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East Carolina will host its lone FCS foe of the season on Saturday inside Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, when the Pirates welcome North Carolina Central to Greenville. Kickoff is set for 4 o'clock ET, and the game will be televised on ESPN+. ECU goes into the game 1-2 overall, with losses to Alabama and Appalachian State. The Pirates recorded a 20-17 win at Old Dominion this past weekend. NC Central is 2-2 in the early part of the 2026 campaign, falling to Texas Southern 42-30, in Week 0, before beating Elizabeth City State (27-6) and North Carolina A&T (30-22). The Eagles lost to Gardner-Webb 44-20 this past weekend. NC Central head coach Trei Oliver met with the media earlier this week to talk about the Pirates. The 50-year-old alumnus of NC Central has been coaching the Eagles since 2019, compiling a record of 47-27. NC Central, coming into this season, had won 35 games the previous four years, dating back 2022. Below, see what he said about ECU heading into Saturday's non-conference matchup. On preparing for a team with different offensive weapons and multiple quarterbacks: "Obviously you have your base defense, and we'll be prepared for all personnel groupings, and formations, and things of that nature. And we'll see what they do best, and try to stop that. They've been a little bit of everything. They've had a different game plan every week going in. But I think their quarterback is mobile, and he can hurt you with his legs if you give him those rushing lanes. But he's got a good arm. Overall, I think he makes pretty good decisions. "Up front, for us, they're big. They are a big offensive line. It's crazy when you watch film, and see what works with other teams. And you say, let's try to do that. But then you look at it's Alabama that was doing it. I don't know if we have the same guys as Alabama does. They haven't been efficient, and I'm sure they'd like to be more efficient on third down. They've struggled there a little bit. So the big thing for us is to try and win first down, to try and keep them behind the chains on third. But they're a good football team. They've played good competition in App State and ODU. We will have our hands full. We've got to figure out a way to slow their running game down, first and foremost. "Then that No. 11 (Jeremiah Melvin) they have at receiver, he's unbelievable." On in-state schools playing each other and the economic impact: "For me, trying to be financially responsible from a budget standpoint. I don't want to spend all our money traveling across the country, if we can help it. I want to play as many games in the region as we can, whether it be the Elons, the Campbells, or the Gardner-Webbs, or East Carolinas. "And secondly, our student-athletes and parents that are alumni, and local, they can go support. It's hard when you play halfway across the country and there are only 30 people there to greet you and rooting for you. It's big for our guys, when they come out of the locker room, to see some familiar faces and family there to support them. Financially, it doesn't deplete your budget traveling an hour or two away." On seeing ECU's third down struggles and how they keep that going: "The biggest thing is winning first down. You have to get them behind the chains. You can't give them a bunch of third and ones, third and twos. That'll be too easy for them to convert. From there, we try to win third down. We have to get some third and mediums. It can't be all third and shorts, where it's a run-pass option. Try to get them in third and long, or third and medium, and then the odds are in you favor."