East Carolina (5-3) at BYU (4-4)
Kickoff: 6 p.m. MDT
Venue: LaVell Edwards Stadium, Provo (63,475)
TV: ESPN2
Livestream: WatchESPN.com
Radio: 1160 AM/102.7 FM
Series: The Cougars and Pirates are meeting for the third time in a series that began in 2015. BYU won the first game, 45-38 in Provo, but East Carolina got revenge with a 33-17 win in Greenville, North Carolina, in 2017. Gardner Minshew entered the game at quarterback in relief of the ECU starter, before transferring to Washington State.
Weather: Clear skies with wind gusts up to 5 mph and temperatures in the mid-50s at kickoff, dropping to the mid-30s later in the night. Less than 10% chance of showers.
The trends
For BYU: The Cougars are in a free-fall after losing three straight games and looking defenseless in the last two against Arkansas and Liberty. Offensively, BYU scored 14 points in the first quarter against the Flames, then were held scoreless the final three quarters.
For East Carolina: The Pirates are playing as well as they have all season. After knocking off Memphis in four overtimes, they stayed in Greenville and upset Big 12-bound Central Florida 34-13 to get within one win of bowl eligibility. Quarterback Holton Ahlers ran for a touchdown and threw for another in the victory.
What to watch for
BYU needs to rediscover the confidence and moxie that enabled the Cougars to defeat South Florida and Baylor. The Cougars have not looked good since getting blown out at Oregon, eking past Wyoming and Utah State to get to 4-1. Then the bottom fell out, with losses to Notre Dame, Arkansas and Liberty. The Razorbacks and Flames put up 644 and 547 yards on BYU, respectively. Will the Cougars find their defense?
East Carolina coach Mike Houston is in his 12th year as a college head coach and fourth year at ECU, where he is 19-22 in Greenville, North Carolina. The Pirates feature one of the best and most-experienced quarterbacks in the country in Holton Ahlers and fleet receivers Isaiah Winstead, C.J. Johnson and Jaylen Johnson.
Key player
Jaren Hall, QB, BYU: By his own admission, Hall wasn’t sharp against Liberty, after playing perhaps the best game of his career against Arkansas. The fifth-year junior has said the shoulder injury that hampered him against Notre Dame is a thing of the past, and offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick seconded that after practice Tuesday, saying Hall is “100%” and hasn’t missed a rep in practice this week.
Quotable
“The (ECU) film is right there for us to see. It has every bit of their attention. So I think we can talk about it all we want, but the proof is what we see on film. The guys know that this is a really good team coming into town, and we have to get back, to what we are good at, and get back to our identity and making sure that we play our brand of football. And that is on the field. It is not just by the name anymore. We just gotta start showing that we can do what we do normally on the field that we obviously the last few (games) of the losing streak we haven’t gotten there. So let’s return back to who we are.” — BYU coach Kalani Sitake
“We have talked to a lot of different people, a lot of different coaches, and basically the consensus is (the altitude) is only an issue if you make it an issue. They said there is no noticeable effect on the players.” — ECU coach Mike Houston
Next up
BYU heads back out on the road to face Boise State on Nov. 5 on the blue turf of Albertsons Stadium. Boise State upset BYU last year in Provo, so the Cougars will have revenge on their minds in what will likely be the last matchup with the Broncos for awhile as they head off to the Big 12.
BYU schedule
Sept. 3 — BYU 50, South Florida 21
Sept. 10 — No. 25 BYU 26, No. 9 Baylor 20 (2OT)
Sept. 17 — No. 25 Oregon 41, No. 12 BYU 20
Sept. 24 — No. 19 BYU 38, Wyoming 24
Sept. 29 — No. 19 BYU 38, Utah State 26
Oct. 8 — Notre Dame 28, No. 16 BYU 20
Oct. 15 — Arkansas 52, BYU 35
Oct. 22 — Liberty 41, BYU 14
Oct. 28 — BYU vs. East Carolina, 6 p.m.
Nov. 5 — BYU at Boise State, TBD
Nov. 12 — Open date
Nov. 19 — BYU vs. Utah Tech.
Nov. 26 — BYU at Stanford.
All times MT.