2014 East Carolina Pirates football team

2014 East Carolina Pirates football
200px
Birmingham Bowl vs. Florida, L 20–28
Conference	American Athletic Conference
2014 record	8–5 (5–3 The American)
Head coach	Ruffin McNeill (5th year)
Offensive coordinator	Lincoln Riley (5th year)
Offensive scheme	Air Raid
Defensive coordinator	Rick Smith (2nd year)
Home stadium	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium (Capacity: 50,000)

2014 American Athletic Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
#25 Memphis +		7	–	1					10	–	3
Cincinnati +		7	–	1					9	–	4
UCF +		7	–	1					9	–	4
East Carolina		5	–	3					8	–	5
Houston		5	–	3					8	–	5
Temple		4	–	4					6	–	6
South Florida		3	–	5					4	–	8
Tulane		2	–	6					3	–	9
Tulsa		2	–	6					2	–	10
Connecticut		1	–	7					2	–	10
SMU		1	–	7					1	–	11
+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 2014 East Carolina Pirates football team represented East Carolina University in the 2014 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They were led by fifth-year head coach Ruffin McNeill and played their home games at Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium. This was East Carolina's first season as members of the American Athletic Conference. They finished the season 8–5, 5–3 in AAC play to finish in a tie for fourth place. They were invited to the Birmingham Bowl where they lost to Florida.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent#	Rank#	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 30	8:00 PM	North Carolina Central*		Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, NC	ESPNews	W 52–7	42,758
September 6	7:00 PM	at #21 South Carolina*		Williams-Brice Stadium • Columbia, SC	ESPNU	L 23–33	80,899
September 13	12:00 PM	at #17 Virginia Tech*		Lane Stadium • Blacksburg, VA	ESPN	W 28–21	63,267
September 20	3:30 PM	North Carolina*		Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, NC	ESPNU	W 70–41	51,082
October 4	12:00 PM	SMU	#22	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, NC	ESPNU	W 45–24	45,029
October 11	7:00 PM	at South Florida	#19	Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL	ESPNU	W 28–17	31,567
October 23	7:00 PM	Connecticut	#18	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, NC	ESPNU	W 31–21	40,152
November 1	12:00 PM	at Temple	#21	Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA	ESPNews	L 10–20	22,130
November 13	7:00 PM	at Cincinnati		Paul Brown Stadium • Cincinnati, OH	ESPN2	L 46–54	19,113
November 22	3:30 PM	Tulane		Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, NC	ESPN3	W 34–6	48,433
November 28	8:30 PM	at Tulsa		Chapman Stadium • Tulsa, OK	ESPNU	W 49–32	15,126
December 4	7:30 PM	UCF		Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, NC (Rivalry)	ESPN	L 30–32	41,259
January 3, 2015	12:00 PM	vs. Florida*		Legion Field • Birmingham, AL (Birmingham Bowl)	ESPN2	L 20–28	30,083
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. #Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Schedule Source:

Game summaries

North Carolina Central

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	7	0	0	0	7
Pirates	10	21	7	14	52

See also: 2014 North Carolina Central Eagles football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First Meeting

South Carolina

	1	2	3	4	Total
Pirates	6	10	0	7	23
#21 Gamecocks	7	13	10	3	33

See also: 2014 South Carolina Gamecocks football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
5–12	2012	SCAR, 48–10

Virginia Tech

	1	2	3	4	Total
Pirates	21	0	0	7	28
#17 Hokies	0	7	0	14	21

See also: 2014 Virginia Tech Hokies football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
5–13	2013	VT, 15–10

North Carolina

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tar Heels	13	7	7	14	41
Pirates	14	21	21	14	70

See also: 2014 North Carolina Tar Heels football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
3–12–1	2013	ECU, 55–31

SMU

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mustangs	0	7	17	0	24
#22 Pirates	14	14	7	10	45

See also: 2014 SMU Mustangs football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
3–2	2010	SMU, 45–38

South Florida

	1	2	3	4	Total
#19 Pirates	7	0	7	14	28
Bulls	7	10	0	0	17

See also: 2014 South Florida Bulls football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
1–4	2006	USF, 24–7

Connecticut

	1	2	3	4	Total
Huskies	7	0	14	0	21
#18 Pirates	14	0	7	10	31

See also: 2014 Connecticut Huskies football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First Meeting

Temple

	1	2	3	4	Total
#21 Pirates	0	3	0	7	10
Owls	14	0	6	0	20

See also: 2014 Temple Owls football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
8–3	1995	ECU, 33–22

Cincinnati

	1	2	3	4	Total
Pirates	6	14	7	19	46
Bearcats	14	17	7	16	54

See also: 2014 Cincinnati Bearcats football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
12–5	2004	CIN, 24–19

Tulane

	1	2	3	4	Total
Green Wave	0	3	0	0	3
Pirates	10	7	3	14	34

See also: 2014 Tulane Green Wave football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
10–3	2013	TUL, 36–33

Tulsa

	1	2	3	4	Total
Pirates	14	7	14	14	49
Golden Hurricane	14	0	11	7	32

See also: 2014 Tulsa Golden Hurricane football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
6–5	2013	ECU, 58–24

Central Florida

	1	2	3	4	Total
Knights	6	17	3	6	32
Pirates	6	3	0	21	30

See also: 2014 UCF Knights football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
9–3	2012	UCF, 40–20

Birmingham Bowl

	1	2	3	4	Total
Pirates	7	0	10	3	20
Gators	7	14	7	0	28

See also: 2014 Florida Gators football team and Birmingham Bowl

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
0–1	1983	UF, 24–17

Rankings

Further information: 2014 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final
AP	NR	NR	NR	RV	23	22	19	18	18	21	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR
Coaches'	NR	NR	NR	RV	24	21	19	16	17	19	RV	RV	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR
CFP	Not released									23	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	Not released