GREENVILLE — A nine-game homecoming win streak is on the line this weekend for the East Carolina football team, as Tulsa comes to Greenville with hopes of spoiling the day for the Pirates.

ECU (3-3, 1-1 American Athletic Conference) returns home after falling short in a comeback effort against Brigham Young, 45-38.

In the loss, the ECU secondary was shredded by the Cougars’ true freshman quarterback Tanner Mangum to the tune of 332 yards and three touchdowns. This week, Tulsa (3-2, 0-1 AAC) will pose another challenge with its quarterback Dane Evans.

The junior has thrown for 1,839 yards and 10 touchdowns. He has shown strong decision making with just three interceptions nearly halfway through the season. As a sophomore, Evans struggled against ECU, as he threw two picks and one touchdown in the Golden Hurricane’s 49-32 loss to the Pirates.

“Well, we knew he was talented last year,” ECU head coach Ruffin McNeill said Monday. “Dane has got size, a good arm. He’s mobile and has an accurate arm. Philip (Montgomery) is a very good coach and a good quarterback coach.”

Tulsa has a number of options on the offensive side of the ball with five receivers over the 100-yard mark for the season. The most prominent pass-catcher for the Golden Hurricane is senior Keyarris Garrett, who has hauled in 41 passes for 628 yards and one touchdown. Keevan Lucas has proven to be a force in the red zone for Tulsa despite his 5-foot-10 stature. The junior has five touchdown receptions and 409 yards on the season.

“Being prepared (defensively) for that offense,” McNeill said, “I’ve coached against it, but Philip has expanded it a little more. He’s been throwing a little more. (We have to) make sure our kids get their feet back under them and get their bodies back under them.”

Defensively, ECU will have to counter the passing attack with a secondary that struggled last week. Freshman cornerback Corey Seargent was sidelined with an injury against BYU, but was not listed on the injury report this week. Depth in the secondary will be important in the meeting between the two sides.

Sophomore Bobby Fulp stepped up at corner and tallied four tackles against BYU. Fulp has impressed since earning a scholarship earlier this season.

“Bobby has been a steady special teams player,” McNeill said. You see him in practice. He’s got length that I like. He’s very disciplined, very coachable.”

Freshman Yiannis Bowden had a breakout game against SMU and continued to build on that against the Cougars. His pass rushing will play a key role in slowing down the Golden Hurricane offensive attack. Bowden picked up a sack, among three other tackles, and a late-game interception last week.

“I like Yiannis’ length. He’s a really good pass-rusher and he’s very athletic. He’ll get stronger and bigger,” McNeill said. “(Fulp and Bowden) are mature enough to handle the playing time and the coaches have done a good job preparing them.”

McNeill will stick to the two-quarterback system and said he does not plan to use the versatile James Summers outside of the quarterback role. Since the implementation of the system, ECU has outscored its opponents 87-31 once the second quarterback enters the game — a touchdown on the opening drive in each of the three games.

The Tulsa defense is one of the weakest in the conference, allowing over 40 points per game. Most notably, against Houston, the Golden Hurricane surrendered 274 yards over the air to Greg Ward Jr., while allowing 182 yards on the ground to the junior quarterback.

With two high-powered offenses and struggling defenses looking to rebound, this has all the makings for a homecoming shootout at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.