaries

Vs. Appalachian State

See also: 2021 Appalachian State Mountaineers football team and Duke's Mayo Classic.

style=	Pregame line!	style=	Over/under
APP –9.0	56

Statistics	Appalachian State	East Carolina
First downs	25	20
Total yards	485	381
Rushing yards	226	86
Passing yards	259	295
Turnovers	1	2
Time of possession	31:55	28:05

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Appalachian State	Passing		20/27, 259 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT
Rushing	Nate Noel	15 carries, 126 yards
Receiving	Thomas Hennigan	4 receptions, 114 yards, 1 TD
East Carolina	Passing		22/40, 295 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT
Rushing		4 carries, 50 yards
Receiving	Keaton Mitchell	5 receptions, 79 yards, 1 TD

Vs. South Carolina

See also: 2021 South Carolina Gamecocks football team.

At Marshall

See also: 2021 Marshall Thundering Herd football team.

MRSH –10.0

58

Statistics	East Carolina	Marshall
First downs	27	24
Total yards	563	648
Rushing yards	168	215
Passing yards	395	433
Turnovers	1	3
Time of possession	30:19	29:41

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
East Carolina	Passing	Holton Ahlers	30/48, 368 yards, 2 TDs
Rushing	Keaton Mitchell	14 carries, 135 yards, 1 TD
Receiving	Shane Calhoun	8 receptions, 114 yards, 1 TD
Marshall	Passing		24/39, 433 yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs
Rushing		24 carries, 189 yards, 3 TDs
Receiving	Corey Gammage	8 receptions, 180 yards

Charleston Southern

See also: 2021 Charleston Southern Buccaneers football team.

ECU –24.5

59

Statistics	Charleston Southern	East Carolina
First downs	34	14
Total yards	536	388
Rushing yards	131	150
Passing yards	405	238
Turnovers	1	2
Time of possession	31:27	28:33

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Charleston Southern	Passing	Jack Chambers	38/61, 405 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT
Rushing	JD Moore	14 car, 58 yds, 1 TD
Receiving	Garris Schwarting	8 rec, 94 yds
East Carolina	Passing	Holton Ahlers	17/26, 238 yds, 1 TD, 2 INT
Rushing	Keaton Mitchell	13 car, 125 yds, 1 TD
Receiving		3 rec, 95 yds, 1 TD

Tulane

See also: 2021 Tulane Green Wave football team.

TULN –3.0

64.5

Statistics	Tulane	East Carolina
First downs	19	25
Total yards	404	612
Rushing yards	124	310
Passing yards	280	302
Turnovers	4	0
Time of possession	25:41	34:19

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Tulane	Passing		22/36, 268 yds, 1 TD, 3 INT
Rushing	Cameron Carroll	9 car, 80 yds, 1 TD
Receiving		4 rec, 79 yds
East Carolina	Passing	Holton Ahlers	21/32, 288 yds, 2 TD
Rushing	Keaton Mitchell	15 car, 222 yds, 2 TD
Receiving		4 rec, 78 yds, 1 TD

At UCF

See also: 2021 UCF Knights football team.

UCF –10

64.5^[5]

Statistics	East Carolina	UCF
First downs	21	16
Total yards	360	359
Rushing yards	141	165
Passing yards	219	194
Turnovers	3	1
Time of possession	32:42	27:18

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
East Carolina	Passing	Holton Ahlers	20/32, 219 yards, TD, INT
Rushing	Rahjai Harris	13 carries, 73 yards
Receiving	Tyler Snead	6 receptions, 82 yards
UCF	Passing		23/35, 194 yards, INT
Rushing	Johnny Richardson	16 carries, 104 yards, TD
Receiving	Ryan O'Keefe	10 receptions, 73 yards

At Houston

See also: 2021 Houston Cougars football team.

HOU –13.5

57

Statistics	East Carolina	Houston
First downs	20	16
Total yards	360	256
Rushing yards	82	87
Passing yards	278	169
Turnovers	3	1
Time of possession	29:13	30:47

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
East Carolina	Passing	Holton Ahlers	23/37, 278 yards, 2 TDs
Rushing	Keaton Mitchell	11 rushes, 38 yards
Receiving	Tyler Snead	7 receptions, 114 yards
Houston	Passing		19/29, 169 yards, 2 TDs
Rushing		12 rushes, 60 yards, 1 TD
Receiving	Christian Trahan	6 receptions, 68 yards, 1 TD

South Florida

See also: 2021 South Florida Bulls football team.

ECU –9.5

55.5^[6]

Statistics	South Florida	East Carolina
First downs	19	30
Total yards	391	471
Rushing yards	199	251
Passing yards	192	220
Turnovers	4	3
Time of possession	21:38	38:22

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
South Florida	Passing	Katravis Marsh	15/30, 192 yards, TD, 3 INT
Rushing	Kelley Joiner	12 carries, 103 yards
Receiving		5 receptions, 91 yards, TD
East Carolina	Passing	Holton Ahlers	21/35, 220 yards, TD
Rushing	Rahjai Harris	22 carries, 100 yards, TD
Receiving	C. J. Johnson	5 receptions, 84 yards

Temple

See also: 2021 Temple Owls football team.

Statistics	Temple	East Carolina
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Turnovers
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Temple	Passing
Rushing
Receiving
East Carolina	Passing
Rushing
Receiving

At Memphis

See also: 2021 Memphis Tigers football team.

Statistics	East Carolina	Memphis
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Turnovers
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
East Carolina	Passing
Rushing
Receiving
Memphis	Passing
Rushing
Receiving

At Navy

See also: 2021 Navy Midshipmen football team.

ECU –3.5

46.5

Statistics	East Carolina	Navy
First downs	24	17
Total yards	563	382
Rushing yards	158	345
Passing yards	405	37
Turnovers	0	0
Time of possession	32:40	27:20

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
East Carolina	Passing	Holton Ahlers	27/32, 405 yards, 3 TD
Rushing	Keaton Mitchell	18 carries, 94 yards, TD
Receiving	Tyler Snead	5 receptions, 137 yards, 2 TD
Navy	Passing		4/4, 37 yards, 2 TD
Rushing	Carlinos Acie	6 carries, 155 yards, TD
Receiving	Mychal Copper	2 receptions, 31 yards, TD

No. 4 Cincinnati

See also: 2021 Cincinnati Bearcats football team.

−14.5

56.5

Statistics	Cincinnati	East Carolina
First downs	20	19
Total yards	444	282
Rushing yards	143	54
Passing yards	301	228
Time of possession	27:42	32:18

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Cincinnati	Passing		17/28, 301 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT
Rushing		20 carries, 85 yards, 1 TD
Receiving		8 receptions, 136 yards, 1 TD
ECU	Passing	Holton Ahlers	19/38, 228 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing	Keaton Mitchell	17 carries, 55 yards
Receiving	Tyler Snead	6 receptions, 91 yards

Notes and References

1. East Carolina To Play In 2021 Military Bowl . ecupirates.com . November 27, 2021 . November 27, 2021.
2. Web site: Andrea . Adelson . December 26, 2021 . Military, Fenway Bowls Canceled Because of COVID-19 Issues . ESPN . December 26, 2021.
3. Web site: Cincinnati Chosen as Favorite in American Preseason Media Poll. theAmerican.org . 4 August 2021.
4. Web site: 2021 East Carolina Football Schedule . FBS Schedules . 20 February 2021 . en.
5. Web site: East Carolina Pirates vs UCF Knights. Odds Shark. October 9, 2021. en.
6. Web site: USF Bulls vs East Carolina Pirates. Odds Shark. October 28, 2021. en.