Mike Houston’s Weekly Press Conference Quotes

GREENVILLE, N.C. – Sixth-year East Carolina Head Football Coach Mike Houston addressed members of the media Monday afternoon prior to Saturday's American Athletic Conference opener versus UTSA at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. The following are selected comments:

Opening statement
"Excited this week to be back at home, hosting UTSA on family weekend and hoping the weather from the tropical storm stays good and west of us, which it looks like it should. It's always good when we have a great gameday setting and all our Pirate fans back in the stands. Disappointed not to come back with a victory the other night. Great college football game. We had a lot of stuff to deal with in terms of the weather. I've had several of those in my career. When it started, we thought we'd be able to get at least the first half in before we had the threat of lightning. Both teams got one series each way. After it started and hitting the reset every 30 minutes, you knew it was going to be awhile. The players were very motivated to make sure we got the game in and that was something they made very clear. They wanted to play. They were excited about the game. I thought they had a great preparation going into the weekend. I thought that we came out and played that way to start the game. We probably couldn't have started it any better, as far as getting a score on our second offensive drive. We were able to get the turnover down there and punch that one in. We got the field goal to take a sizable lead there to start the game. There's a reason that Liberty has had the success they've had the last several years. They came back and were able to punch one in right there before halftime and get a little bit of momentum going into the half. We had our chances in the second half. We had the lead going the fourth. They countered and came back to take the lead again. We were marching right down deep into Liberty territory, getting ready to go back on top. Disappointed that we had the turnover. Our guys battled back. We had another opportunity to drive down and get a score, but we couldn't to do it there. Tough one to lose. I do see some things that we're getting better at. Obviously, we need to improve on third down from our performance the other night. We did not do a good job defensively, getting off the field, and that was a big factor there in the second half. Some of that goes to their play, especially the quarterback. I thought we had him a couple times on several drives where we're ending the drive and he's able to make a play. There's a lot of stuff we have to work on this week to improve for Saturday but excited about this week's game and excited about the matchup."

On defensive struggles on third down
"I think that they did a good job with some contested catches and the quarterback made plays. I don't know which exact drive it was, but it was early there in the third quarter. They end up getting a touchdown off that drive where we have them deep in their territory, third-and-12, we have a pressure from the field coming. The only thing the blitzer from the field really needs to do is keep Kaidon Salter in the pocket, because we have some looping guys trying to keep him caged in all night. We lost leverage and we can't let that happen. He's able to scramble for a first down and some extra. They went on to score on that drive. We had several situations like that. It's a combination of things against really good teams. You can't have breakdowns right there. We've got to do a better job in practice of putting our players in situations to be successful, coaching it better and making that play when we have the opportunity to make that play."

On losing back-to-back games with double-digit leads
"I think it's a combination of several things. I think it's a combination of playing a quality opponent. You knew that they would get themselves back in it. When you jump out to that lead, it's still early. Four quarters is long ball game, so you've got to keep playing. The thing we've got to do a better job of is finishing drives, especially in the second half. Like we just talked about, we've got to do a better job of getting off the field on third down, especially in the second half."

On turning the team's attention to conference play
"For this week, we've finished the first quarter of the season. Non-conference play is over. We start the second quarter this weekend and it is the start of conference play. The goal is very much to what we talked about each of the first four weeks which is doing whatever we've got to do to go 1-0 this week. It's an opportunity to be at home, which I think is huge. We're playing a very good football team in UTSA, who had a lot of success last year. They've got a lot of guys back from last year's team. It's an opportunity for us to get a win to start conference play and that's what the players are excited about."

On scoring two touchdowns out of the jumbo package
"Couldn't have been executed much better. Those guys have been excited to get in the ballgame and get that opportunity in those situations. We have a lot more to the package than what we displayed the other night, but I think it's something that we continue to continue to use, not only in that particular situation we used the other night, but I think we can use it at other places on the field."

On Dontavius Nash's performance at corner
"I think some good things and some things to improve on. It's his most extensive playing time at corner so far. He played in each of the first three games but obviously saw uptick in the volume of reps. His skill set; he's made for it. He's built very similar to Shavon (Revel Jr.). He's not quite as long and I've never raced him, but maybe not quite as fast but he's long enough, fast enough, and very athletic. It's just continuing to get him reps to get him comfortable. It's getting him prepared to go out there and play at a higher level. Same thing with Andrew Wilson-Lamp, who I think is very long and has good speed. He's played a little bit more. I think with those two guys it's just continuing to prepare them to be ready for Saturday."

On continuing to be aggressive in the second half
"The thing we've got to do is, you're playing against quality opponents, you've got to be able to finish them off. It's the mentality of just to continuing to keep your foot on the gas. That's the words that I use with our team. Continue to be aggressive. We are obviously aggressive with some of the things that we did, going for it on fourth down and taking shots down the field. We need to continue to do that, and we've got to continue to work on executing in those situations."

On UTSA's offense
"Owen McCown, he's got good genetics. His dad played in the NFL for quite a while. He's a lefty, not as mobile as Frank Harris, but he is mobile. He has a very good arm, very accurate passer, I think watching the games from the beginning of the year on, he's improved each week. He obviously has some guys around him that have played a lot of ball. The tight end, Oscar Cardenas, is a senior and has been a very good player there for several years. The running backs Kevorian Barnes and Robert Henry Jr. are both very dynamic backs. We faced them last year. The young receiver, Devin McCuin, was really impressive against us last year, and he's their leading receiver right now. I think he's got a lot of tools around him. He has several starting offensive linemen mixed in with some transfers. I think he's learning to operate as the starter. He played good bit last year. I think he started the Army game last year. They're learning how they're going to change things with a different kind of player in the pocket.

On the team recovering from the late kickoff and travel from Liberty
"We pulled onto campus at 7 a.m. on Sunday. I gave the players a little bit longer before they came in the next day. Just trying to make sure that they get a little bit more rest. We didn't do quite as much yesterday. I told them the big focus was getting a good recovery and a good night's sleep. I saw a lot of them today but just really focused on getting a good night's sleep tonight and kind of getting their bank built back up. Our big focus is trying to get as fresh as we can for Tuesday. Because that is a challenge right there. I know this, I slept soundly. I finally got to bed last night, so I'm sure the kids did too. They'll be ready to go tomorrow morning and looking forward to a really energized Tuesday. That's the real key is to have good workdays on Tuesday and Wednesday and then get our bodies ready for the weekend."

On having the '99 team return and get honored on Saturday
"It was a special event 25 years ago. I think the team went 9-3 that year but obviously had to deal with the hurricane and the moving of that game and everything that went around that. Everybody that was involved in supporting the team from local fire and rescue to police and everyone that supported that team and helped them navigate that situation. I think there's just a lot of special memories because you navigated that situation successfully and that's a memory that those guys will never forget. Our alumni are important to us, and I want them to know that they're always going to be a part of our program, and they are a priority to us when they're back on campus."

Players Mentioned

Dontavius Nash

Andrew Wilson-Lamp

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