East Carolina Pirates football statistical leaders
Introduction


[thumb\|250px](/wiki/File:East_Carolina_Pirates_wordmark.svg "East Carolina Pirates wordmark.svg")
The **East Carolina Pirates football statistical leaders** are individual statistical leaders of the [East Carolina Pirates football](/wiki/East_Carolina_Pirates_football "East Carolina Pirates football") program in various categories, including [passing](/wiki/Forward_pass "Forward pass"), [rushing](/wiki/Rush_%28American_football%29 "Rush (American football)"), [receiving](/wiki/Reception_%28American_football%29 "Reception (American football)"), [total offense](/wiki/Total_offense "Total offense"), defensive stats, and [kicking](/wiki/Field_goal_%28American_and_Canadian_football%29 "Field goal (American and Canadian football)"). Within those areas, the lists identify single\-game, single\-season, and career leaders. The Pirates represent [East Carolina University](/wiki/East_Carolina_University "East Carolina University") in the [NCAA](/wiki/National_Collegiate_Athletic_Association "National Collegiate Athletic Association") [Division I FBS](/wiki/NCAA_Division_I_Football_Bowl_Subdivision "NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision") [American Athletic Conference](/wiki/American_Athletic_Conference "American Athletic Conference").

East Carolina began competing in intercollegiate football in 1932\. However, these lists are dominated by more recent players for several reasons:
* Since 1932, seasons have increased from 10 games to 11 and then 12 games in length.
* The NCAA didn't allow freshmen to play varsity football until [1972](/wiki/1972_NCAA_University_Division_football_season "1972 NCAA University Division football season") (with the exception of the [World War II](/wiki/World_War_II "World War II") years), allowing players to have four\-year careers.
* [Bowl games](/wiki/Bowl_game "Bowl game") only began counting toward single\-season and career statistics in 2002\. The Pirates have played in eight bowl games since then, and will play in a ninth in 2022, allowing players an extra game to accumulate statistics.
* The recent decade has seen two players set NCAA records: [Justin Hardy](/wiki/Justin_Hardy "Justin Hardy"), who caught 387 passes, more than anyone in all of college football ever had, until fellow Pirate [Zay Jones](/wiki/Zay_Jones "Zay Jones") broke the record in 2016\. Jones also set the NCAA single\-season record with 158 receptions, which is more than all but 2 other East Carolina receivers have ever had in their whole careers.
* Due to [COVID\-19](/wiki/COVID-19_pandemic_in_the_United_States "COVID-19 pandemic in the United States") issues, the NCAA declared that the [2020 season](/wiki/2020_NCAA_Division_I_FBS_football_season "2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season") would not be counted against the athletic eligibility of any football player, giving everyone who played in that season the opportunity for five years of eligibility instead of the normal four.

The most recent East Carolina record books do not list a top 10 in all statistics, sometimes only listing a leader. These lists are updated through the end of the [2022](/wiki/2022_East_Carolina_Pirates_football_team "2022 East Carolina Pirates football team") regular season.


Who broke the record for most passes caught?