BYU Football Prepares For First Road Game Of Season At East Carolina

PROVO, Utah – It’s time to see what BYU football in 2025 is made of on the road.

The 2-0 Cougars, fresh off a bye week, will make the long 2,231-mile trip to Greenville, North Carolina, to take on the 2-1 East Carolina Pirates at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.

It’s the conclusion of a two-game series that dates back to BYU’s last season as an FBS Independent in 2022. East Carolina traveled to Provo and took down the Cougars on a walk-off field goal.

East Carolina has a two-game winning streak over BYU football

East Carolina currently has a two-game winning streak over BYU and Kalani Sitake.

The Pirates defeated Sitake’s BYU program in their last visit to Greenville in 2017, then in the 2022 matchup.

Fast forward to this year, BYU boasts the nation’s No. 1 total defense and scoring defense entering week four of the season. Through two games, BYU has only allowed 106 yards per game and has given up a total of three points.

The Pirates’ offense will be BYU’s toughest test to date.

Pirates are riding high

East Carolina is riding high after crushing regional rival Coastal Carolina 38-0 in Conway, South Carolina. It was East Carolina’s first shutout win on the road in 25 years.

ECU’s rushing attack hasn’t been the greatest, but the passing attack has been potent.

The Pirates have Katin Houser at quarterback, who has passed for over 300 yards in two of ECU’s first three games. In the win over Coastal Carolina, Houser passed for 293.

His top target is one of the best receivers in the American Conference, senior Anthony Smith.

Smith recorded 11 receptions for 136 receiving yards against Coastal.

“Yeah, I’m fired up. I can’t wait to play that game,” Houser said about the upcoming matchup with BYU.

Fresh off a bye week

BYU head coach Kalani Sitake sees the offensive firepower that the Pirates have, but he believes his team is ready.

“We definitely have a lot of respect for them,” Sitake told the KSL Sports Zone last week on facing East Carolina. “Knowing how difficult this season is going to be in this conference, this definitely has got all of our attention. I think the bye is perfect for us in terms of getting our team ready for that move, going on the road, and then, you know, getting into Big 12 play. So this will be a great test for us.”

Meanwhile, BYU’s offense, led by true freshman quarterback Bear Bachmeier, has been solid through two games, but they are looking to finish drives with touchdowns rather than settle for field goals.

BYU’s passing attack is looking to take another step forward

The good news is that Bachmeier has done an excellent job of taking care of the ball. BYU’s offense hasn’t produced a turnover through the first two games.

The Cougars will need to establish a new starting lineup at wide receiver this week as Jojo Phillips, one of Bear Bachmeier’s top targets, continues to recover from surgery that he had last week for an upper-body injury he suffered against Stanford.

Chase Roberts will be the leader of the group; however, after him, it creates an opportunity for Cody Hagen, Parker Kingston, Stanford transfer Tiger Bachmeier, and Tei Nacua (Puka Nacua’s younger brother) to take on a bigger role in the offense with Phillips out.

While BYU looks to improve its ability to go downfield through the air, the ground attack has been excellent behind junior LJ Martin.

BYU football has a strong ground attack

BYU is No. 2 nationally with 312.5 yards per game on the ground.

Martin is sixth in the Big 12 in rushing with 241 yards through two games. He’s the only player in the Big 12’s top ten rushers who has played in fewer than three games so far.

ECU, which had a lot of questions on the defensive side of the ball entering the year due to transfer portal losses and key players graduating, has been one of the top rush defenses in the country through three games.

The Pirates are seventh nationally in rushing defense, allowing 58.7 yards per game on the ground.

Something has got to give.

The brains behind ECU’s defense is head coach Blake Harrell, who was the defensive coordinator for the Pirates when they defeated BYU in 2022 in Provo. He stepped in as the interim head coach midway through last season. He’s 7-2 as ECU’s head coach since taking over last year.

BYU at East Carolina

Date: Saturday, September 20, 2025

Kickoff: 5:30 p.m. (MDT)/7:30 p.m. (EDT)

TV: ESPN2

Radio: KSL NewsRadio (102.7 FM, 1160 AM) — Coverage begins at Noon (MT) with Cougar Sports Saturday from Greenville

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast daily on KSL Sports YouTube and KSL NewsRadio (SUBSCRIBE). Harper also co-hosts Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL NewsRadio.

Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU athletics in the Big 12 Conference on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram: @Mitch_Harper.

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