The East Carolina Pirates will travel this Thursday to take on the UAB Blazers in an American Conference matchup. East Carolina is 1-0 in conference after a 28-12 win over Rice last weekend, while UAB is 1-1 in conference with a 24-20 win over Navy and a 38-13 loss to the conference leader Memphis. At the time of writing, East Carolina is a road favorite of -4.5. The Pirates lead the all-time series 9-4, and they won the last matchup between these teams way back in 2013, 63-14.
Despite these teams sharing the same conference each of the last four seasons, this will be their first game against one another in over a decade. East Carolina is led by head coach Blake Harrell. Since beginning his head coaching stint in 2025, the Pirates are 11-3 in conference games. East Carolina started slow this season, but ended up finding success on offense when they inserted Miami transfer Emory Williams. Williams has thrown five touchdown passes this season, including two to former Miami teammate Ray Ray Joseph. The Pirates have also benefitted from their running game. Running back TJ Engelman Jr has run for 386 yards this season on only 45 attempts. That comes out to 8.6 yards per rush. The Pirates offense has not been explosive overall, but when paired with the team's defense, the Pirates can be dangerous. East Carolina leads college football with the most tackles for losses, averaging over 10 per game. They excel against the pass, only allowing one touchdown pass in their first five games. This low number is especially impressive considering they played Alabama in Week 1. Finally, the Pirates are solid against the run as well, only allowing 3.2 yards per carry this season.
East Carolina’s defense could prove to be a real problem against UAB’s offense, which ranks near the bottom of the nation in passing. UAB is only averaging 155.8 passing yards per game this season, mostly due to their poor pass protection. Quarterback Ryder Burton has been sacked 16 times this season, the most in the American. The matchup of East Carolina’s defense against UAB’s offense gives the Pirates a clear advantage on paper, but with this game being played at UAB, and the factor of unfamiliarity these teams have with each other, I will side with the under in this matchup of offenses that have not proven to be consistent.
East Carolina vs UAB prediction: Under 47.5 (-108) available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.
