East Carolina has found an opponent to fill a scheduling vacancy on the non-conference schedule in 2019. East Carolina will host William & Mary on September 21, 2019, which completes the 2019 schedule for the Pirates.
East Carolina leads the all-time series with the FCS program with a record of 12-4-1. This will be the first meeting between the two schools since 2001. The game against William & Mary will be a second home game against an opponent from the FCS, which means in order to qualify for a postseason bowl game that East Carolina will have to win a minimum of seven games this fall. East Carolina also hosts Gardner-Webb on Sept. 7.
East Carolina had a vacancy on the non-conference schedule because Virginia Tech pulled out of making a road trip to East Carolina this season after a scheduling conflict between the two schools surfaced last fall. East Carolina scrapped their road trip to Blacksburg out of concern for Hurricane Florence moving through the region last fall. The Pirates later agreed to tack on an extra game to the schedule against NC State instead of working out an arrangement to play Virginia Tech on a makeup date at the end of the season. Virginia Tech managed to schedule a home game against Marshall in order to keep the school’s bowl streak alive. Last December, it was reported Virginia Tech called off negotiations with East Carolina for an adjustment to the schedule that could have included a future home game for Virginia Tech or moving their previously scheduled 2019 meeting to a neutral field to split the revenue.
If you were curious, Virginia Tech has a bye week scheduled for Sept. 21. The Hokies also have a 12-game schedule on the books that includes two FCS opponents (Furman and Rhode Island). Virginia Tech’s home game against Furman is Sept. 14, when East Carolina has a scheduled bye week. It’s a shame Virginia Tech and East Carolina couldn’t put their differences aside and get a game on the schedule instead of resorting to scheduling two FCS opponents.