East Carolina Pirates 2023 game-by-game predictions

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DALLAS, TEXAS – NOVEMBER 09: Xavier Jones #5 of the Southern Methodist Mustangs runs the ball against Daniel Charles #27 of the East Carolina Pirates in the first half at Gerald J. Ford Stadium on November 09, 2019 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /

@ Rice (L)

East Carolina has several new foes lined up for its 2023 AAC slate, with Rice leading the charge on a serious desire to bring some heat—and my, what heat it’s going to bring.

Unlike the Pirates, the Owls have a bundle of noteworthy talent returning at quarterback, running back, and wide receiver. Their QB situation is especially interesting, though, as senior journeyman JT Daniels was confirmed to be transferring to Rice late last year.

Long story short, it boils down to a simple equation for me: (Talent Advantage) + (Home field Advantage) = Win.

SMU (W)

It’s fascinating to see just how quickly we can go from talking about returning stars and playing at home to talking about a team that benefits from neither, yet here we have SMU.

The Mustangs will be heading into Greenville without 3,500-yard gunslinger Tanner Mordecai and 1,300-yard receiver Rashee Rice; their departures will be sure to leave SMU’s pass-heavy offense in absolute shambles.

The teams share a competitive back-and-forth and will both be coming off bye weeks, so I’d like to think that it will be an entertaining battle where the two give it their all. However, the Mustangs have too much against them for me to take this one from ECU.

Charlotte (W)

Now we’re finding the rhythm we want to see.

I’m not going to sugarcoat it: The Charlotte 49ers suck. They’ve had one winning team in their limited history (7-6 in 2019) and are coming off of their worst full-season win count since 2017. How could one possibly expect me to side against the hosting East Carolina Pirates as they come off a tough-yet-empowering victory?

@ UTSA (L)

Quite the change of pace with this one, as the UTSA Roadrunners have sat atop the Group of 5 for the last couple of years, having won 23 games since their 2020-21 run.

But while that is a scary fact on its own, it has nothing on this one: Multiple playmakers who paved the way to that success will be back this year. Said playmakers include 4,000-yard QB Frank Harris, 2022 Conference USA Freshman of the Year RB Kevorian Barnes, and WRs De’Corian Clark and Joshua Cephus, who both exceeded 700 receiving yards.

When mixing that elite of an offense with a visiting (and offensively challenged) East Carolina, this one sounds like a blowout waiting to happen.

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