# 2016 East Carolina Pirates football team

The 2016 East Carolina Pirates football team represented East Carolina University in the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They were led by first-year head coach Scottie Montgomery and played their home games at Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium. This was East Carolina's third season as members of the East Division of the American Athletic Conference. They finished the season 3–9, 1–7 in American Athletic play to finish in a three-way tie for fourth place in the East Division.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 3 | 6:00 p.m. | Western Carolina* | Dowdy–Ficklen StadiumGreenville, NC | ESPN3 Matt Stewart, Watson Brown | W 52–7 | 44,161 |
| September 10 | Noon | NC State* | Dowdy–Ficklen StadiumGreenville, NC (Victory Barrel) | ESPNU Dave LaMont, Tom Ramsey | W 33–30 | 50,719 |
| September 17 | 4:00 p.m. | at South Carolina* | Williams-Brice StadiumColumbia, SC | SECN Dave Neal, Matt Stinchcomb, Olivia Harlan | L 15–20 | 80,384 |
| September 24 | 12:30 p.m. | at Virginia Tech* | Lane StadiumBlacksburg, VA | ACCN Tom Werme, Dave Archer, Roddy Jones | L 17–54 | 63,712 |
| October 1 | 12:00 p.m. | UCF | Dowdy–Ficklen StadiumGreenville, NC | CBSSN Dave Ryan, Corey Chavous, Melanie Collins | L 29–47 | 46,042 |
| October 8 | 12:00 p.m. | at South Florida | Raymond James StadiumTampa, FL | ESPNews Mike Couzens, Dan Hawkins | L 22–38 | 30,397 |
| October 22 | 7:00 p.m. | at Cincinnati | Nippert StadiumCincinnati, OH | CBSSN Dave Ryan, Corey Chavous, Melanie Collins | L 19–31 | 32,022 |
| October 29 | 12:00 p.m. | UConn | Dowdy–Ficklen StadiumGreenville, NC | ESPNews Mike Couzens, Dan Hawkins | W 41–3 | 41,370 |
| November 5 | 8:00 p.m. | at Tulsa | Chapman StadiumTulsa, OK | ESPNews Shawn Kenney, Watson Brown | L 24–45 | 17,557 |
| November 12 | 12:00 p.m. | SMU | Dowdy–Ficklen StadiumGreenville, NC | ESPNews Mike Couzens, Dan Hawkins | L 31–55 | 42,908 |
| November 19‡ | 4:00 p.m. | Navy | Dowdy–Ficklen StadiumGreenville, NC | ESPNews Kevin Brown, Al Groh | L 31–66 | 39,480 |
| November 26 | 7:30 p.m. | at Temple | Lincoln Financial FieldPhiladelphia, PA | ESPNews Alex Faust, Kevin Weidl | L 10–37 | 28,373 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingAll times are in Eastern time |||||||
    Schedule source:
Note: ‡ The game vs. Navy was originally scheduled for October 13 (Thursday) but was postponed due to flooding from Hurricane Matthew; it was rescheduled to Saturday, November 19.

## Game summaries
### Western Carolina

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

### NC State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Wolfpack | 0 | 20 | 3 | 7 | 30 |
| Pirates | 9 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 33 |

### At South Carolina

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Pirates | 3 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 15 |
| Gamecocks | 17 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 20 |

### At Virginia Tech

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Pirates | 0 | 0 | 14 | 3 | 17 |
| Hokies | 14 | 24 | 9 | 7 | 54 |

### UCF

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Knights | 0 | 16 | 7 | 24 | 47 |
| Pirates | 0 | 7 | 14 | 8 | 29 |
This game was notable for about a score of the band members taking a knee during the national anthem. It received widespread coverage, including on CNN, Fox News, and NBC.

### At South Florida

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Pirates | 3 | 3 | 7 | 9 | 22 |
| Bulls | 7 | 10 | 7 | 14 | 38 |

### At Cincinnati

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Pirates | 3 | 0 | 10 | 6 | 19 |
| Bearcats | 7 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 31 |

### UConn

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Huskies | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Pirates | 7 | 7 | 17 | 10 | 41 |

### At Tulsa

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Pirates | 7 | 0 | 10 | 7 | 24 |
| Golden Hurricane | 14 | 10 | 14 | 7 | 45 |

### SMU

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Mustangs | 10 | 28 | 10 | 7 | 55 |
| Pirates | 7 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 31 |

### Navy

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Midshipmen | 7 | 24 | 21 | 14 | 66 |
| Pirates | 14 | 3 | 14 | 0 | 31 |

### At Temple

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Pirates | 7 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
| Owls | 7 | 14 | 6 | 10 | 37 |