The East Carolina football team has entered game week.
Prepare for launch.
The Pirates have exited preseason camp and shifted their focus to Norfolk State for a 6 p.m. kickoff on Saturday.
A lot has happened during camp. The Pirates named Jake Garcia their starting quarterback after a long competition with fellow transfer Katin Houser. The two spent the spring in competition for the starting role and the battle lasted several weeks into camp.
The Pirates also installed and fine-tuned an up-tempo offensive philosophy led by new coordinator John David Baker. Coach Mike Houston also spoke about changes and more attention paid to special teams, so seeing that in action on Saturday will be worth watching.
The defense is likely the biggest strength of the team coming into the season, and the Pirates might lean on that unit as the offense irons out wrinkles and gets up to speed early in the year.
“We’re all just ready to go out there and play,” Houston said at Monday’s first weekly news conference of the new season. “We’ve all been working on this stuff in practice and the fans have gotten to see glimpses in the spring game. The media has seen glimpses in some of the scrimmages in the preseason. It’s been every day during the spring, all summer and all preseason camp. Watching things evolve and watching everything come together, I’m just ready to see it all out there on the field on game day and us putting all three phases together.”
The Pirates moved with urgency coming off a 2-10 season and embarked on a national search for a new offensive coordinator. They were also active in the portal in looking to add quality quarterbacks and receivers. They checked both boxes and hope the additions will be the answer for an immediate fix.
ECU’s first win last season came in Week 4 against FCS opponent Gardner-Webb. The Pirates’ first FBS win came in their 10th game, a road win at Florida Atlantic. ECU is searching for a faster start this time around, and Week 1 provides a solid opportunity to do just that.
So what would a Week 1 win do for this bunch?
“I think starting off on a positive note this season would do a lot,” Houston said. “I think it’d do a lot for everybody — the players, coaches, fans. We were in our leadership council meeting (Sunday) night and the players, that’s what they’re talking about. Finding a way to get a win at home to start the year. I think they’re very focused. I think that they understand that we’ve got to go out and play really well and execute for the first game.”
Norfolk State has already played its first game of the season. The Spartans opened up on Aug. 24 on national TV and lost to Florida A&M, 24-23. The Spartans drew within 24-23 with a little more than six minutes remaining and opted to go for two points and the lead, but quarterback Jalen Daniels was stopped short on a rush attempt.
Florida A&M drained the clock on the next drive and Norfolk State never had another chance.
Houston likes that he has tape to study for his next opponent, but he also knows that Norfolk State has already had the chance to work out its own mistakes in a game setting.
“The positive for us is we’ve seen what they’re going to do,” the sixth-year ECU coach said. “They have a new offensive coordinator and we’d heard that they’re going to do some things different defensively. They’ve got a new special teams coordinator. Until you see them go out and play, you don’t truly know what they’re doing. So at least we got to see a live look at them on Saturday night. They have not had that luxury from us.
“The negative is they’ve had a game to go out and make some mistakes. They had a botched field goal and they had a missed two-point conversion. They had two turnovers. They did some things that, if they correct those mistakes, they win that ballgame Saturday night. That would have been a huge upset for them. Florida A&M is one of the top teams in the FCS. I think there are plusses and minuses, but I like the fact that we’ve been able to see them on tape.”
Next up is for the Pirates to play their first game and make mistakes to correct. But the hope is that many of those mistakes have been corrected throughout preseason camp and an efficient unit takes the field on Saturday.
“I’m excited about where we are,” Houston said. “I feel like we have had a really good preseason camp. I think we have a roster that is prepared to be highly competitive this fall, and I’m just ready to see us get on the field and do it.”
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