Navy (7-3, 5-2 AAC) at East Carolina (7-4, 5-2 AAC)
When	Friday, Nov. 29, 2024 | 12:00 pm (ET)
Location	Greenville, N.C. | Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium
Television	ESPN (Anish Shroff, Andre Ware, Paul Carcaterra)
Live Video Stream	WatchESPN and ESPN+
Listen	Navy Football Radio Network (Joe Miller, Keith Mills, Scott Wykoff) WBAL 1090 AM / 101.5 FM (Baltimore) | WFED 820 AM, 94.3 FM (Frederick, Md.) | WFED 1500 AM (Washington, D.C.) | WFED 104.5 FM (Western Fairfax / Loudon, Va.) | WNAV 1430 AM, 99.9 FM (Annapolis) | KWFN 97.3 FM (San Diego) | WGH 1310 AM / 100.9 FM (Norfolk, Va.) | WJGM 105.7 FM (Jacksonville, Fla.) | KIKI 990 AM (Honolulu, Hawai'i) | Satellite: Sirius Ch. 81, SXM App Ch. 81 | Apps: Audacy (WNAV and KWFN) and TuneIn (WBAL)
Live Stats	StatBroadcast
Game Notes	Navy | East Carolina | AAC
Season Statistics	Navy | East Carolina | AAC
Social Media	@NavyAthletics | @NavyFB | Facebook | Instagram

Opening Kick
•    Navy (7-3, 5-2 in the American Athletic Conference) and East Carolina (7-4, 5-2 in the AAC) meet for the 12th time on the gridiron and for the sixth-consecutive year when the two square off on Friday afternoon (12 noon) at Dowdy Ficklen Stadium (50,000) in Greenville, N.C. Navy leads the all-time series against the Pirates 9-2, including a 5-0 record in Greenville. 
•    The winner of Saturday's game will finish at minimum tied for third in the final AAC standings alongside Memphis (Navy owns a victory over Memphis earlier in the year) and could finish third all alone if Tulane beats Memphis on Thursday night. Memphis was the preseason favorite to win the AAC, while East Carolina was picked 7th and Navy 11th.  
•    Navy's 321 points scored in its 10 games this season are 109 more than it scored in its combined 12 games last year (212).
•    Navy has scored a touchdown on the 1st play of a drive 5 times this fall which is tied for the 3rd most in the FBS.
•    Navy is averaging 243.2 rushing yards per game, the 8th-best average in the FBS and the program's best since 2019 when it averaged a school-record 360.5 rushing yards per game.
•    Navy is 28-31 (.903) in the red zone with 26 of those scores resulting in touchdowns. Navy's first 20 red zone trips resulted in TDs before settling for a field goal against Charlotte. Navy is #2 in the country in red zone touchdown percentage (.839), just behind Ohio State (.841). 
•    In Navy's 7 wins this fall, the Mids have outscored the opposition 87-7 in points off turnovers (14-7 vs. Bucknell, 7-0 vs. Temple, 7-0 vs. Memphis, 7-0 vs. UAB, 7-0 vs. Air Force, 31-0 vs. Charlotte, 14-0 vs. USF). In the 3 games Navy has lost, the Mids have been outscored 48-0 in points off turnovers (27-0 by Notre Dame, 7-0 by Rice and 14-0 by Tulane). 
•    Riley Riethman's (Sr. / P) 44.4 career punting average (214 punts, 9,510 yds) is the best in school history (min. 50 att.). He owns 4 of the 5-best single-game performances in Navy history (min. of 5 punts), averaging a school-record 52.2 yards per punt on 5 punts against Rice, 50.8 yds/punt against SMU in 2023 and 50.6 yds/punt against Notre Dame in 2021 and Air Force in 2024. Tied for 6th in the nation in punting average this fall, he is averaging 46.2 yards per, which would be a school record. 
