Jim Modlin on ECU football

2009 Football Home Kickoff Times Announced

 Late Afternoon Starts Featured In Three Of Six Games; Regional, Local Television Programming Determined

GREENVILLE, N.C. – Official kickoff times for all six of East Carolina’s home games this fall were announced Monday and the schedule features a blend of early and late afternoon starts to accompany one nationally-televised night contest.

In addition, ECU’s regional and local television packages were released which extends live broadcast coverage to at least 10 of 12 games in 2009. However, the Pirates’ regular season finale, a home matchup against Southern Miss Nov. 28, could become the 11th contest aired after CBS College Sports makes its choice within a 12-day selection window during the week of Nov. 16.

Only East Carolina’s battle at West Virginia, scheduled for Sept. 12 at Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown, has not been assigned a start time or television designation.

The Pirates’ season and home slate will open Sept. 5 against three-time Football Championship Subdivision national champion Appalachian State at 12 noon and will be carried by the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) with local availability through NBC affiliate WITN-TV.

East Carolina will kickoff three of its four Conference USA home contests at 3:30 p.m., beginning with UCF on Sept. 26 and following with Rice (Oct. 17) and UAB (Nov. 21). WITN-TV will provide broadcast coverage of the league opener against the Knights, MASN will call the action against the Owls while both entities will air the Blazers’ visit to Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. The Golden Eagles and Pirates will close out the month of November with a 1:00 p.m. start.

A nationally-televised Thursday night home contest against FedEx Orange Bowl winner Virginia Tech, set for a 7:30 kick on Nov. 5, is one of four regular season appearances on the ESPN family of networks that also includes road games at North Carolina (12 noon/Sept. 19), Memphis (8 p.m./Tuesday, Oct. 27) and Tulsa (8:15 p.m./Sunday, Nov. 15).

Additional road matchups at Marshall (Oct. 3) and SMU (Oct. 10) will be carried back live to Greenville by CBS College Sports and MASN/WITN-TV, respectively. The Pirates and Thundering Herd are scheduled for a 12 noon start from Joan C. Edwards Stadium in Huntington, W.Va., while action will begin at 8 p.m. during East Carolina’s second-ever trip to Gerald J. Ford Stadium in Dallas.

2009 EAST CAROLINA HOME FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

09/05 Appalachian State (MASN/WITN-TV), 12 noon

09/26 UCF (WITN-TV), 3:30 p.m.

10/17 Rice (MASN), 3:30 p.m.

11/05 Virginia Tech (ESPN), 7:30 p.m.

11/21 UAB (MASN/WITN-TV), 3:30 p.m.

11/28 Southern Miss, 1:00 p.m.

all times Eastern; times are still subject to change

Tom McClellan

Assistant AD/Media Relations

East Carolina University