CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2014 East Carolina

8–⁠5 (5–⁠3 American Athletic Conference), coached by Ruffin McNeill.

Schedule and results

East Carolina in 2014, game by game: won vs. North Carolina Central 52–7; lost at No. 21 South Carolina 23–33; won at No. 17 Virginia Tech 28–21; won vs. North Carolina 70–41; won vs. SMU 45–24; won at South Florida 28–17; won vs. UConn 31–21; lost at Temple 10–20; lost at Cincinnati 46–54; won vs. Tulane 34–6; won at Tulsa 49–32; lost vs. UCF 30–32; lost vs. Florida 20–28+45−10Won 52–7 vs. North Carolina Central+45North Carolina …Lost 23–33 at No. 21 South Carolina-10No. 21 South CarolinaWon 28–21 at No. 17 Virginia Tech+7No. 17 Virginia TechWon 70–41 vs. North Carolina+29North CarolinaWon 45–24 vs. SMU+21SMUWon 28–17 at South Florida+11South FloridaWon 31–21 vs. UConn+10UConnLost 10–20 at Temple-10TempleLost 46–54 at Cincinnati-8CincinnatiWon 34–6 vs. Tulane+28TulaneWon 49–32 at Tulsa+17TulsaLost 30–32 vs. UCF-2UCFLost 20–28 vs. Florida-8Florida
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30vsNorth Carolina CentralW 52–⁠790%
Sep 6at21South CarolinaL 23–⁠3332%
Sep 13at17Virginia TechW 28–⁠2135%
Sep 20vsNorth CarolinaW 70–⁠4155%
Oct 4vsSMUW 45–⁠2483%
Oct 11atSouth FloridaW 28–⁠1780%
Oct 23vsUConnW 31–⁠2188%
Nov 1atTempleL 10–⁠2064%
Nov 13atCincinnatiL 46–⁠5448%
Nov 22vsTulaneW 34–⁠680%
Nov 28atTulsaW 49–⁠3278%
Dec 4vsUCFL 30–⁠3251%
Jan 3Bowls & playoffvsFloridaBirmingham BowlL 20–⁠2852%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Florida 28–⁠20 in the Birmingham Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 4th in the American Athletic Conference.

In program history: The 15th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 70 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 5: 23
  2. Wk 6: 22
  3. Wk 7: 19
  4. Wk 8: 18
  5. Wk 9: 18
  6. Wk 10: 21

Burlsworth TrophyJustin Hardy, WR

Record
8–⁠5
Conference
5–⁠3 tied for 4th in American Athletic Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 18
Points
466–⁠336
Coach
Ruffin McNeill
Elo
1572 +10 this season
SP+ rating
8.5 No. 40 of 128; offense No. 33, defense No. 51, special teams No. 114
SRS
3.3 No. 47 of 128 in FBS
Returning
83% of last season’s EPA, No. 17 of 125
Recruiting class
No. 76
Offensive coordinator
Lincoln Riley
Defensive coordinator
Rick Smith
Offense
Air raid
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense35th of 128
  • Defense48th of 128
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted41st of 128
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted76th of 128
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.2048%1.1735th of 128
Defense0.1239%1.2548th of 128
Opponent-adjusted0.20 off
0.17 def		47% off
42% def		—41st off
76th 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
Offense3.6own 302% allowed
Defense3.0own 282% 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 yardsShane Carden QB4,736 yds
Passing touchdownsShane Carden QB30 TD
Rushing yardsBreon Allen RB869 yds
Rushing touchdownsBreon Allen RB8 TD
Receiving yardsJustin Hardy WR1,494 yds
Receiving touchdownsJustin Hardy WR10 TD
InterceptionsJosh Hawkins DB5 INT

Top recruits in the 2014 class

Yiannis Bowden WDE★★★No. 1330
Messiah Rice OT★★★No. 1407
Ray Tillman OLB★★★No. 1457
Curtis Burston WR★★★No. 1512
Anthony Scott APB★★★No. 1533

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

The 2014 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs13.00.817
Receivers52.20.787
Offensive line52.20.788
Defensive line62.50.795
Linebackers32.30.780
Defensive backs32.70.793
Athletes and specialists12.00.783
Whole class242.40.790

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 2015

The 2015 draft
Rd 4Justin Hardy WRAtlanta Falcons

Roster 123

The 2014 roster

123 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2014 line; 33 have a stat line. See the roster

2014 American Athletic Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Memphis7–⁠110–⁠325
UCF7–⁠19–⁠4
Cincinnati7–⁠19–⁠4
Houston5–⁠38–⁠5
East Carolina5–⁠38–⁠5
Temple4–⁠46–⁠6
South Florida3–⁠54–⁠8
Tulane2–⁠63–⁠9
Tulsa2–⁠62–⁠10
UConn1–⁠72–⁠10
SMU1–⁠71–⁠11

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