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2021 East Carolina

7–⁠5 (5–⁠3 American Athletic Conference), coached by Mike Houston.

Schedule and results

East Carolina in 2021, game by game: lost at App State 19–33; lost vs. South Carolina 17–20; won at Marshall 42–38; won vs. Charleston Southern 31–28; won vs. Tulane 52–29; lost at UCF 16–20; lost at Houston 24–31; won vs. South Florida 29–14; won vs. Temple 45–3; won at Memphis 30–29; won at Navy 38–35; lost vs. No. 4 Cincinnati 13–35+42−22Lost 19–33 at App State-14App StateLost 17–20 vs. South Carolina-3South CarolinaWon 42–38 at Marshall+4MarshallWon 31–28 vs. Charleston Southern+3Charleston Sout…Won 52–29 vs. Tulane+23TulaneLost 16–20 at UCF-4UCFLost 24–31 at Houston-7HoustonWon 29–14 vs. South Florida+15South FloridaWon 45–3 vs. Temple+42TempleWon 30–29 at Memphis+1MemphisWon 38–35 at Navy+3NavyLost 13–35 vs. No. 4 Cincinnati-22No. 4 Cincinnati
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 2atApp StateL 19–⁠3322%
Sep 11vsSouth CarolinaL 17–⁠2059%
Sep 18atMarshallW 42–⁠3825%
Sep 25vsCharleston SouthernW 31–⁠2877%
Oct 2vsTulaneW 52–⁠2955%
Oct 9atUCFL 16–⁠2032%
Oct 23atHoustonL 24–⁠3129%
Oct 28vsSouth FloridaW 29–⁠1468%
Nov 6vsTempleW 45–⁠373%
Nov 13atMemphisW 30–⁠2935%
Nov 20atNavyW 38–⁠3559%
Nov 26vs4CincinnatiL 13–⁠3523%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Cincinnati 35–⁠13; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 3rd in the American Athletic Conference.

In program history: The 24th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 70 on file).

Record
7–⁠5
Conference
5–⁠3 tied for 3rd in American Athletic Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
356–⁠315
Coach
Mike Houston
Elo
1517 +55 this season
SP+ rating
0.5 No. 78 of 130; offense No. 79, defense No. 83
SRS
−0.2 No. 73 of 130 in FBS
Returning
100% of last season’s EPA, No. 6 of 128
Recruiting class
No. 96 roster talent No. 77 in FBS
Offensive coordinator
Donnie Kirkpatrick
Defensive coordinator
Blake Harrell
Offense
Spread
Defense
3–⁠4 or 4–⁠2–⁠5

How good, play by play

  • Offense66th of 130
  • Defense60th of 130
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted61st of 130
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted72nd of 130
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1442%1.3466th of 130
Defense0.1340%1.3260th of 130
Opponent-adjusted0.15 off
0.14 def		42% off
41% def		—61st off
72nd 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 3019% allowed
Defense3.7own 2819% caused

CORE rating 3.8, 58th of 130 (offense 2.8, defense -1.1).

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. CORE is CollegeFootballData.com’s context- and opponent-adjusted rating (points better than an average team; lower is better on defense). From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsHolton Ahlers QB3,126 yds
Passing touchdownsHolton Ahlers QB18 TD
Rushing yardsKeaton Mitchell RB1,132 yds
Rushing touchdownsKeaton Mitchell RB9 TD
Receiving yardsTyler Snead WR855 yds
Receiving touchdownsRyan Jones TE5 TD
TacklesBruce Bivens LB57 tkl
SacksJeremy Lewis LB4 sacks
InterceptionsJa’Quan McMillian CB5 INT

Top recruits in the 2021 class

Jacob Coleman ATH★★★No. 992
Walter Simmons III QB★★★No. 1017
Jalen Clyatt S★★★No. 1157
Joseph McKay RB★★★No. 1183
Kyjuan Phillips OL★★★No. 1491

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

The 2021 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks13.00.856
Running backs13.00.851
Receivers13.00.822
Offensive line33.00.835
Defensive backs33.00.835
Athletes and specialists23.00.847
Whole class113.00.840

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.

Roster 134

The 2021 roster

134 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2021 line; 53 have a stat line. See the roster

Transfers in 11

The 2021 portal
Ray Rose WR★★★★from North Carolina
Ryan Jones ILB★★★★from Oklahoma
Aaron Jarman TE★★★from Temple
D.J. Ford S★★★from North Carolina
Devon King S★★★from Marshall
Jasiyah Robinson DE★★★from Michigan State
Jhari Patterson WR★★★from Marshall
Rob Vanderlaan OT★★★from Oregon State
Tyree Saunders WR★★★from Virginia Tech
Wistar Allen ILB★★★from Richmond
G’Mone Wilson RB★★from Marshall

Transfers out 14

Chase Hayden RB★★★to Illinois
Nigel Knott CB★★★★to Ole Miss
Alex Angus LB★★★to North Carolina A&T
Damir Faison DE★★★to Kent State
Delvontae Harris LB★★★returned to East Carolina
Hozey Haji-Badri DL★★★to Western Michigan
Jason Romero DE★★★to Florida A&M
Tank Robinson S★★★to Charlotte
Darius Pinnix RB★★to Tiffin University
Patrick Nations K★★to Eastern Kentucky
Robert Kennedy S★★to Old Dominion
Jaison Fournet OLno new school on file

And 2 more, lower-rated or unrated.

2021 American Athletic Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Cincinnati8–⁠013–⁠14
Houston8–⁠012–⁠217
UCF5–⁠39–⁠4
East Carolina5–⁠37–⁠5
Tulsa5–⁠37–⁠6
SMU4–⁠48–⁠4
Memphis3–⁠56–⁠6
Navy3–⁠54–⁠8
Temple1–⁠73–⁠9
Tulane1–⁠72–⁠10
South Florida1–⁠72–⁠10

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