Pirates return home, shift focus to Old Dominion

After spending two weeks on the road, ECU football is finally back home in Greenville.

"We are very thankful to all the people that supported us in the last 13 or 14 days," said Montgomery at his weekly Monday press conference. "It's been a long couple of weeks. Our guys went down and prepared well and did what they were supposed to do. We just wanted to come back victorious and we were unable to do that."

The Pirates came up just short against USF, but rather than look back, head coach Scottie Montgomery is looking forward to Old Dominion.

"They played much harder than Virginia Tech this past game," said Montgomery. "That's why they were victorious. At the end of the day, you can tell that was a team that prepared like it was their Super Bowl and that's the type of win that can give guys momentum."

The Monarchs are coming off a 49-35 upset win over No. 13 Virginia Tech, which sets up a very intriguing matchup at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium on Saturday.

"We have to be ready for what they're going to bring into Dowdy-Ficklen," added Montgomery. "We're glad we're playing at home and want our fans to come out and support us and Paint it Gold this weekend. Looking forward to the challenge of Old Dominion and getting back to winning ways here at home."

It'll be just the second meeting between these two programs. The first came back in 2013 when the Pirates pummeled the Monarchs, 52-38, behind the Shane Carden-Justin Hardy aerial connection.

Kickoff is slated for 3:30 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN 3.