BYU at EAST CAROLINA
Saturday, September 20 | 7:30 p.m. ET
Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium (50,000/Natural Grass)
Greenville, North Carolina
Television
ESPN2
Lowell Galindo, Aaron Murray and Lauren Sisler
Radio
WNCT-FM 107.9 (East Carolina flagship)
SiriusXM 143
THE GAME
Saturday’s game will be the fourth meeting between East Carolina and BYU in a series that began in 2015 … The Pirates have taken the last two meetings after the Cougars won the initial matchup … The last meeting was East Carolina’s 27-24 win in Provo in the 2022 season on a 33-yard field goal by K Andrew Conrad as time expired.
rv/rv BYU
2-0, 0-0 Big 12
Head Coach
Kalani Sitake (BYU ’00)
74-43, 10th season
Notes
BYU had a cup of coffee in the top 25 after the Cougars were ranked No. 25 in the coaches’ poll following their 27-3 win against Stanford in Week 2 … The most recent polls have the Cougars as the first team listed in ‘receiving votes’ after BYU was idle last week … BYU rolled to a 69-0 win against Portland State in its season-opener … BYU went 11-2 overall and 7-2 in the Big 12 last season, finishing in a four-way tie for the regular-season title … The Cougars are looking for their third straight 3-0 start … QB Bear Bachmeier has started the first two games as a true freshman, passing for a combined 272 yards and three touchdowns without an interception … RB LJ Martin is the leading rusher with 241 yards on 26 carries … The defense has registered five sacks and 17 tackles for loss through two games.
EAST CAROLINA
2-1, 0-0 American
Head Coach
Blake Harrell (Western Carolina ’02)
7-2, first full season
Notes
East Carolina turned in its most impressive performance of the young season with a 38-0 win at Coastal Carolina in Week 2 … That result followed a season-opening 24-17 loss at NC State and a 56-3 victory against Campbell … The Pirates enter Saturday’s game as the NCAA FBS leader in turnover margin (+2.33) with eight takeaways against just one lost turnover … QB Katin Houser leads the American in passing with 324.3 yards per game … Houser has completed 83 of 116 passes for 973 yards and five touchdowns with one interception … WR Anthony Smith has 23 receptions for 241 yards, while WR Yannick Smith has 14 catches for 136 yards and two TDs … East Carolina has registered 10 sacks, three interceptions and six forced fumbles while holding opponents to just 9.0 points per game.