CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2009 East Carolina

9–⁠5 (7–⁠1 Conference USA), coached by Skip Holtz.

Schedule and results

East Carolina in 2009, game by game: won vs. App State 29–24; lost at West Virginia 20–35; lost at No. 24 North Carolina 17–31; won vs. UCF 19–14; won at Marshall 21–17; lost at SMU 21–28; won vs. Rice 49–13; won at Memphis 38–19; lost vs. No. 22 Virginia Tech 3–16; won at Tulsa 44–17; won vs. UAB 37–21; won vs. Southern Miss 25–20; won vs. No. 18 Houston 38–32; lost vs. Arkansas 17–20+36−15Won 29–24 vs. App State+5App StateLost 20–35 at West Virginia-15West VirginiaLost 17–31 at No. 24 North Carolina-14No. 24 North CarolinaWon 19–14 vs. UCF+5UCFWon 21–17 at Marshall+4MarshallLost 21–28 at SMU-7SMUWon 49–13 vs. Rice+36RiceWon 38–19 at Memphis+19MemphisLost 3–16 vs. No. 22 Virginia Tech-13No. 22 Virginia TechWon 44–17 at Tulsa+27TulsaWon 37–21 vs. UAB+16UABWon 25–20 vs. Southern Miss+5Southern MissWon 38–32 vs. No. 18 Houston+6No. 18 HoustonLost 17–20 vs. Arkansas-3Arkansas
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 5vsApp StateW 29–⁠2462%
Sep 12atWest VirginiaL 20–⁠3529%
Sep 19at24North CarolinaL 17–⁠3136%
Sep 26vsUCFW 19–⁠1464%
Oct 3atMarshallW 21–⁠1748%
Oct 10atSMUL 21–⁠2869%
Oct 17vsRiceW 49–⁠1372%
Oct 27atMemphisW 38–⁠1962%
Nov 5vs22Virginia TechL 3–⁠1643%
Nov 15atTulsaW 44–⁠1741%
Nov 21vsUABW 37–⁠2170%
Nov 28vsSouthern MissW 25–⁠2062%
Dec 5vs18HoustonConference USA Championship GameW 38–⁠3254%
Jan 2Bowls & playoffvsArkansasLiberty BowlL 17–⁠2050%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Arkansas 20–⁠17 in the Liberty Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; Conference USA champions.

In program history: The tied 11th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 70 on file).

Conference USA champions7–⁠1 in the conference, won the Conference USA Championship Game

Record
9–⁠5
Conference
7–⁠1 first in Conference USA
AP final
Unranked
Points
378–⁠307
Coach
Skip Holtz
Elo
1595 +70 this season
SP+ rating
-2.3 No. 70 of 120; offense No. 74, defense No. 64, special teams No. 61
SRS
3.4 No. 53 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 97
Offensive coordinators
Steve Shankweiler and Todd Fitch
Defensive coordinator
Greg Hudson
Offense
Multiple
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense33rd of 120
  • Defense57th of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted48th of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted56th of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0743%0.8833rd of 120
Defense0.0443%0.8857th of 120
Opponent-adjusted0.05 off
0.04 def		42% off
42% def		—48th off
56th def
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense-0.1own 332% allowed
Defense0.1own 313% caused

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsPatrick Pinkney QB2,947 yds
Passing touchdownsPatrick Pinkney QB15 TD
Rushing yardsDominique Lindsay RB1,180 yds
Rushing touchdownsDominique Lindsay RB6 TD
Receiving yardsDwayne Harris WR978 yds
Receiving touchdownsDwayne Harris WR7 TD
InterceptionsVan Eskridge DB6 INT

Top recruits in the 2009 class

Justin Jones TE★★★No. 600
Damonte Terry RB★★★No. 1073
Zico Pasut TE★★★No. 1138
Will Simmons OG★★★No. 1188
Rio Johnson PRO★★★No. 1237

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2009 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks13.00.836
Running backs13.00.847
Receivers42.80.810
Offensive line22.50.770
Defensive line32.30.739
Linebackers22.00.700
Defensive backs32.30.755
Whole class162.50.771

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2010

The 2010 draft
Rd 2Linval Joseph DTNew York Giants
Rd 7Matt Dodge PNew York Giants
Rd 7C.J. Wilson DEGreen Bay Packers

Roster 116

The 2009 roster

116 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2009 line; 37 have a stat line. See the roster

2009 Conference USA standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
East Carolina7–⁠19–⁠5
Houston6–⁠210–⁠4
SMU6–⁠28–⁠5
UCF6–⁠28–⁠5
Southern Miss5–⁠37–⁠6
Marshall4–⁠47–⁠6
UAB4–⁠45–⁠7
Tulsa3–⁠55–⁠7
UTEP3–⁠54–⁠8
Rice2–⁠62–⁠10
Tulane1–⁠73–⁠9
Memphis1–⁠72–⁠10

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.