Gameday: ECU Plays Hosts to No. 17 Cincinnati | Eastern NC Now

Publisher's note: This post appears here courtesy of the news and information section for East Carolina University men's and women's sports.

No. 17 Cincinnati at ECU (Game 9)
Date:	Saturday, Nov. 2
Time:	7:00 P.M. (EDT)
Location:	Greenville, N.C. (Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium)
Tickets & Parking:	Tickets | Parking
Live Game Coverage:	Radio: WNCT 107.9FM | TuneIn Radio Online Television: CBSSN
Internet Options:	Live Stats
Official Web Sites:	ECU | USF | American Athletic Conference
Game Notes:	ECU (PDF) | Cincinnati (PDF) | The American (PDF)
2019 Statistics:	ECU (PDF) | Cincinnati (PDF)
ECU Football Central:	ECU Media Hub | Roster | The American (PDF) | NCAA Football | College Scoreboard

Official Social Media Sites
Facebook:	ECU | The American
Twitter:	ECU | ECU Football (in-game updates) | The American
Twitter Hashtags:	#ECUGameday | #PirateNation | #AmericanFB
Instagram:	ECU | The American

    GREENVILLE, N.C.     It's Military Appreciation Day as East Carolina will begin the month of November by welcoming current American Athletic Conference East Division leader No. 17 Cincinnati to Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium on Saturday. The clash against the Bearcats opens a two-game stretch against nationally-ranked opponents for the Pirates, who travel to No. 15 SMU next week. ECU will also try to post successive November home league wins for the first time as an AAC member (2014-2019).

    ECU RECORDS AND STREAKS

• Qualified for 10 bowl appearances since 2000 (eight in the last 13 years) ...
• Has thrown at least one TD pass in five-straight games (and in 12 of the last 15 contests) ...
• Has made at least one field goal (when attempted) in 19-straight games ...
• Has booked at least six tackles for lost yardage in seven-straight games (51 total) ...
• Has forced at least one turnover in seven-straight games (most since 2014) ...
• Has won 37 of the last 40 games when leading at the half ...
• Has won 13 of the last 14 games when leading at the end of the 3rd quarter ...
• Has won eight of 11 games against Cincinnati in Greenville ...
• Has won four-straight (and seven of the last eight) games played on Nov. 2 ...
• Has limited opponents to just two combined second-half TDs in the last five home games ...

    THE SERIES     East Carolina leads 13-9 ... The Bearcats have won seven of the last eight, including the first four of five meetings as American Conference members ... The Pirates have taken eight of the 11 matchups played in Greenville, while UC holds a 6-5 edge in 11 contests in Cincinnati ... ECU opened the series with seven-straight victories.

    MIKE HOUSTON AGAINST THE BEARCATS     Including Mike Houston's prior eight-year tenure as a collegiate head coach at Lenoir-Rhyne, The Citadel and James Madison, Saturday's game will mark his first-ever meeting against Cincinnati.

    LUKE FICKELL AGAINST THE PIRATES     Third meeting (1-1; East Carolina win in 2017, Cincinnati win in 2018) ... The Pirates never competed against Akron (2000-01) and Ohio State (2002-16) while Luke Fickell was a member of those respective staffs.

    AGAINST THE BUCKEYE STATE     The Pirates have won 21 of 34 all-time matchups (21-13) against FBS programs from the state of Ohio ... In addition to its 13-9 mark against Cincinnati, ECU is 3-0 vs. Ohio, 2-2 vs. Bowling Green, 2-2 vs. Toledo and 1-0 vs. Akron ... The Pirates have never faced Ohio State, Kent State or Miami on the gridiron.

    MILITARY APPRECIATION DAY     ECU has dropped seven its last 13 contests (6-7) on Military Appreciation Day dating back to 2006 and will try to snap a recent four-game skid when it meets Cincinnati on Saturday.

    THE AMERICAN - YEAR SIX     East Carolina has posted an 82-71 (.536) all-time mark against current members of the American Conference ... The Pirates currently sport series records against Memphis (15-8), Cincinnati (13-9), Tulane (11-5), UCF (10-8), Tulsa (8-6), Temple (8-9), Houston (7-7), Connecticut (4-1), SMU (4-3), Navy (1-6) and USF (1-9).

    THE EAST HAS BEEN A BEAST     East Carolina owns a 5-18 mark (3-9/home, 2-9/road) against American Athletic Conference opponents in its own East Division since the league began divisional play in 2015 ... The Pirates' 44-7 win against UCF in their '15 road finale, a trio of victories vs. Connecticut (41-3/'16, 41-38/'17, 55-21/'18) and a 48-20 triumph against Cincinnati on Senior Day in 2017 represents the only quintet of triumphs ... In all, ECU is 3-1 vs. UConn, 1-3 vs. Cincinnati, 1-4 vs. UCF, 0-5 vs. USF and 0-5 vs. Temple while competing as division mates ... On the flipside, ECU is 2-11 against the West (1-1 vs. SMU, 1-1 vs. Tulsa, 0-2 vs. Houston, 0-2 vs. Memphis, 0-2 vs. Tulane, 0-3 vs. Navy).     2019 East Opponents: Temple/L 27-17, @UCF/L 41-28, USF/L 45-20, Cincinnati (Nov. 2), @UConn (Nov. 23)     2019 West Opponents: @Navy/L 42-10, @SMU (Nov. 9), Tulsa (Nov. 30)

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    Read the full game preview HERE.