•    Eli Heidenreich (Jr. / Snipe) and Alex Tecza (Jr. / FB), who grew up in Pittsburgh and have known each other since the first grade, have combined to score a touchdown for Navy in 15 of the last 20 games dating back to the 2023 season. With 5 touchdown catches this year, Heidenreich is just one off the school record for single-season touchdown catches which has been done by 4 different players.
•    Rayuan Lane III (Sr. / Safety) made his 40th-consecutive start at safety for the Mids against Tulane which is the longest active streak for a safety in the FBS and second longest by a player in the secondary. Lane III has 3 forced fumbles this year which is tied for the 9th most in the FBS. Sporting News named him to its Midseason All-America Team, while he was also recently named a semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award.
•    DaShaun Peele (Sr. / CB) became the 1st player in school history to return 2 interceptions for a touchdown in the same game in the Mids' win over Charlotte. It was the 3rd time this year Navy returned an interception for a touchdown, as Rayuan Lane III (Sr. / S) had an 86-yard interception return for a touchdown with 23 seconds left in the game against Memphis that clinched the victory for the Mids. Peele leads the Mids with 4 interceptions.
•     Blake Horvath (Jr. / QB) has thrown 11 touchdown passes on the year which is tied for the 3rd most in school history.  Alton Grizzard, who threw 12 in 1990, is 2nd and Ricky Dobbs, who threw 13 in 2010, is the record holder.
•    Horvath needs 105 yards rushing to become the 1st Navy player to rush for 1,000 yards in a season since 2019 when Malcolm Perry rushed for 2,017 yards. He is the 1st Navy quarterback to surpass 1,000 passing yards in a season since 2019 when Malcolm Perry threw for 1,084 yards and his 1,154 passing yards are the most by a Navy player since Will Worth threw for 1,397 yards in 2016.
•    Horvath is the No. 3 graded runner (all positions, min. 125 att.) according to Pro Football Focus, while Lane III is the No. 12-rated safety (min. 625 snaps) and Heidenreich is the No. 2-rated receiver among all position players (min. of 25 targets). Connor McMahon (Sr. / OT) is the 10th-best offensive tackle and the best pass blocker (min. 550 snap counts) among offensive tackles.
•    ECU head coach Blake Harrell replaced Brian Newberry as defensive coordinator at Kennesaw State in 2019 when Newberry left to become the defensive coordinator at Navy.
•    The Pirates enter Friday red-hot, having won 4-straight contests since elevating Harrell from defensive coordinator to interim head coach. ECU has been racking up points (45.8 points over the 4-game winning streak) at an incredible pace, beating Temple 56-34, FAU 49-14, Tulsa 38-31 and North Texas 40-28. Last Saturday, ECU fell behind 21-0 to North Texas before outscoring the Mean Green 40-7 the rest of the way.

