The East Carolina Pirates (7-5, 7-5 ATS, 6-6 O/U) meet with the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (9-3, 4-7-1 ATS, 7-5 O/U) in the Birmingham Bowl on Tuesday night. The Pirates recorded a 7-5 record and an even 4-4 mark in AAC play. The Chanticleers only lost three games all season and went a solid 6-2 in conference action.
The East Carolina Pirates enter the bowl game on a winning note. They snapped a two-game slide with a 49-46 road win against Temple in the regular-season finale in a bout that had ECU labeled as 9.5-point dogs. The two defeats in that slide were against strong foes in Cincinnati and Houston. The Pirates had a few outstanding stretches including a three-game winning streak that included victories against UCF and a 27-24 road win against BYU. The Pirates have covered in one of their last three games.
ECU has a good QB in Holton Ahlers. The senior QB connected on 67% of his passes and had a remarkable 465 passing yards in a win against USF in October. Ahlers has registered 3408 passing yards and a solid 23:5 TD to INT ratio on the year.
Keaton Mitchell is one of the best running backs in the AAC. The sophomore has rushed for at least 100 yards in six consecutive games and has accumulated a stunning 1325 rushing yards on an average of 7.4 yards per rush. ECU has a strong #1 WR in Isaiah Winstead. The senior brought in over 100 yards three times this season and has logged 1013 receiving yards on the year. The ECU offense is capable of piling on the points. They have reached the 30-point mark on six occasions and are averaging 459 total yards per game.
Make a play! ????? @holtahlers12 @jj6_ pic.twitter.com/4G2mSM5Vgw
— ECU Football (@ECUPiratesFB) December 1, 2022
The Pirates' defense was shaky in the final two games of the season. They squandered over 40 points in back-to-back games against Houston and Temple. The unit squandered 575 total yards in the regular season finale against Temple. The pass defense is horrible, standing 131st while the rush defense is 19th. East Carolina is averaging 30.8 points, landing them 47th in the country. They are conceding an average of 27 points, positioning them 73rd.