Monday, September 26th, 2022 ECU Football head coach Mike Houston joined the “Voice of the ECU Pirates” Jeff Charles live at Logan’s Roadhouse on Greenville Blvd to recap ECU’s heartbreaking 23-20 loss to the Navy Midshipmen in 2OT in Dowdy Ficklen-Stadium. Coach Houston addressed a number of questions surrounding the loss, as well as the uncertainty around the Pirates upcoming game in Tampa against USF with Hurricane Ian expected to hit the area by Saturday. Here were all of Houston’s exact quotes and highlights from the show.
Mike Houston on the status of ECU’s upcoming game against USF
“We’ll play the game, the administration at South Florida and our administration at East Carolina are in close contact and they will make a decision that ensure everybody is safe. It may be that you have to play at another place but they’re in constant communication right now. We’ll probably have a definitive answer about when and where tomorrow morning.”
Currently, South Florida’s campus and classes have been shut down until Monday, October 3rd but ECU-USF is still a go and has not been canceled, rescheduled or relocated. Anything being reported as fact on the status of the game is purely speculation and not factual. Stay tuned to our social media pages tomorrow Tuesday, September 27th at 94.3 The Game on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for an official report on ECU-USF.
The health status of Keaton Mitchell after leaving Navy game with injury
“He’ll be fine. We got some bumps and bruises, we don’t have anything serious. I think that’s a testament to the preparation and training our kids do throughout the year. It was an extremely physical football game for both teams. We came out with some bumps and bruises but that should be about it.”
Despite a lot of questionable reports and contradictions from multiple outlets during the game, when Mitchell left the first time in the ballgame and evaluated in the tent, the trainers were taking a look at his lower back, left hip area as he was feeling discomfort but it was never in question following whether he would return to the sideline and return in the ballgame, it was simply a precautionary measure. Mitchell was able to return but would head to the locker room after feeling discomfort in the area once again after one play. As of now, Coach Houston has never ruled Mitchell out for the Pirates upcoming game against USF and he’s expected to play.
The questionable Elijah Morris targeting call and ejection from game
“It’s very, very close. It’s ruled that on the field and once it was ruled targeting on the field and I saw the replay on the jumbotron, I did not expect it to be overturned. I do think if it was not flagged on the field, there’s no way it would be initiated from the booth based on the film. It’s one of those things, we instruct our kids and coach our kids and it’s a tough reminder that even the close ones can get them. It’s tough on those defensive players because they can’t go low, they can’t go high, your strike zone is very, very small and when the ball carrier ducks it becomes even smaller. We got to continue to push ourselves to do better. It’s a tough break for Elijah (Morris) because he was certainly having a great game.”
Coach Houston elaborated on what Morris’ status will be for the USF game and whether he’s disqualified or suspended for that game due to the targeting call:
“He’s fine, it happened in the first half. He sat out the rest of the first half and the second half so he’ll be able to go Saturday.
Pirate turnovers on offense and Holton Ahlers costly interception at the end of regulation
“We talk about you only get so many possessions against them. That’s why going into the week my big stress with the team was not beating ourselves and not losing the turnover battle. You got to try to steal possessions from them somehow, giving them two possessions when we would’ve had chances to score was tough and we have to do better with that.“
ECU’s offensive line play and the team’s overall nerves coming into the Navy game
“I think some good and some bad. I think that’s an area where we got to execute better, we got to communicate better because that’s really what it comes down to, being on the same page and execution and we have to improve right there. One thing I can tell you and it’s what I told the players Sunday, emotionally investment, you can not ask for more. They wanted to win that game so badly and to a degree I need them to have a great week of practice and I need them to relax when we get closer to the game. They want success so badly for the program and for the fanbase. I felt like we did press a little bit Saturday night and sometimes when you can do that, you can make mistakes. Every golfer knows the more uptight you get, the more likely you are to yank one out of bounds. That’s a deal where there’s a fine line right there and that’s the big thing we have to do as coaches this week, we have to push them at practice, we have to compete at a very high level in practice, I’m going to do a little bit more good on good this week to help with the speed for the offensive line, we got to prepare ourselves to play a certain kind of game Saturday night. I want us so prepared much like the NC State game that we can just relax and go out there and play.”
Owen Daffer improving on kickoffs but that possibly putting stress on his leg
Coach Houston when asked about Owen Daffer showing big improvement on his kickoffs:
“He’s really improved, he takes a lot of pride in being good ar whatever he does. He wanted to retain the kickoff job. I’ll be honest I’ve tried to challenge him and have somebody beat him out but he’s the best kickoff guy on the roster.”
Coach Houston addresses whether Daffer doing kickoffs puts a lot of stress on his leg:
“It is, over the length and course of the season it can be, so we have to be very conscience with his kicks during the week if he’s going to do both on gameday.”
Luke Larsen’s punting
“I think he definitely has room for improvement, I think he’s done a good job since South Carolina with operation. He’s a cool customer back there and I trust him. I see him kick it better at times and we have to get him kicking it consistently better in ballgames.”
The Key to Success Against USF
“I think the biggest thing is us, we need to have a great week of practice. The kids are very determined, I expect us to have a great practice tomorrow. The players want this more than any fan, or me or anybody else. It’s going to be a very motivated group, so we have to go down there and just be us and play at a high level and execute to the very best of our ability and play our tails off. If we do that, everything else will fall into place. We’re going to be challenged, I expect them (USF) to play their best game of the year because they’re going to have all of their weapons back but I’m confident in our guys.”
Notes:
We have no confirmation from a reliable source that ECU’s upcoming game against USF has been moved to Boca Raton as claimed by questionable sources on Twitter, we’ll be sure to update you with a factual report when a definitive statement has been made on the matter.
With a very vocal group of Pirate fans questioning the play-calling from Donnie Kirkpatrick and Owen Daffer’s missed FG at the end of regulation, none of those things were directly addressed or asked to Coach Houston otherwise they would be listed above. Stay tuned to coverage on our social media pages during the week as we have more press avails with Coach Houston and the coordinators and we will report and post videos of their comments throughout the week.
Tune in every Monday, live at 6:00 PM ET to “Inside ECU Athletics Coaches Show with Mike Houston” on 94.3 The Game immediately following “The Patrick Johnson Show” at 5:00 PM ET. You can also check it out live at the same time at Logan’s Roadhouse on Greenville Blvd in person.
Ben Byrum
Producer, The Patrick Johnson Show/94.3 The Game