East Carolina Pirates vs. Memphis Tigers
The East Carolina Pirates and the Memphis Tigers will both be gunning for a victory on Tuesday when they meet at Liberty Bowl.
Oddsmakers currently have the Pirates listed as 4-point favorites versus the Tigers, while the game's total has not yet been posted.
Dwayne Harris returned a kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown and added two touchdown catches to help East Carolina beat Rice 49-13 in Week 7.
The Pirates covered the 18.5-point spread, while the final score played OVER the day's posted total of 55.5.
Memphis was defeated 36-16 by Southern Miss in Week 7 as 15.5-point underdogs. The 52 points went UNDER the posted total of 54.
Duke Calhoun had 77 yards receiving with a touchdown in the loss.
Team records:
East Carolina: 4-3 SU, 2-4 ATS
Memphis: 2-5 SU, 1-5 ATS
East Carolina most recently:
When playing in October are 7-3
When playing on turf are 5-5
After outgaining opponent are 7-3
When playing within the conference are 8-2
Memphis most recently:
When playing in October are 5-5
When playing on turf are 4-6
After outgaining opponent are 5-5
When playing within the conference are 5-5
A few trends to consider:
East Carolina is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Memphis
East Carolina is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games when playing on the road against Memphis
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of East Carolina's last 9 games on the road
East Carolina is 10-5 SU in its last 15 games
Memphis is 4-8 SU in its last 12 games when playing East Carolina
Memphis is 2-6 SU in its last 8 games
Memphis is 1-5 ATS in its last 6 games when playing at home against East Carolina
Memphis is 0-5 ATS in its last 5 games when playing East Carolina
Next up:
East Carolina home to Virginia Tech, Thursday, November 5
Memphis at Tennessee, Saturday, November 7
E CAROLINA (4 - 3) at MEMPHIS (2 - 5)
Top Trends for this game.
E CAROLINA is 2-9 ATS (-7.9 Units) in road games over the last 2 seasons.
E CAROLINA is 2-9 ATS (-7.9 Units) in road lined games over the last 2 seasons.
E CAROLINA is 1-8 ATS (-7.8 Units) in road games in games played on a grass field over the last 2 seasons.
E CAROLINA is 0-6 ATS (-6.6 Units) in road games when playing against a team with a losing record over the last 3 seasons.
Head-to-Head Series History
E CAROLINA is 2-0 against the spread versus MEMPHIS over the last 3 seasons
E CAROLINA is 2-0 straight up against MEMPHIS over the last 3 seasons
1 of 2 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons
E CAROLINA at MEMPHIS
E CAROLINA: 2-9 ATS in road games
MEMPHIS: 3-11 ATS vs. East Carolina
EAST CAROLINA vs. MEMPHIS
East Carolina is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Memphis
East Carolina is 8-4 SU in its last 12 games when playing Memphis
Memphis is 2-6 SU in its last 8 games
Memphis is 0-5 ATS in its last 5 games when playing East Carolina
What Bettors Need to Know: East Carolina at Memphis
By Marc Lawrence
The Conference-USA moves back to prime time Tuesday night when East Carolina (4-3, 3-1) visits Memphis (2-5, 1-3) at the Liberty Bowl Stadium in a game televised on ESPN2.
The Pirates opened a 4.5-point favorite and the line has moved to -4.
Weather update
Expect cloudy and cool weather with temperatures in the mid to low 50s. There is a 60 percent chance of thunderstorms.
Pirate points
With its 49-13 win over Rice 10 days ago, ECU sits atop the C-USA East Division at 3-1, in a three-way tie with Marshall and Southern Mississippi.
Eleven players caught at least one pass last week against Rice, including five with catches of 20 or more yards. WR Jamar Bryant has at least one reception in 25 straight games.
The Pirates have won seven of their last 10 conference road games, including six of their last eight against C-USA East division foes.
QB Patrick Pinkney notched his 12th career 200-yard passing performance and matched his personal best with three touchdown passes against the Owls.
JR WR Dwayne Harris was named the C-USA Special Teams Player of the Week after returning a kickoff for a touchdown for the second straight week with a 92-yarder versus Rice. He had a career-high 264 all-purpose yards and three TDs against the Owls.
DT Linval Joseph made his offensive debut at Marshall this year, serving as lead blocker in short-yardage situations that resulted in a pair of TDs and a fourth-down conversion. He also has 11.5 tackles for loss in his last eight games.
RB Dominique Lindsay, the Pirates' leading rusher with 431 yards on 77 carries, is day-to-day with a sprained ankle he suffered against Rice.
"I don't know how long it's going to be at this point," head coach Skip Holtz said. "It might be three or four days or two weeks. It's a shame because he's playing with a lot of confidence."
East Carolina has held its last two opponents to 106 total rushing yards. The Pirates will look to shut down Curtis Steele, who has rushed for 376 yards in the Tigers' last two games, and force Memphis to attack through the air. ECU is second in the league with 10 interceptions and Tigers quarterbacks have thrown 11 INTs, second-most in C-USA.
