# 2014 East Carolina Pirates football team

The 2014 East Carolina Pirates football team represented East Carolina University in the 2014 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They were led by fifth-year head coach Ruffin McNeill and played their home games at Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium. This was East Carolina's first season as part of the American Athletic Conference. They finished the season 8–5, 5–3 in AAC play to finish in a tie for fourth place. They were invited to the Birmingham Bowl where they lost to Florida.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 30 | 8:00 pm | North Carolina Central* | | Dowdy–Ficklen StadiumGreenville, NC | ESPNews Dave LaMont, David Diaz-Infante | W 52–7 | 42,758 |
| September 6 | 7:00 pm | at No. 21 South Carolina* | | Williams-Brice StadiumColumbia, SC | ESPNU Anish Shroff, Kelly Stouffer, Cara Capuano | L 23–33 | 80,899 |
| September 13 | 12:00 pm | at No. 17 Virginia Tech* | | Lane StadiumBlacksburg, VA | ESPN Dave Pasch, Brian Griese, Tom Luginbill | W 28–21 | 63,267 |
| September 20 | 3:30 pm | North Carolina* | | Dowdy–Ficklen StadiumGreenville, NC | ESPNU Clay Matvick, Anthony Becht | W 70–41 | 51,082 |
| October 4 | 12:00 pm | SMU | No. 22 | Dowdy–Ficklen StadiumGreenville, NC | ESPNU Adam Amin, John Congemi | W 45–24 | 45,029 |
| October 11 | 7:00 pm | at South Florida | No. 19 | Raymond James StadiumTampa, FL | ESPNU Clay Matvick, Anthony Becht | W 28–17 | 31,567 |
| October 23 | 7:00 pm | UConn | No. 18 | Dowdy–Ficklen StadiumGreenville, NC | ESPNU Anish Shroff, Kelly Stouffer | W 31–21 | 40,152 |
| November 1 | 12:00 pm | at Temple | No. 23 | Lincoln Financial FieldPhiladelphia, PA | ESPNews Mike Corey, Ray Bentley | L 10–20 | 22,130 |
| November 13 | 7:00 pm | at Cincinnati | | Paul Brown StadiumCincinnati, OH | ESPN2 Mark Neely, Gene Chizik, Kayce Smith | L 46–54 | 19,113 |
| November 22 | 3:30 pm | Tulane | | Dowdy–Ficklen StadiumGreenville, NC | ESPN3 Drew Fellios, Al Groh | W 34–6 | 48,433 |
| November 28 | 8:30 pm | at Tulsa | | Chapman StadiumTulsa, OK | ESPNU Eamon McAnaney, Dan Hawkins | W 49–32 | 15,126 |
| December 4 | 7:30 pm | UCF | | Dowdy–Ficklen StadiumGreenville, NC | ESPN Rece Davis, Jesse Palmer, David Pollack, Samantha Ponder | L 30–32 | 41,259 |
| January 3, 2015 | 12:00 pm | vs. Florida* | | Legion FieldBirmingham, AL (Birmingham Bowl) | ESPN2/ESPN Radio Dave Neal, Andre Ware, Laura Rutledge/Adam Amin, Greg McElroy, Cara Capuano | L 20–28 | 30,083 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll (and CFP Rankings, after October 28) - Released prior to gameAll times are in Eastern time ||||||||
    Schedule Source:

## Game summaries
### North Carolina Central

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Eagles | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Pirates | 10 | 21 | 7 | 14 | 52 |

### South Carolina

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Pirates | 6 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 23 |
| #21 Gamecocks | 7 | 13 | 10 | 3 | 33 |

### Virginia Tech

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Pirates | 21 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 28 |
| #17 Hokies | 0 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 21 |

### North Carolina

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Tar Heels | 13 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 41 |
| Pirates | 14 | 21 | 21 | 14 | 70 |

### SMU

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Mustangs | 0 | 7 | 17 | 0 | 24 |
| #22 Pirates | 14 | 14 | 7 | 10 | 45 |

### South Florida

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #19 Pirates | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 28 |
| Bulls | 7 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 17 |

### UConn

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Huskies | 7 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 21 |
| #18 Pirates | 14 | 0 | 7 | 10 | 31 |

### Temple

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #21 Pirates | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
| Owls | 14 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 20 |

### Cincinnati

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Pirates | 6 | 14 | 7 | 19 | 46 |
| Bearcats | 14 | 17 | 7 | 16 | 54 |

### Tulane

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Green Wave | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Pirates | 10 | 7 | 3 | 14 | 34 |

### Tulsa

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Pirates | 14 | 7 | 14 | 14 | 49 |
| Golden Hurricane | 14 | 0 | 11 | 7 | 32 |

### Central Florida

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Knights | 6 | 17 | 3 | 6 | 32 |
| Pirates | 6 | 3 | 0 | 21 | 30 |

### Birmingham Bowl

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Pirates | 7 | 0 | 10 | 3 | 20 |
| Gators | 7 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 28 |

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Final |
| AP | — | — | — | RV | 23 | 22 | 19 | 18 | 18 | 21 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Coaches | — | — | — | RV | 24 | 21 | 19 | 16 | 17 | 19 | RV | RV | — | — | — | — | — |
| CFP | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | 23 | — | — | — | — | — | — | Not released |