East Carolina Pirates 2025 College Football Preview
Posted June 27, 2025
2024 Recap
Record – 8-5
ATS – 7-5-1
The ARRRRRRR Pirates got off to a decent start as they took down mighty UTSA (W 30-20) to move to 3-2. Things looked good! And then they were blown out in back-to-back weeks by Charlotte (!) and Army whilst giving up 100 points in the process. East Carolina decided to make a coaching change and they subsequently went on a major HEATER winning four games in a row. They fell to Navy in the regular season finale but upset NC State in the Military Bowl (W 26-21) to finish the season at 8-5 ****.
**** Here’s the season recap in Pirate speak. All we do is add VALUE.
“They set sail on a grand voyage with a bonnie start, but soon found themselves in stormy seas and sent the scallywag captain to Davy Jones’ locker. They rallied like a hearty crew, pillagin’ five victories from their last six skirmishes. Then it be time to feast and frolic with the fair maidens of cheer, raisin’ their mugs of whiskey high in merry revelry!”
East Carolina Pirates 2025 Outlook
OFFENSE
The Pirates adopted well to the new Air Raid offense LY (264 YPG passing, #27 FBS), particularly once Katin Houser (18-11 TD to INT) took over for the loose cannon known as Jake Garcia (8-12 TD to INT). Houser is back to lead the offense and the WR weaponry looks solid with the return of #1 WR Anthony Smith (799, 6 TD), Yannick Smith (434, 17.4, 3 TD) and the addition of Oklahoma transfer Jaquaize Pettaway. The RB unit is down a notch after losing 1,000-yard back Rahjai Harris (5.7, 11 TD) but it appears that they have a decent committee heading into 2025. The Pirates retain their #2 and #3 RBs (Montgomery, Gunn) and add a few talented transfers to the mix. The offensive line appears to be in decent shape but it might be a bit much to expect the same performance as LY (4.8 YPC, 21 sacks) given that they only return a pair of starters to the unit. East Carolina averaged 32 PPG LY (#34 FBS) and we expect a similar level of production this year.
DEFENSE
The Pirates were midpack in the AAC in both run defense and pass efficiency defense LY but it’s worth noting that they allowed less than 28 PPG for the fourth consecutive season. Major reconstructive surgery is required on this side of the football as East Carolina returns just two starters and will be without their top-three tacklers, and several key cogs from last year’s stop unit. DE/LB Ryheem Craig is a nice piece to have back (5.5 TFL) but the Pirates don’t have much experience up front. They’ve got some size on the interior but we’re not sure if there are any complementary pass rushing threats on board. The LB group is going to rely heavily upon holdovers from the 2024 squad to take the next step and become productive defenders, and the secondary could be a significant problem area as they must replace almost everyone from LY’s two-deep. Safety Ja’Marley Riddle is a talented specimen to build around but we expect the secondary to get torched on several occasions.
SPECIAL TEAMS
The Pirates ranked an impressive #32 in the Phil Steele special teams rankings LY but they’ve gotta replace their solid punter Luke Larsen and ace KR Winston Wright (26.8, TD). There are a couple of decent options battling for the PK duties and hopefully they can find some dangerous return specialists on the roster.
Schedule Analysis
Overall – We don’t love the way it sets up. They start out by going into a HORNETS’ NEST (see below) and they’ve got a very tough AAC schedule having to face Army (H), Tulane (A), Memphis (H), and UTSA (A). There are three challenging non-conference games (at NC St, at Coastal Carolina, BYU) and note that the Pirates’ final two games are both on the road. That’s not great if they need a win or two to earn a bowl bid.
Potential ATS Trouble Spot – at NC State (Aug 28)
Revenge is a dish best served COLD.
East Carolina thoroughly enjoyed their bowl win over NC State last season and whilst we normally prefer the underdog in these in-state rivalry games, it seems to us that the Pack may have some extra juice for this BAD BOY.
Season Win Total
Market consensus June 27
Over 6.5 +125
Under 6.5 -160
MEGALOCKS says:
Lean: Under
The Pirates have a demanding schedule and it’ll be tough to navigate with a suspect defense.
Note – Our official list of season win total investments will be posted in the blog section of the website.
MEGAmazing Tidbits
East Carolina is a very disappointing 26-35 ATS (43%) in home games over the L10Y.
The Pirates have been sneaky-good recently as they’ve won seven or more games in three of the last four years. We won’t talk about 2023.
The most important graduate of East Carolina University is clearly the devastating SANDRA BULLOCK who played the SMOKESHOW in several notable movies, with our two favorites being Speed, and The Blind Side.
MEGALOCKS Forecast:
The Pirates will definitely be able to put points on the scoreboard but we worry quite a bit about that defense, and the schedule doesn’t do them any favors. We’ll call for six wins and hope that they can find their way back to a bowl game!
By popular demand, we have more Pirate speak for your reading pleasure……
We’d be overjoyed to spin ye a yarn ’bout how the Pirates can hoist the Jolly Roger in the AAC, but that’d be too much swashbucklin’ for our taste, and we shan’t be blowin’ smoke up yer porthole!