Broadcast Coverage
•    Friday's game will be broadcast nationally by ESPN with Anish Shroff, Andre Ware and Paul Carcaterra on the call.
•    The Navy Football Pregame Show with Joe Miller, Keith Mills, Scott Wykoff and special commentary from John Feinstein will get underway at 11 am on the Navy Radio Network, followed by game action beginning at 12 noon with Miller and Mills on the call. Radio coverage for the East Carolina game is presented by Navy Exchange.
•    Following the contest, Miller, Mills and Wykoff will recap the day's events in a 30-minute postgame show.

Scouting EAst Carolina
7-4 Overall  |  5-2 AAC
Interim Head Coach: Blake Harrell

•    East Carolina enters Friday's game on fire, winning 4-straight games by an average score of 45.8-26.8 since Blake Harrell took over the head coaching job from Mike Houston, who was fired after losing to Army 45-28.
•    Tulane has 40 transfers on its roster, including 21 from the Power 4.
•    The Pirates are coming off a 40-28 win at North Texas in a game in which they trailed 21-0 in the second quarter before scoring 40 of the next 47 points.  
•    ECU is led by sophomore quarterback Katin Houser, a transfer from Michigan State. Houser, who replaced Jake Garcia as the starter, has completed 111 of his 180 pass attempts for 1,640 yards with 16 touchdowns and 8 interceptions.
•    The ECU passing offense is 18th in the country, averaging 278.7 yards per game. ECU is averaging 13.9 yards per completion, the 12th-best mark in the country.
•    Graduate student running back Rahjai Harris once again leads the ECU ground game with 858 yards and 10 touchdowns on 170 carries.
•    Houser's favorite targets are Florida State graduate transfer Winston Wright Jr. (45 catches, 492 yds and 7 TDs) and senior Anthony Smith (35 catches, 737 yds with 6 TDs), an NC State transfer. Smith's 21.1 yards per reception ranks 8th in the FBS, while sophomore wide receiver Chase Sowell, a transfer from Colorado, stands 11th in the FBS at 19.9 yards per catch.
•    ECU is 25th in the nation in total offense, averaging 440.9 per contest.
•    The ECU defense is paced by graduate student defensive back Omar Rogers (82 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 1 interception and 1 fumble recovery), a transfer from Elon, and sophomore linebacker Zakye Barker (73 tackles, 10.5 tackles for a loss, 2 sacks and a forced fumble). 
•    Alongside Navy, the Pirates are tied for 9th in the country with 3 defensive touchdowns. The ECU defense has picked off 13 passes on the year, also tied with Navy for the 18th most in the country. The Pirates have come up with 20 total turnovers, the 14th most in the FBS.
•    ECU is averaging 7.5 tackles for a loss per game which is 10th best in the FBS. 
•    ECU's special teams are solid, ranking 20th in the country in kickoff returns (24.5 yards per return). 
•    Wright is 5th in the nation in kickoff returns, averaging 27.1 yards per return and has returned 1 for a touchdown.

A Lot to Play For
•    Despite being eliminated from playing in the American Athletic Conference Championship Game on Nov. 16 by Tulane, the Mids still have a lot to play for with 3 games remaining. 
•    If Navy can win its final 3 games, it would become just the 6th team in school history to win at least 10 games in a season, joining the teams from 1905 (10-1-1), 2004 (10-2), 2009 (10-4), 2015 (11-2) and 2019 (11-2). 
•    A Navy win over Army on Dec. 14 would give the Mids the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy and a trip to the White House with victories over Air Force and Army. Navy has won the CIC Trophy 17 times overall, but just once in the last 8 years (2019). 
•    A win in the bowl game would give Navy just its 11th bowl win in school history and its first since 2019.  
•    A win over East Carolina would give the Mids a third-place finish in the American Athletic Conference after being picked 11th against one of the tougher schedules in the conference and having just 2 home games in its final 9 contests of the year.

Seniors Receive Service Assignments
•    The 23 seniors on the Navy football team received their service assignments on Nov. 21.
•    Navy's seniors will graduate on May 23 and be commissioned Ensigns in the Navy or 2nd Lieutenants in the Marine Corps. Graduates serve a minimum of 5 years in the Navy or Marine Corps, while pilots serve 8 years upon earning their wings. 

Naval Academy Class of 2025 Seniors
Name / Service Assignment
Javan Bouton / Surface Warfare
Trey Cummings / Surface Warfare
D.J. Donovan / Naval Officer
Daba Fofana / Medical Corps
Creedyn Foulger / Cryptologic Warfare
Kellen Grave de Peralta /  Marine Corps Pilot
Amin Hassan / Marine Corps Ground
Kyle Jacob / Surface Warfare
Rayuan Lane III / Marine Corps Ground
Connor McMahon / Navy Pilot
Kroy Myers / Marine Corps Ground
Dashaun Peele / Marine Corps Ground 
Logan Point / Surface Warfare
Colin Ramos / Marine Corps Ground
Justin Reed / Marine Corps Ground
Riley Riethman / Navy Pilot
Jordan Sanders / Navy Pilot
Thomas Scully / Marine Corps Ground
Brent Self / Marine Corps Ground
Turner Stepp / Surface Warfare
Regis Velez / Surface Warfare
Michael Whitehouse / Marine Corps Pilot
Mbiti Williams Jr. / Navy Pilot

Better Get Used to the Road
•    After opening the season with 3-consecutive home games, the Mids will play 7 of their final-9 games away from home (5 road, 2 neutral site).
•    Navy is the only FBS team in the country that has just 2 true home games in the final 9 contests.