WVU/ECU Series History

East Carolina University is notorious for playing teams along the eastern half of the United States and playing such teams closely. They are especially notorious for playing teams in West Virginia including Marshall and West Virginia University. The East Carolina-West Virginia series history isn’t close, however. The two schools have met 21 times with the Mountaineers owning a commanding 18-3 lead in the series heading into the September 9th matchup. The first game played was on November 7, 1970.

Here are a few of the most important games of the series:

September 30, 1995:
The 1995 game was a thriller and the first time the Pirates had beaten the Mountaineers. The Pirates dominated the first half after the Mountaineers struck first with a 33-yard field goal by Bryan Baumann. The Pirates responded with 20 consecutive
points to lead 20-3. The Mountaineers clawed back to tie the score 20-20. East Carolina would rally, however, with a game-winning 27-yard field goal by Chad Holcomb with 2:12 left.

September 4, 2004:
This game featured, at the time, the most rushing yards in a single game by a Mountaineer. Kay-Jay Harris single handily defeated the East Pirates by himself by rushing for 337 yards and 4 touchdowns. The Mountaineers won easily by a score of 56-23. The Mountaineers lead the game 49-9 at one point before giving up a handful of points in garbage time.

September 6, 2008
Finally, this contest is the only other relevant game in the series only because it featured a monstrous upset. The No.8 ranked Mountaineers entered Greenville, North Carolina to play an unranked ECU team. The Pirates dominated to a tune of 24-3. The Mountaineers, who coming off a dominating performance over Oklahoma in January, could not get anything going. The offense was stagnate and the defense was mediocre. It would be recorded as one of the most disappointing efforts in the program’s history.