What’s better than standing up, soda in one hand, popcorn in the other, enjoying a comfortable fall evening by cheering on your favorite college football team as it drives up field.

Locally, few can argue that East Carolina’s high-octane, air raid offense is one of the most dynamic in the country and, subsequently, one of the most entertaining to watch. Against North Carolina on Sept. 20, the Pirates posted 70 points, spread the field and kept the Tarheel secondary struggling to keep pace. A dominant display of fortitude for Pirate fans was an exhausting day for the UNC safeties … and the coaching staff … and the fan base.

The game, which began at 3:30 p.m., lasted a little over four hours, finishing up around 7:30 p.m. On the surface, in a contest that featured 111 points and a combined 1228 yards of total offense, a four-hour game is to be expected. But this isn’t the first time the Pirates have pressed reporter’s late-night deadlines and tortured the fair-weather fan who’s significant other refuses to leave before the alma mater is sung (we’ve all been there).

This season, the Pirates have continuously stretched the length of games, averaging about three hours and 45 minutes a contest. It’s been a perfect storm of penalties, widespread stoppages of play that come with a pass-heavy offense, overzealous late-game play calling and rampant TV timeouts. But overall, the average Pirate fan is likely not complaining. With a No. 22 ranking in the AP pole, ECU is off to a 3-1 start, its only loss coming in Columbia to a solid South Carolina team.

While combing through all 125 teams in the football bowl subdivision would take weeks, I took four teams from different parts of the country, in different conferences, and compared their average game length to that of ECU’s.

The Texas Longhorns, one of the most widely broadcasted college football teams in the country, has its fair share of TV timeouts, but averages just three hours and 15 minutes a game.

For the Arizona Wildcats, a team out of the Pac-12 with a perfect 4-0 start, their games take just three hours and 25 minutes, while the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, who have played five games, thus far, average three hours and 18 minutes a contest.

Most notably, the Florida State Seminoles, last season’s national champions, were the closet to ECU out of the teams selected, but still average just three hours and 30 minutes a contest, including one against Clemson that needed overtime.

Each game the Pirates have played this season has taken longer to finish. However, with the drawn out contests have come improved against three respectable FBS opponents in South Carolina (10-point loss), Virginia Tech (seven-point win) and UNC (29-point win).

This weekend, head coach Ruffin McNeill and the Pirates square off with Southern Methodist, a team that has scored just 12 points in four games. If the trend continues, fans could, once again, be faced with quarters that last an hour and extensive time stoppage. But if quarterback Shane Carden continues to find the end zone, I doubt anyone will complain.