# 2018 East Carolina Pirates football team

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.
On November 29, head coach Scottie Montgomery was fired. He finished his tenure 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.

## Preseason
### Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released
| Award | Player | Position | Year |
| Fred Biletnikoff Award | Trevon Brown | WR | SR |
| Wuerffel Trophy | 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.
Media poll (East) :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 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 | 3:30 p.m. | No. 14 (FCS) North Carolina A&T* | Dowdy–Ficklen StadiumGreenville, NC | ESPN3 | L 23–28 | 38,640 |
| September 8 | 3:30 p.m. | North Carolina* | Dowdy–Ficklen StadiumGreenville, NC | ESPNU | W 41–19 | 39,298 |
| September 22 | 8:00 p.m. | at South Florida | Raymond James StadiumTampa, FL | ESPNews | L 13–20 | 34,562 |
| September 29 | 3:30 p.m. | Old Dominion* | Dowdy–Ficklen StadiumGreenville, NC | ESPN3 | W 37–35 | 35,047 |
| October 6 | 12:00 p.m. | at Temple | Lincoln Financial FieldPhiladelphia, PA | ESPNews | L 6–49 | 26,681 |
| October 13 | 7:00 p.m. | Houston | Dowdy–Ficklen StadiumGreenville, NC | CBSSN | L 20–42 | 29,851 |
| October 20 | 7:00 p.m. | No. 10 UCF | Dowdy–Ficklen StadiumGreenville, NC | ESPN2 | L 10–37 | 31,159 |
| November 3 | 12:00 p.m. | Memphis | Dowdy–Ficklen StadiumGreenville, NC | ESPNU | L 41–59 | 29,127 |
| November 10 | 4:00 p.m. | at Tulane | Yulman StadiumNew Orleans, LA | ESPNews | L 18–24 | 20,860 |
| November 17 | 7:00 p.m. | UConn | Dowdy–Ficklen StadiumGreenville, NC | CBSSN | W 55–21 | 27,234 |
| November 23 | 3:30 p.m. | at Cincinnati | Nippert StadiumCincinnati, OH | CBSSN | L 6–56 | 21,230 |
| December 1 | 12:00 p.m. | at NC State* | Carter–Finley StadiumRaleigh, NC (Victory Barrel) | ACCN Extra | L 3–58 | 57,223 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll (and CFP Rankings, after October 30) - Released prior to gameAll times are in Eastern time |||||||
* ↑ The game against North Carolina A&T was originally scheduled for September 1 at 6:00 pm before being postponed to September 2 at 3:30 pm due to inclement weather.
* ↑ The game between ECU and Virginia Tech, originally scheduled for September 15, 2018, was canceled in anticipation of Hurricane Florence. This game was scheduled on October 2, 2018 to replace East Carolina’s game at Virginia Tech and NC State’s game vs. West Virginia, both of which were canceled due to Hurricane Florence.
    Schedule Source:

## Game summaries
### North Carolina A&T

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

### North Carolina

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

### At South Florida

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

### Old Dominion

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

### At Temple

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

### Houston

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

### UCF

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

### Memphis

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

### At Tulane

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

### UConn

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

### At Cincinnati

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

### At NC State

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