BYU football: Three things to know for the ECU Pirates

BYU football’s schedule gets much easier now. But, with the way the Cougars have been playing, wins certainly aren’t guaranteed.

BYU football now sits at 1-6, being thoroughly trounced by each of its last six opponents. The only potential exception to that is Utah State, who took over after Beau Hoge went out with an injury.

Other than that, things have been really ugly for the Cougars.

Now, BYU football needs to win five of its final six games in order to become bowl eligible. Is it possible? Certainly.

And it all starts this week against East Carolina. Here are three things to know for the matchup with the Pirates.

Putrid Pirate defense

East Carolina’s defense is one of the very worst in the nation. The Pirates are allowing 52.7 points per contest – including 63 points in last week’s loss to UCF.

So if the Cougars can’t score on the Pirates, they’ll never score on anyone.

Even if you dismiss East Carolina’s games against better opponents (West Virginia, Virginia Tech, USF and UCF), the Pirates defense is just as porous.

ECU allowed 34 to James Madison, 38 to UConn and 34 to Temple. So if there’s ever a week that BYU football breaks out offensively, this is it.

The Pirates are also allowing 348.5 passing yards per contest, 249.5 rushing yards per game and are averaging 0.7 takeaways per game.