College Football Preview: East Carolina

East Carolina Pirates

2015 Results: 5-7 (3-5, 5th in East)

Returning Starters: 5OFF, 6 DEF, 2 SP

2016 Schedule

September

3rd WESTERN CAROLINA

10th NORTH CAROLINA STATE

17th at South Carolina

24th at Virginia Tech

October

1st CENTRAL FLORIDA

8th at South Florida

13th NAVY

22nd at Cincinnati

29th CONNECTICUT

November

5th at Tulsa

12th SMU

26th at Temple

East Carolina is coming off a losing season. One where they fired Ruffin McNeil who was 42-34 in six seasons. To say that the bar is set high for Scottie Montgomery would be an understatement. The first year head coach was most recently the offensive coordinator at Duke. Expectations are high for the Pirates in his first year at the helm. 

On offense, there was a considerable amount of turnover. Montgomery will be implementing a multiple attack offense. Philip Nelson is expected to be calling the signals. ECU is his third stop in college and it appears to be the senior's job to lose. The Pirates return two of their top four receivers in Zay Jones and Davon Grayson. Running back Anthony Scott will be the go-to guy in the running game. Running the ball was where ECU struggled last year. They averaged 133.3 ypg and ranked 106 in the nation. 

On defense, the Pirates return 6 players from an average defense last year. Fred Presley and Demetri McGill, two seniors, return to a starting front that needs to pressure the quarterback more. Last season, the Pirates only averaged around two sacks per game. Junior linebacker Jordan Williams, second leading tackler from a year ago, will be heavily relied upon to stop the run this year as the Pirates gave up an average of 175 yards per game. Turnovers will be key also. ECU will need to force more as they only had 16 all of last year. 

Player to Watch: Zay Jones

The senior wideout will leave after this year as one of the best receivers to come through the school. He currently ranks third in school history in both receptions and yards. By year's end, barring injury, he will be in second. Last year, he caught 98 passes for 1,099 yards.

If you only watch them play once, watch: 

10/1 UCF

ECU will be coming off of a rough stretch of 3 Power 5 conference teams in a row. The conference opener will be a good tune up for them against one of the bottom dwellers. 

What to Expect:

September will be brutal for them they host NC State, then travel the next two weeks to South Carolina and Virginia Tech. If the Pirates can eek out a win in one of those three, they should be bowling. The conference slate isn't too kind to them. They play the top half of their division all on the road. 

Prediction

5-7 (4-4 AAC)

-Dug

@chansm1th