On most weekends this football season, Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium has been a ghost town of quiet, empty seats.
That is not because of any lack of excitement about the East Carolina Pirates, however, who return to their stomping grounds today at noon with a chance to inject themselves into a conference title chase.
After playing four of its first six games on the road, ECU (3-3, 1-1 American Athletic Conference) has the luxury of staging four of its last six on home turf, beginning with familiar foe Tulsa today.
The Pirates let their final non-league game slip away in Utah last week, tying BYU 38-38 late in the fourth quarter but surrendering a last-minute touchdown to give ECU a 2-2 finish to non-conference play that included near misses with both the Cougars and the Florida Gators.