The Machine

East Carolina

American Athletic · 5-4CFP unranked

East Carolina is 5-4 and No. 90 of 138 in the machine's ratings, 5.6 points below an average FBS team. Last game: won 20-17 vs South Florida in Week 10.

Week 11: at Charlotte, Saturday, Nov 14: the matchup, unit by unit

Machine rankNo. 90of all FBS teams
Rating now−5.65.6 points below an average FBS team
Since July−5.0from −0.6 in the preseason rating

Why East Carolina is No. 90

  • East Carolina's rating is −5.6: the machine's estimate that East Carolina is 5.6 points worse than an average FBS team on a neutral field. That is No. 90 of 138. For scale, 0 is an average FBS team: right now the closest to it is No. 68 Arizona State (0.2).
  • It started the season at −0.6, ESPN's preseason Football Power Index from July. Its results since have moved it down 5.0.
  • The biggest weekly moves: −3.0 after Week 1 (L 10-48 at Alabama) and −1.9 after Week 7 (L 17-30 at UAB).
  • Its record is 5-4. The 4 losses were to No. 2 Alabama, No. 57 Memphis, No. 106 App State, No. 110 UAB, by 15.2 points on average. The 5 wins came by 12.6 points on average; the best was over No. 83 South Florida. The rating weighs how much a team won or lost by and against whom, not just the win-loss count.
  • Its FBS opponents so far average No. 88 in the machine's ratings.
  • Just above is No. 89 Toledo (−5.1); just below is No. 91 UNLV (−6.0).

The rating, week by week

Strengths and weak spots

Head coach

Blake Harrell is in his 3rd season at East Carolina (since 2024). This season: 5-4. At East Carolina overall: 19-9, counting this season.

Data provided by CollegeFootballData.com.

Team stats

Season totals and averages over 9 games, each with its national rank among 138 FBS teams (No. 1 = best). The game-by-game story is in the season, week by week.

Passing

Completions-attempts170-284
Passing yards1715
Touchdowns-interceptions14-7
Yards per attempt*6.0No. 133 of 138
Explosive pass rate9.1%No. 99 of 138
Sacks allowed (rate)5.4%No. 70 of 138

Rushing

Carries-yards333-1456
Yards per carry4.4No. 62 of 138
10-plus-yard runs (rate)12.6%No. 98 of 138
Stuffed at or behind the line (rate)16.1%No. 52 of 138

Scoring

Points per game23.6No. 101 of 138
Yards per play5.22No. 115 of 138
Third-down rate32.3%No. 126 of 138
Red-zone TD rate53.1%No. 105 of 138
Giveaways15No. 117 of 138

Defense

Points allowed per game23.3No. 56 of 138
Yards per play allowed5.03No. 30 of 138
Yards per pass attempt allowed7.1No. 66 of 138
Yards per carry allowed3.5No. 31 of 138
Sack rate8.2%No. 12 of 138
Takeaways12No. 50 of 138
Third-down rate allowed29.8%No. 8 of 138

Totals are the official box score. * Yards per attempt and the rates come from the play-by-play, where passing yards count on completions only, so they can differ from the box score by a play or two.

Data provided by CollegeFootballData.com.

Player leaders

The top 3 in each category over the same games. Passing yards count every completion (official box score).

Passing

  1. Emory Williams92-144, 891 yds, 9 TD, 2 INT
  2. Mitch Griffis76-137, 801 yds, 4 TD, 5 INT

Rushing

  1. TJ Engleman110 carries, 695 yds, 5 TD
  2. Ashton Gray88 carries, 380 yds, 2 TD
  3. Michael Allen42 carries, 143 yds, 1 TD

Receiving

  1. Nathaniel Joseph40 catches, 365 yds, 3 TD
  2. Landon Sides33 catches, 358 yds, 3 TD
  3. Jeremiah Melvin13 catches, 188 yds, 1 TD

Tackles

  1. DJ Johnson Jr.60
  2. Crews Law55
  3. Kamaurri McKinley49

Sacks

  1. Preston Carr3
  2. Jasiyah Robinson2.5
  3. Kendrick DuJour2.5

Interceptions

  1. Angelo Ross2
  2. Ayden Duncanson2
  3. Ashton Levells-Mitchell1

Data provided by CollegeFootballData.com.

Who's playing

Based on who has actually played this season, from the box scores, not the team's published depth chart. Each bar is that player's share of the team's attempts, carries (quarterbacks left out), catches or tackles. The box score lists no positions, so there is no offensive line here.

Throwing

  1. Emory WilliamsMost passes in the last game7 games144 attempts51%
  2. Mitch Griffis8 games137 attempts48%

Carrying

  1. TJ Engleman9 games110 carries44%
  2. Ashton Gray8 games88 carries35%
  3. Michael Allen8 games42 carries17%

Catching

  1. Nathaniel Joseph9 games40 catches24%
  2. Landon Sides6 games33 catches19%
  3. Jason Dickerson9 games15 catches9%
  4. Jeremiah Melvin4 games13 catches8%

Tackling

  1. DJ Johnson Jr.9 games60 tackles9%
  2. Crews Law9 games55 tackles8%
  3. Kamaurri McKinley9 games49 tackles7%
  4. Kevon Merrell9 games48 tackles7%

Data provided by CollegeFootballData.com.

The season, week by week

  1. Week 1 L 10–48 at Alabama. The run game struggled: 0.1 yards a carry, 3.1 less than Alabama usually allows. Its most yards an attempt of the season.
  2. Week 2 L 24–27 vs App State. The pass defense gave ground: App State got 9.5 yards an attempt, 2.1 over what it usually gains. Lost the turnover battle by 2.
  3. Week 3 W 20–17 at Old Dominion. The run defense gave ground: Old Dominion got 4.1 yards a carry, 2.0 over what it usually gains. The fewest yards an attempt it has allowed all season.
  4. Week 4 W 42–9 vs North Carolina Central. North Carolina Central is an FCS team, so there is no FBS baseline to grade this one against. The defense had 8 sacks.
  5. Week 6 W 28–12 vs Rice. The passing game struggled: 4.2 yards an attempt, 4.0 less than Rice usually allows. Won the turnover battle by 2.
  6. Week 7 L 17–30 at UAB. The passing game struggled: 4.7 yards an attempt, 1.6 less than UAB usually allows. Lost the turnover battle by 2.
  7. Week 8 L 34–41 at Memphis. The pass defense was the strength: Memphis got 7.4 yards an attempt, 3.0 under what it usually gains. Lost the turnover battle by 2.
  8. Week 9 W 17–9 vs Temple. The passing game struggled: 4.3 yards an attempt, 4.8 less than Temple usually allows. Won the turnover battle by 2.
  9. Week 10 W 20–17 vs South Florida. The pass defense gave ground: South Florida got 8.1 yards an attempt, 1.8 over what it usually gains.

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