The 2021 East Carolina Pirates football team represents

East Carolina University East Carolina University (ECU) is a public university, public research university in Greenville, North Carolina. It is the fourth largest university in North Carolina. Founded on March 8, 1907, as a Normal school, teacher training school, East ...

in the

2021 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2021 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the 152nd season of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at its highest level of competition, the Football Bowl Subdivision. The r ...

. The Pirates, led by third-year head coach Mike Houston, play their home games at

Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium is the on-campus football facility at East Carolina University for the East Carolina Pirates in Greenville, North Carolina. The official capacity of the stadium is 51,000, tying it for the second largest college stadium ...

as members of the

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) ...

. After compiling a 7–5 regular season record, the Pirates received a bid to the

Military Bowl The Military Bowl is a post-season National Collegiate Athletic Association-sanctioned Division I college football bowl game that has been played annually each December in the Washington metropolitan area since 2008. The game was originally held a ...

, where they were due to face the

Boston College Eagles The Boston College Eagles are the athletic teams that represent Boston College, located in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivisi ...

. On December 26, the Eagles withdrew from the game, due to COVID-19 issues; the bowl was subsequently canceled.

Previous season

The Pirates finished the 2020 season 3–6, 3–5 in AAC play to finish in ninth place in the conference.

Preseason

American Athletic Conference preseason media poll

The American Athletic Conference preseason media poll was released at the virtual media day held August 4, 2021.

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, who finished the 2020 season ranked No. 8 nationally, was tabbed as the preseason favorite in the 2021 preseason media poll.

Schedule

Notes

: This game was initially scheduled for

ESPNU ESPNU is an American multinational digital cable and satellite sports television channel owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between the Disney Media Networks division of The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and the Hears ...

at 4PM ET, but moved to 9:20PM ET on ESPNews because of a rain delay.

Game summaries

vs. Appalachian State

South Carolina

at Marshall

Charleston Southern

Tulane

at UCF

at Houston

South Florida

Temple

at Memphis

at Navy

No. 4 Cincinnati

References

East Carolina East Carolina University (ECU) is a public research university in Greenville, North Carolina. It is the fourth largest university in North Carolina. Founded on March 8, 1907, as a teacher training school, East Carolina has grown from its orig ...

East Carolina Pirates football seasons

East Carolina Pirates football The East Carolina Pirates are a college football team that represents East Carolina University (variously "East Carolina" or "ECU"). The team is a member of the American Athletic Conference, which is in Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (for ...

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