Memphis musings
Senior QB Will Hudgens is back for a sixth year of eligibility. Hudgens replaced QB Tyler Bass, who had season-ending surgery Tuesday to repair a torn labrum in his left, non-throwing shoulder. The sophomore appeared in four games this year with two starts, completing 53-of-81 passes for 673 yards with six touchdowns and four interceptions.
RB Curtis Steele has rushing touchdowns in eight of his last 11 games - 11 total - and has moved into the Top 10 in career rushing yardage at Memphis with 1,740. He needs 25 yards to pass Jeff Womack for ninth place and 260 yards to become the seventh Tiger to reach 2,000.
Senior WR Duke Calhoun has caught at least one pass in 44 consecutive games – including a strike from Hudgens in the Tigers 36-16 loss to Southern Miss 10 days ago. Calhoun is ranked sixth among all active FBS receivers with 2,724 career receiving yards. He ranks third in East Carolina history with 19 career touchdown catches.
Along with companion WR Carlos Singleton, they are the country's third most prolific scoring tandem with 40 combined touchdown catches.
The offensive line has allowed just seven sacks, which ranks second in C-USA and 16th nationally. Memphis also protects the ball well, having lost only four fumbles this year, two on punt returns and two by quarterbacks.
Still head coach Tommy west is concerned about the health of his squad.
"We're banged up at certain positions right now. We have three safeties playing right now at two positions. Seven straight weeks of playing will do that to you. Having a little bit of extra time for this game and having a weekend after this game should help us out,” said West.
West also indicated changes could be made on special teams in lieu of last week's erratic performance at Southern Miss, where the Tigers surrendered 33.0 yards per kick return and 26.5 yards per punt return with a touchdown.
Face time
The ESPN2 broadcast crew for East Carolina's game at Memphis includes play-by-play man Reese Davis and analysts Mark May and Lou Holtz, the father of Pirates head coach Skip Holtz.
"We have a real unique situation because we're playing Tuesday, Thursday and then Sunday. But our next three games are also going to be on national television on ESPN. That's an exposure that you can't get on Saturday. There are certainly tradeoffs for it,” said East Carolina coach Holtz.
History says
East Carolina has won its last three meetings against Memphis (by an average 17 PPG) and is 7-0 ATS the last seven games in this series.
Last season, in a 30-10 win over Memphis, the Pirates scored 23 unanswered points in the second half. The Tigers gained just 49 yards after intermission.
Memphis is 3-6 all-time in games played on Tuesdays.
Interesting tidbit: teams off a SU and ATS loss are 19-8-3 ATS in regular season games on Tuesdays. The Tigers fit that bill.
East Carolina (4-3, 2-4 ATS) at Memphis (2-5, 1-5 ATS)
Conference USA gets its turn in the national spotlight, with East Carolina traveling to Memphis in search of its fourth consecutive blowout win over the Tigers.
The Pirates are coming off a 49-13 rout of Rice, easily cashing as an 18½-point home favorite on Oct. 17. Since suffering consecutive non-conference road losses to West Virginia (35-20 as a 6½-point underdog) and North Carolina (31-17 as an 8½-point pup), East Carolina has won three of four (2-2 ATS), with the defense yielding an average of 18 points per game during this stretch, including 14.7 ppg in the three wins.
Memphis followed up a mild 35-20 upset of UTEP with a 36-16 setback at Southern Miss, falling short as a 14-piont road underdog. The Tigers’ defense has been nonexistent all year, surrendering 27 points or more in five of seven games and yielding an average of 31.8 ppg to its six Division I-A opponents.
East Carolina has posted three straight double-digit wins over Memphis by scores of 35-20 (home), 56-40 (road) and 30-10 (home). The Pirates cashed easily in all three games – all as a favorite – and they’ve covered in seven straight and 10 of 11 in this series, going 4-1 ATS in five trips to Memphis. The host has won seven of 10 SU.
East Carolina is 1-3 SU and ATS on the highway this year, the lone win coming at Marshall on Oct. 3, a 21-17 triumph as a two-point ‘dog. Furthermore, the Pirates have failed to cover in 10 of their last 12 road games, and they’re on additional ATS slides of 5-13 overall, 1-4 after a spread-cover, 3-7 against losing teams and 2-5 on artificial turf. ECU has cashed in eight of 11 in October.
Memphis is 1-6 ATS in its last eight overall and 4-9-3 ATS in its last 16 in October, but the Tigers are 10-4-1 ATS in their last 15 after an outright defeat, 10-3 ATS in their last 13 after a bye and 8-4 ATS in their last 12 as a home underdog against C-USA foes.
The under is on stretches of 9-2 for East Carolina in Conference USA play, 3-0-1 for Memphis overall, 4-0-1 for Memphis in league action and 3-1-1 for Memphis in October. Conversely, four of the last five meetings in this rivalry have gone over the total.
