A late-night practice on Wednesday injected a boost of energy into the East Carolina football team.
The Pirates are in a much better place than where they were last week, coach Mike Houston said, as his team approaches the second intrasquad scrimmage of the preseason on Saturday.
Houston was pleased with the way the offense is coming together. The defense has been the star of camp all along, and it seems like the offense has been able to jell and move the ball with more consistency compared with the start of camp.
“I can tell a huge difference between Saturday and today with everything. We’re executing at a higher level on both sides of the ball,” Houston said after Wednesday’s practice under the lights inside Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. “The competition tonight was at a much higher intensity level than it was Saturday (the first scrimmage). It was really what you want and that’s a credit to the players.
“We talked about how we were all disappointed in how we executed on Saturday and we’ve been very deliberate with the way we’ve approached each day this week. And the players, I mean, they’re all in on it and they did a great job tonight.”
Wednesday’s practice was packed with a lot of competitive periods that included several different situations a team might face in a close game. The Pirates worked on the two-minute drill, practiced milking the clock with a lead in the final three minutes of a game, as well as some goal-line work.
“Usually when we do a two-minute drill in practice it’s in helmets and you’re tagged. You’re not letting them get near the quarterback,” Houston said. “Today, I mean, it was a live two-minute drill and you don’t have that unless it’s game day. So all of a sudden the quarterbacks had to sit in there, and you’ve got pressure coming from everywhere and there’s guys all around the pocket. I thought they managed it really, really well. We had very few sacks in that situation and the quarterbacks did a good job stepping up in the pocket. They did a good job running and each of them had big first downs with their legs. I just thought it’s something that you just can’t create in practice and it was perfect for them.”
While the quarterbacks played well on Wednesday, the biggest question of camp has not been answered as ECU has not yet named a starting quarterback. The coaching staff would like to name a starter in camp, but neither Jake Garcia nor Katin Houser has emerged as the clear-cut top quarterback.
The QB competition might remind some fans of a similar feel to last season when neither quarterback took command of the position. But the talent level at the position is higher this year as the battle features two capable quarterbacks who, at this point in camp, could each claim a right to hold down the job.
Instead, Houston compared the quarterback situation to the one ECU went through in 2012 with Shane Carden and Rio Johnson. Johnson, a junior, won the starting role in camp and played the first two games before Carden took over and started the next 11 games of the season.
“Whoever you name as the starter for Norfolk State, the other player has a justification that they should be the starter right now,” Houston said, detailing the tough decision. “They’ve both played very well. They’ve both played well enough to be the guy, and that’s making this a very difficult decision.
“We’re thankful we have both of them. It reminds me of the story I heard about the 2012 situation with Rio Johnson and Shane Carden. Shane was not named the starter, but then, three weeks later, he’s the starter and went on to have a great year. And I just think both of them are playing at a very high level.”
Saturday’s scrimmage will be another opportunity for Garcia and Houser to claim the starting role.
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