BYU vs East Carolina Prediction: The Cougars Face Strong Road Test Against the Pirates

BYU vs East Carolina How To Watch

Saturday, September 20, 2025
Game Time: 7:30 PM ET
TV: ESPN2
Location: Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, Greenville, NC
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Why BYU Will Win

The Cougars are about as tuned-up and rested as they can possibly be.

They got two easy games in, won without breathing hard, and then got two weeks off to rest up for what's coming.

The competition hasn't been great, but Stanford was able to beat a dangerous Boston College team, and BYU didn't even break much of a sweat to get by, thanks to three takeaways from a defense that's swarming all over everything early on.

East Carolina can't seem to run early on - even with eight touchdowns on the ground over the last two games - needing to pound in bulk to get the yards.

Why East Carolina Will Win

The Pirates will keep pressing the BYU defense for a full four quarters.

They've been wonderful on third downs early on, quarterback Kaitin Houser has been strong, and there's only been one turnover so far.

There are too many penalties, and there has to be more consistency in certain areas, but the passing game has gone off over the first three games, the line is playing well, and the pass rush should be just bothersome enough to give the Cougars problems.

Is This a Trap For BYU?

These two have played three times. East Carolina walked into Provo in 2022 and came away with a 27-24 win. It welcomed the Cougars into Dowdy-Ficklen in 2017 and sent its guests home with a 16-point defeat. 

BYU won the first meeting at home in 2015.

These are far different teams now, the players don't know or care what happened before this, and ... sometimes teams rise up in the right situations.

East Carolina's passing game will be good enough to make this interesting, but BYU's defense will clamp down late to leave with a more impressive win than it'll get credit for nationally.

BYU vs East Carolina Prediction, Betting Lines

BYU 27, East Carolina 23
Line: BYU -6.5, o/u: 49.5
ATS Confidence out of 5: 3
Must See Rating: 3
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