North Carolina A&T @ East Carolina preview

Reid Herring will be making his first career start at quarterback for East Carolina on Saturday as it tries to avoid a second straight season-opening loss to an FCS opponent when it takes on visiting North Carolina A&T. Herring, a sophomore, won the starting job over Holton Ahlers and Kingsley Ifedi for the Pirates, who will square off with the Aggies for the first time.

Herring, who threw one pass for a 20-yard touchdown last season after redshirting in 2016, won't need to do much to improve on what the Pirates got out of the position last season, with the other quarterbacks throwing 25 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. The Raleigh, N.C., native will have several talented weapons at his disposal, including receivers Trevon Brown, who posted 60 receptions for 1,069 yards and seven touchdowns last season, redshirt freshman Blake Proehl, son of former NFL receiver Ricky Proehl, and junior Deondre Farrier. Anthony Scott, who redshirted last season after producing 384 yards on the ground in 2016, was named the starting running back ahead of Trace Christian and Hussein Howe, who led the team with 419 rushing yards last season. Aside from North Dakota State and James Madison, which beat the Pirates 34-14 in last season's opener, there aren't many FCS teams better than North Carolina A&T, which has fashioned a 31-5 record over the last three seasons, including 12-0 in 2017.

TV: 6 p.m. ET, ESPN3. LINE: None

ABOUT NORTH CAROLINA A&T (1-0): The Aggies kicked off the Sam Washington era with a 20-17 victory last week against Jacksonville State as last season's Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference MVP Lamar Raynard threw a pair of touchdowns. Raynard, who passed for 2,932 yards and 27 touchdowns as a redshirt junior, was one of five Aggies to be named to the All-MEAC first team on offense, joining running back Marquell Cartwright, receiver Elijah Bell, tight end Leroy Hill and offensive lineman Marcus Pettiford. Defensive lineman Darryl Johnson, who totaled 15.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks last season, was the only Aggie named to Phil Steele's preseason FCS All-American team, but the junior was accompanied by Timadre Abram and Frank McCain on the All-MEAC first team defense.

ABOUT EAST CAROLINA (2017: 3-9): If third-year head coach Scottie Montgomery can't fix a defense that permitted six teams to score 52 or more points last season, it might not matter what Herring and the offense can do. Sophomore weak side linebacker Aaron Ramseur, who had 57 tackles and two interceptions a season ago, is one of three underclassmen slated to start for the Pirates along with sophomore middle linebacker Bruce Bivens and freshman free safety Nolan Johnson. Senior nickelback Devon Sutton, who started 10 games last season and recorded 68 tackles, junior defensive back Colby Gore (37 tackles) and junior defensive tackle Jalen Price have the most experience of the group in terms of games started last season.

EXTRA POINTS

1. East Carolina has had a 1,000-yard receiver in six straight seasons, which is the most in the FBS and twice that of any other team.

2. Included in the 31-5 mark over the last three seasons for the Aggies are victories over FBS teams Charlotte (2017) and Kent State (2016).

3. The Pirates had won 24 straight against FCS teams prior to the loss to James Madison, which entered the game as the reigning FCS national champion.

PREDICTION: East Carolina 47, North Carolina A&T 41