Ecu Spring 2023 Schedule – Michigan’s long and winding road to eternal college football glory for the 2023 season begins tomorrow in one of three non-conference tuneups. First on the schedule is the first meeting between the East Carolina Pirates, ECU and the Wolverines. The Pirates hail from the American Athletic Conference and are coming off a strong 8-5 campaign, although the program failed to live up to its lofty expectations for the year. Here’s the predicted fall, because the Pirates suffered big losses on both sides of the ball in the offseason: Bill Connelly ranked ECU 130th out of 133 teams in production back in February, and before they suffered more losses by post portal. -Pring This team is completely different
Mike Houston is a great coach who has been there, Lenore-Wrain (DII), The Citadel (FCS), James Madison (then FCS) and now East Carolina. ECU was 9-27 in the three seasons before Mike Houston arrived and took several years to get off the ground. They went 4-8 in 2019, then went 3-6 in Houston’s COVID-shortened season at ECU to go through a 7-5 post-pandemic season (the Military Bowl was never played due to BC’s withdrawal after the virus outbreak). They were geared up to go all-in for 2022 with veteran players on the roster, but had a disappointing 7-5 season, losing games by points 1, 2, and 3. A season-ending bowl victory on neighboring Coastal Carolina is a small treat to ease the pain of the 2022 season.
Ecu Spring 2023 Schedule
ECU’s defensive strength may be its defensive line On a team with a lot of turnover and new faces, the Pirates have three returning starters on the DL who profile more as run defenders than pass rushers. The team was 21st last season in the nation, allowing 118.9 rushing yards per game, and they will look to build on that experience this season.
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East Carolina runs a 3-3-5, with a quick EDGE, which can be considered a fourth DL if you want. Chad Stephens plays in the EDGE field with dirty hands, weighing in at 261, a defensive tackle, alongside lightweight Elias Morris (264) and big De’Anta Johnson (294). The two backups have a lot of experience too, including NT behemoth Jason Shuford (6’4, 322), who I predict will be in short-term and fast positions. When you throw in speedy EDGE Jeremy Lewis, who is better as a run defender than a pass rusher, you have a very strong unit against last season’s top 5 offense.
Of course, we’re talking about Michigan here, not the Gof5 offense. And while Morris and backup JD Lumley have proven themselves as solid FBS football players, it’s hard to imagine they’ll hang in there against Michigan’s big boys in the interior. Now, ECU wants to do what 3-3-5 teams want on the DL, hang in there and let the linemen go to work. They can be confusing, but it’s hard to win a fight
Focusing on linebackers, which is a weakness for Pirates Room LB fell in the offseason, leaving a hodgepodge of up-transfer from FCS, bring back rarely-used players and one down-transfer from P5. South Carolina State’s BJ Davis and Taylor Jackson (just back from logging >100 snaps last year) could be in line to start at Will and Mike, respectively, but I’m not sure how he’s set up. These two players will go through the baptism of fire tomorrow, but they can speak for their backup. If you’re DC Blake Harrell, you can’t get too comfortable with putting a lot on the plate for these LBs, but when you’re up against 260 lb defensive lineman Zach Ginter, you have no choice. This probably won’t end well for your safety
East Carolina University
Key Matchup: Michigan’s Iole vs Undefeated DT We’ve seen this matchup many times over the years, Nebraska is perhaps the most famous Undersized DT. Against the team with Michigan’s IOL and for the most part it blows the opponent out of the water. If this happens with ECU given the status of the LB room, it could be a big game for Blake Corm and Donovan Edwards on the floor.
If Michigan wants to get JJ McCarthy and show that the passing attack will be the focus of the offense in 2023, this game will be a good opportunity for them. ECU was prolific in the sacks last season and the academy absolutely exploded in the offseason even with some receivers pressed, the home team will have no problem getting the ball open to the Pirates defense tomorrow.
In front of the defense they mentioned in the previous section prevented the run at the end of the season. For example, Jeremy Lewis, the speedy EDGE, is a great player against the run and doesn’t provide many passes even though he is a key player in a hybrid role. He didn’t have a better DT than 61 points in the pass rush and Lewis.
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The best pass-rusher among EDGE last season They will likely blitz LBs and DBs since this 3-3-5 defense, but I don’t see much potential for an organic pass chicken. In some ways, this will be the first litmus test for Michigan’s tackles, because if ECU is under organic stress, that will be a bad sign.
For the secondary, ECU moved to two starting safeties, Tegan Wilk and Julius Cade. He played with the now-departed third defense last season, so it’s not his first rodeo, the bad news is that the top four corners from last season are all new corners among several players. Isaiah Brown-Murray is only 5’9″ and redshirted last season, so good luck projecting him. Another option again is a mix of FCS up transfer and P5 down transfer. For many (all?) corners using ECU , a trip to the FBS Mansion will be a real dose of first practice. A good return might help, but it won’t.
Key matchup: Freshman WRs vs. Five Second Patchwork Group. Let’s be real here, Michigan’s starting WRs can probably cook this guy, especially when McCarthy takes a lot of time to throw. The point of this type of game is to get the players to see a higher depth picture and we’ve heard a lot of good things about Michigan’s new receiver in camp, with promises to play in the open. Let’s take a look at this hodge-podge DB group
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The ECU was hit after spring practice on the OL (shouldn’t the Pirates be offensive?) and as a result, the blocking situation will be worse than it is now. After all the smoke cleared, only one returned OL starter, serviceable RG, remained in the wreckage of the sunken pirate ship. Limits for OL transfers have changed ($), but the lineup of players in the OL for ECU will include a good USF transfer (Dustin Hall), a 6-year-old, former program walk-on, and RS Fr. then Ft Ahhh.
East Carolina OL’s outside stats ranked in the 100s in most run blocking metrics from last season, and this team could only get worse. It will be surprising if they get any push against Michigan’s monster defensive interior, and the EDGE player is also efficient in the run. This is a long way I think you need to do some prayer now for your healing to return
The running back fills the big hole left by star RB Keaton Mitchell, and it looks like he’ll be a soft act. Those players are a clear step up from Mitchell last season, and maybe the blockers are feeding the Gators’ lackluster backs to put together meaningful days on the floor. Marlon Gunn Jr. Gerald Green is a transfer from Georgia Southern and third