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2022 East Carolina

8–⁠5 (4–⁠4 American Athletic Conference), coached by Mike Houston.

Schedule and results

East Carolina in 2022, game by game: lost vs. No. 13 NC State 20–21; won vs. Old Dominion 39–21; won vs. Campbell 49–10; lost vs. Navy 20–23; won vs. South Florida 48–28; lost at Tulane 9–24; won vs. Memphis 47–45; won vs. UCF 34–13; won at BYU 27–24; lost at Cincinnati 25–27; lost vs. Houston 3–42; won at Temple 49–46; won vs. Coastal Carolina 53–29+39−39Lost 20–21 vs. No. 13 NC State-1No. 13 NC StateWon 39–21 vs. Old Dominion+18Old DominionWon 49–10 vs. Campbell+39CampbellLost 20–23 vs. Navy-3NavyWon 48–28 vs. South Florida+20South FloridaLost 9–24 at Tulane-15TulaneWon 47–45 vs. Memphis+2MemphisWon 34–13 vs. UCF+21UCFWon 27–24 at BYU+3BYULost 25–27 at Cincinnati-2CincinnatiLost 3–42 vs. Houston-39HoustonWon 49–46 at Temple+3TempleWon 53–29 vs. Coastal Carolina+24Coastal Carolina
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 3vs13NC StateL 20–⁠2146%
Sep 10vsOld DominionW 39–⁠2164%
Sep 17vsCampbellW 49–⁠1087%
Sep 24vsNavyL 20–⁠2375%
Oct 1vsSouth FloridaMoved from Raymond James Stadium due to inclement weatherW 48–⁠2871%
Oct 8atTulaneL 9–⁠2446%
Oct 15vsMemphisW 47–⁠4550%
Oct 22vsUCFW 34–⁠1341%
Oct 28atBYUW 27–⁠2442%
Nov 11atCincinnatiL 25–⁠2724%
Nov 19vsHoustonL 3–⁠4258%
Nov 26atTempleW 49–⁠4669%
Dec 27Bowls & playoffvsCoastal CarolinaBirmingham BowlW 53–⁠2942%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Coastal Carolina 53–⁠29 in the Birmingham Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 6th in the American Athletic Conference.

In program history: The 16th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 70 on file).

Record
8–⁠5
Conference
4–⁠4 tied for 6th in American Athletic Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
423–⁠353
Coach
Mike Houston
Elo
1566 +54 this season
SP+ rating
1.1 No. 68 of 131; offense No. 51, defense No. 74, special teams No. 127
SRS
3.8 No. 54 of 131 in FBS
Returning
75% of last season’s EPA, No. 29 of 130
Recruiting class
No. 85 roster talent No. 81 in FBS
Offensive coordinator
Donnie Kirkpatrick
Defensive coordinator
Blake Harrell
Offense
Spread
Defense
3–⁠4 or 4–⁠2–⁠5

How good, play by play

  • Offense20th of 131
  • Defense106th of 131
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted27th of 131
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted98th of 131
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.2143%1.3920th of 131
Defense0.1845%1.31106th of 131
Opponent-adjusted0.17 off
0.15 def		43% off
45% def		—27th off
98th 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
Offense3.8own 3016% allowed
Defense3.7own 2616% caused

CORE rating 3.9, 49th of 131 (offense 6.8, defense 2.9).

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 QB3,708 yds
Passing touchdownsHolton Ahlers QB28 TD
Rushing yardsKeaton Mitchell RB1,452 yds
Rushing touchdownsKeaton Mitchell RB14 TD
Receiving yardsIsaiah Winstead WR1,085 yds
Receiving touchdownsC.J. Johnson WR10 TD
TacklesJulius Wood DB82 tkl
SacksJeremy Lewis LB3.5 sacks
InterceptionsMalik Fleming DB3 INT

Top recruits in the 2022 class

Marlon Gunn Jr. RB★★★No. 841
Jacob Sacra OT★★★No. 996
Samuel Dankah LB★★★No. 1
Isaiah Brown-Murray CB★★★No. 1596
J.D. Lampley DL★★★No. 1692

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

The 2022 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs23.00.847
Receivers13.00.825
Offensive line42.80.824
Defensive line33.00.834
Linebackers23.00.832
Defensive backs13.00.838
Whole class132.90.832

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 120

The 2022 roster

120 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2022 line; 64 have a stat line. See the roster

Transfers in 14

The 2022 portal
Isaiah Winstead WR★★★from Toledo
Parker Moorer OT★★★from West Virginia
Jack Powers DE★★★from Nevada
Justin Redd OL★★★from Norfolk State
Shaundre Mims DL★★★from Charleston Southern
Ben Johnson OT★★★from Marist
Alex Harper LS★★from North Carolina Central
David Chapeau P★★from Air Force
Kamarro Edmonds RB★★★★from North Carolina
Aapri Washington CB★★★from Buffalo
Jarett Garner WR★★★from Duke
Michael Edwards LB★★★from Georgia Southern

And 2 more, lower-rated or unrated.

Transfers out 28

Trent Holler OL★★★to Marshall
Nasir Clerk CB★★★no new school on file
David Laney S★★to North Carolina A&T
Slade Roy LS★★to LSU
Ray Rose WR★★★★to Tennessee State
Bryan Gagg QB★★★no new school on file
C.J. Crump CB★★★no new school on file
Canaan Clark OT★★★no new school on file
Cruz Temple LB★★★to Arkansas State
Dorian Hardy DL★★★no new school on file
Henry Garrison DL★★★no new school on file
J’Vian McCray DL★★★to Austin Peay

And 16 more, lower-rated or unrated.

2022 American Athletic Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Tulane7–⁠112–⁠29
Cincinnati6–⁠29–⁠4
UCF6–⁠29–⁠5
Houston5–⁠38–⁠5
SMU5–⁠37–⁠6
East Carolina4–⁠48–⁠5
Navy4–⁠44–⁠8
Memphis3–⁠57–⁠6
Tulsa3–⁠55–⁠7
Temple1–⁠73–⁠9
South Florida0–⁠81–⁠11

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