The East Carolina Pirates entered the 2021 college football season riding a six-season streak in which they had never won more than five games in any campaign. However, they found a new gear that season, going 7-5 in 2021 – and 8-5 in 2022. Going into 2023, with UCF, Memphis, Houston and Cincinnati having left the AAC for the Big 12, there are fewer obstacles in the Pirates’ path toward conference title contention. Are they ready to take that step? We have some insights about the Pirates that may help as you make your college football betting decisions for the coming season.
NCAA Football Betting News: East Carolina Pirates 2023 Season Betting Preview
One reason why East Carolina’s improvement the past two seasons is just an enigma is that there really wasn’t an identifiable factor. They didn’t get a new head coach; they didn’t have a bunch of talent roll into town through the transfer portal. In 2022, they had a number of offensive players punching way above their weight at the same time, and they won eight games as a result. Holton Ahlers threw for over 3,700 yards, and tailback Keaton Mitchell ran for more than 1,500 yards. C.J. Johnson and Isaiah Winstead each broke the 1,000-receiving yard barrier. These numbers helped the program put up its best season mark since 2014.
But what can we speculate going into 2023? None of these four stars are coming back this season. There’s no sign, coming out of spring football, that the Pirates were able to replace those stars. The schedule should be a bit easier for the Pirates, at least in conference play. The AAC added Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Rice, UT-San Antonio and UAB. Of those programs, the only one with potential quality similar to the departing four teams is UT-San Antonio. East Carolina gets to play four of these newcomers this season, with the only real challenging coming at UTSA. The non-conference schedule is challenging, as the Pirates open at Michigan and also travel to Appalachian State. They get to host Marshall and Gardner-Webb, though, so coming out of those four games with a 2-2 or 3-1 mark seems reasonable. Right?
Well, Michigan went to the College Football Playoff season the last two seasons. Next is a home date with Marshall; the Thundering Herd had nine wins last season and might have the best chance of any Group of Five team to snag a College Football Playoff spot. Then they go to Appalachian State, winners of seven games in 2023. This is going to be more of a toss-up – assuming that the Pirates have been able to find suitable replacements for at least some of their four offensive stars from a year ago. Gardner-Webb, an FCS opponent, is the most sure win out of these first four.
Then, conference play begins with a trip to Rice. You might think that the Owls will be an easy win, but remember that they have J.T. Daniels (yes, that J.T. Daniels) transferring in to play quarterback. They welcome SMU at home; the Mustangs have Preston Stone at quarterback after the departure of Tanner Mordecai. SMU has not believed much in defense the past few seasons, so it will be interesting to see how their defense responds to the Pirates on the road. Charlotte is another sure win, coming in off their worst season since 2017.
Going to UT-San Antonio is a trip to a team that has won 23 games since 2020-21. They got quarterback Frank Harris back, along with Kevorian Barnes, the C-USA Freshman of the Year in 2022. They follow that up with a trip to Tulane, who went 12-2 and not only won the AAC Championship but also stopped USC in the Cotton Bowl. A visit to Florida Atlantic means having to deal with Tom Herman’s scheme, ahead of a trip to Navy. The Midshipmen are supposedly trying to find an approach other than the triple-option, and we’ll see if that actually holds. A home game with Tulsa brings them a team that didn’t qualify for a bowl to wrap up the regular season.
It’s hard to find more than five wins in this schedule, which means that bowl eligibility would be a massive win for the Pirates this season. Filling all four of those offensive positions in the same season will also be a massive win. Those aren’t wins that I would bet a lot of money on.
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2023 East Carolina Football Schedule
| Week | Date | Opponent | Venue | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All times ET | ||||
| 1 | Sep. 2 | at 2 Michigan Wolverines | Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, MI | 12:00pm ET |
| 2 | Sep. 9 | Marshall Thundering Herd | Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, Greenville, NC | Time TBA |
| 3 | Sep. 16 | at Appalachian State Mountaineers | Kidd Brewer Stadium, Boone, NC | 3:30pm ET+ |
| 4 | Sep. 23 | Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs | Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, Greenville, NC | 6:00pm ET |
| 5 | Sep. 30 | at Rice Owls | Rice Stadium, Houston, TX | Time TBA |
| 6 | Oct. 7 | OFF | ||
| 7 | Oct. 14 | SMU Mustangs | Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, Greenville, NC | 7:30pm ET |
| 8 | Oct. 21 | Charlotte 49ers | Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, Greenville, NC | Time TBA |
| 9 | Oct. 28 | at 23 UTSA Roadrunners | Alamodome, San Antonio, TX | Time TBA |
| 10 | Nov. 4 | 19 Tulane Green Wave | Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, Greenville, NC | Time TBA |
| 11 | Nov. 11 | at Florida Atlantic Owls | FAU Stadium, Boca Raton, FL | Time TBA |
| 12 | Nov. 18 | at Navy Midshipmen | Navy-Marine Corps Mem. Stadium, Annapolis, MD | 12:00pm ET |
| 13 | Nov. 25 | Tulsa Golden Hurricane | Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, Greenville, NC | Time TBA ET |
| 14 | Dec. 2 | American Championship | Site, City TBD | 4:00pm ET |
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