An occasional series looking ahead to what USF will face in its American Conference schedule
USF at East Carolina, November 6 (Friday), Kickoff time 7:30 p.m. TV: ESPN2.
On paper, this looks like another difficult road game for the Bulls. Preseason pundits point to the Pirates as a serious challenger for a berth in the American Conference championship game.
USF is 9-4 lifetime against the Pirates, but they haven't played each other since 2022. That game was played in Boca Raton because of the storm threat from Hurricane Ian.
East Carolina also has won the last three outings against the Bulls. but that probably deserves an asterisk because Jeff Scott was USF's coach for those games.
The reason for the buzz around East Carolina this season is because they had a strong season in 2025. The Pirates were 9-4 last year and won six of their last seven games, including a 23-17 win over Pitt in the Military Bowl.
The game was especially notable because ECU's starting quarterback, leading rusher, and a couple of key receivers opted out of the game. The Pirates offensive and defensive coordinators also had left for other jobs before that game.
The defensive coordinator, of course, is Josh Aldridge, who joined Brian Hartline's staff at USF.
On offense, head coach Blake Harrell hired Jordan Davis from North Texas, who oversaw the top scoring offense in the nation last season.
Jordan Hankins comes over from Memphis to run the defense. The Tigers had one of the better defenses in the country.
Harrell, by the way, is 14-5 since taking over in the 2024 midseason.
Why UAB could be really good: Harrell has proven he can get the job done at ECU, and his choices for both coordinators has drawn approving nods. The staff will have to be at its best to develop a team that is dependent on multiple additions at key positions through the Transfer Portal.
After losing quarterback Katin Houser through the portal to Illinois, Harrell is banking on a pair of transfers to fill his shoes.
Emory Williams comes over from Miami and Mitch Griffis checks in from Texas Tech. Neither QB played much at their previous stops, but they come from programs that knew how to put a lot of points on the board. They were also well-regarded coming out of high school, and if one or both of them live up that billing, the Pirates could be explosive.
Why East Carolina might struggle. We mentioned the opt-outs from key players for the Military Bowl. Those weren't the only departures.
The Pirates return only seven starters from that team (USF, by the way, has only three). Like the Bulls, there is a heavy reliance on the portal.
East Carolina has 40 new faces on this team, including 22 through the portal (USF, with 58 new players, including 41 through the portal, tells the Pirates "hold my beer.")
247Sports ranks USF's portal class at the top of the American on 58th overall nationally. East Carolina's class is ranked fifth in the American and 73rd nationally.
X factors: The atmosphere could be raucous. The Pirates have designated this as the "Night of the Boneyard" game -- complete with a "Paint It Black" theme. Fans and the players will wear alternate black clothing, and adding a national TV audience probably raises the temperature a few degrees.
Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium seats about 50,000, and if both teams are as successful at this point of the season as they expect to be, enthusiam for this game could be at a fever pitch.
Previously in this series:
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