There’s no question 2023 was a season to be forgotten for East Carolina football.
The Pirates went 2-10 and had their worst finish since 2004 when they went 2-9. Last season was former head coach Mike Houston’s fifth year leading the program. He had guided the Pirates to consecutive winning seasons the two years prior.
There seems to be a lot less patience for coaches than there used to be, though, and Houston was let go following ECU’s Oct. 19 loss to Army. The Pirates were 3-4 at the time.
Defensive coordinator Blake Harrell was picked to be the interim head coach for the remainder of the season. Since he has taken over, the Pirates have gone 3-0 with wins over Temple, FAU, and Tulsa to secure bowl-eligibility.
It’s noticeable the Pirates aren’t playing with the same type of energy they were playing with in September. They certainly seem more engaged playing under Harrell.
That was especially true in the win over Tulsa last week. ECU trailed by a touchdown in the fourth quarter before running back Rahjai Harris broke off a pair of long touchdown runs just 3 minutes, 23 seconds apart, giving the Pirates the 38-31 lead.
The Golden Hurricane got the ball down to the Pirates’ 2-yard line on the ensuing drive with a chance to tie it or go ahead but were stopped on fourth down as ECU prevailed. It helped prove the Pirates are playing with a different mentality under Harrell, because I don’t know if they would have won a game in that fashion a month ago.
Quarterback Katin Houser’s Emergence
In ECU’s loss to Army, Katin Houser earned the starting nod and replaced Jake Garcia, who struggled throughout the first half of the season.
Houser has helped ECU’s offense drastically improve. The Pirates have scored 38 or more points in their last three victories. The only time ECU scored more than 30 points in its first seven games came in Week 1 in a 42-3 win over Norfolk State.
The sophomore QB passed for 343 yards and five touchdowns and added 52 yards and a rushing TD two weeks ago against Florida Atlantic. That performance earned him AAC Player of the Week honors.
Houser has made the case he perhaps should have been starting a long time ago. He made a few poor decisions and threw three interceptions against Tulsa — something Garcia also was dealing with — but Harrell stuck with Houser, who rallied the team in the comeback.
Earlier in the season, the Pirates just weren’t able to overcome those same types of mistakes to win games. But they overcame those against Tulsa. Just like they bounced back from the rough start to the season.
The Pirates won’t play for an AAC title, but they are 4-2 in conference play and won’t finish below .500 for the second season in a row.
Up next, ECU visits North Texas before hosting Navy. Those are games that won’t be easy and made last week’s win over Tulsa more critical to reach the postseason.
Whatever happens in the final two weeks, though, Harrell should be considered for the permanent head coaching job.
East Carolina-North Texas Football Prediction
I predict ECU will win as a three-point underdog.
These teams are moving in completely opposite directions right now with UNT on a four-game losing streak. Mean Green head coach Eric Morris did just make a coaching change, naming Brian Odom as the interim defensive coordinator and replacing Matt Caponi.
UNT’s defense has been getting shredded all season, so we’ll see what type of impact this will have.
I still like the Pirates to keep things rolling, however.