ATS ADVANTAGE: EAST CAROLINA and UNDER
NCAAF Week 9
Tuesday's game
East Carolina won its last three games vs Memphis by 10-15-16 points; they covered last seven series games, but lost three of last four visits to Liberty Bowl- average total in their last three visits here is 70.7. Pirates won three of last four games but are 1-3 on road, losing 28-21 at SMU, winning 21-17 at Marshall. ECU is 4-0 when it allows 24 or less points, 0-3 when it allows more. Memphis is 1-5 vs I-A teams this year, losing home games by 31-11 points. Under is 4-0-1 in Tigers' last five games. Conference USA home underdogs this year are 5-6 against the spread.
East Carolina at Memphis Betting Preview
By: Doug Upstone
It hasn't been quite the season East Carolina envisioned; however a victory at Memphis keeps them on track to defend their title as Conference USA champions. The Pirates (4-3, 2-4 ATS) are tied for first place in the East Division with Marshall and Southern Miss at 3-1 and take control, at least for the time being with a win.
East Carolina hopes their 49 points against Rice has them going in the right direction offensively, since they rank fifth in points scored (25.1) and are eighth in total offense (329.9) in the league. Quarterback Patrick Pinkney has been uneven performer all season in terms of passing. Despite a veteran offensive line, East Carolina has averaged just 3.7 yards per carry against opponents allowing 4.1. The Pirates are only 1-3 SU as visitors this season and 2-9 ATS in road games over the last two seasons.
Memphis (2-5, SU&ATS) has moved the ball better than the number of points they've scored on the season and will need to improve that situation promptly with daunting slate the rest of the year. The Tigers rank sixth in total offense in C-USA play, however are merely ninth in scoring at 21.4 points per game.
Quarterback injuries and ineffectiveness have again limited what coach Tommy West would like to do at Memphis. A great example of moving the ball without scoring was last contest against Southern Miss. In spite of 425-360 edge in total yards, Memphis lost 36-16 as 14.5-point underdogs. The Tigers are 1-4-1 ATS in non-Saturday games.
Betonline.com has East Carolina as four-point road favorites, despite 0-6 ATS mark in road games when playing against a team with a losing record over the last three seasons. The Pirates will look to force miscues and are in the Top 20 in turnovers forced with 17. They will need to be consistent on offense and keep tallying scores since Memphis red zone defense is laughable, with opposing teams have scored 25 of 27 trips.
For the Tigers, it's about scoring touchdowns and ringing up 30 or more points. If Memphis can reach 30-point plateau, they are 8-3 ATS. That means passing and running the ball effectively. They are 0-6 ATS when they rush for 100 to 150 yards over the last two seasons. Memphis has struggled mightily with East Carolina, with 4-8 SU record and 1-11 ATS, failing to cover last seven in a row.
Coach Skip Holtz has his father Lou in town, along with Rece Davis and Mark May to do the game on ESPN2 at 8 Eastern. With Memphis still having road games at Tennessee, at Houston and at Tulsa, this might be a conference game to give sharp effort and they are 8-1 ATS after Southern Miss and 8-4 ATS as home underdogs under coach West.
Tips and Trends
East Carolina at Memphis
East Carolina (-4, O/U 49): East Carolina is allowing just 319 yards per game in Conference USA, holding foes to 18 points in those games. The Pirates are 3-1 in league and 4-3 overall. However, the Pirates are 2-4 against the spread on the season and have failed to cover eight of the past nine times they’ve been a road favorite. They are 4-10 against the spread in their last 14 games as a favorite. Senior quarterback Patrick Pinkney has completed 57 percent of his throws for 1,299 yards. He’s thrown at least one interception in every game except one. Dwayne Harris is Pinkney’s go-to-guy with 42 receptions for 465 yards. Tailback Dominique Lindsay has rushed for 431 yards despite missing two games, while averaging 5.6 yards per carry. Lindsay can hurt a Memphis team that ranks 102nd against the run if he can recover from an ankle injury.
The Under has cashed in 9 of the Pirates’ last 11 Conference USA games.
East Carolina has covered in 10 of its last 11 games versus Memphis.
Key Injuries - Tailback Dominique Lindsay (ankle) is questionable.
PROJECTED SCORE: 27
Memphis: Memphis has been a big disappointment going 2-5 straight-up and 1-5 against the spread. Quarterback injuries have contributed to an inefficient offense that has failed to produce more than 16 points in five of its seven games. Junior Will Hudgens, the Tigers’ third quarterback, has played the past two games throwing four touchdown passes and being picked off three times. Wide receiver Duke Calhoun leads Conference USA with 40 catches for 673 yards. Calhoun is averaging 16.7 yards per reception and has scored five times. Running back Curtis Steele has rushed 95 times for 511 yards and five scores. Steele is averaging 5.4 yards per rush. Memphis has lost and failed to cover against East Carolina during each of the past three seasons, losing by an average of 17 points. Memphis is 12-4 against the spread in its last 16 games versus a team with a winning road record.
Memphis is 10-3 ATS following a bye week.
The Tigers are 4-9-3 ATS in October.
Key Injuries - None