Mike Houston's Weekly Press Conference Quotes

GREENVILLE, N.C. – Fifth-year East Carolina Head Football Coach addressed members of the media Tuesday morning prior to Saturday's American Athletic Conference contest at Navy. The following are selected comments:

Opening Statement
"The sun is a little bit brighter this Tuesday than the past couple, so that's good. Really pleased with how our team prepared. We've been practicing a lot better the last three weeks. I think the Friday and Saturday preparation, the guys were really good. I knew we were ready to play. I knew we'd play well, but I think the energy, physicality, and intensity, which we talked about being a really big piece of the ball game this past weekend. I thought the players were just really dialed into that. I loved the way we started the game. Even when we didn't get the 4th & 2 on the initial drive, our defense responded right back. Then we had the big play on special teams with blocked punt that gave us great field position. Gerald (Green) was able to get us in the endzone there to give us a 7-0 lead. Great start and really never looked back. Just very pleased special teams wise and defensively, particularly up front. I thought our kids did a good job handling Wester, who came into the game leading the nation in receiving. I think the coaches had a really good game plan for him. The players went out and executed it very well. Really pleased with the performance. It was good to get a win like that on the road against a team that is putting up big numbers, and at home, so just a really good win for our players. Excited to come off that. Now that's in the rearview mirror and our focus is completely on Navy. Huge challenge up there in Annapolis. Very physical football team. They're coming off a huge win against UAB which was not close, 31-6 win. They're playing better and better; I think they've kind of settled on what they want to do with the quarterback position. Our line is playing very well which gives them big play potential. It'll be tough, but it's always tough up there. They have such tremendous tradition. It's a special place to play, always a difficult ball game so we have a great challenge this week. The players are very excited about that."

On Performance
"I think one of my answers when you asked me after the Charlotte game was, 'I have confidence in Andrew and his ability to bounce back' because of his mentality. He doesn't flinch. He has been solid. He was solid the next day after that game, and I had confidence he would be. We continue to put him out there in those situations because we do have confidence in him. I think he handles himself the way you want all your players to handle themselves so really, he's no different than any other player that you have confidence in, in that he shows you every day what he's going to do. When you talk to him, you can have feedback and conversation with him, and you're not worried about him being fragile. He's a tough-minded kid. That's the perfect combination. He's got the talent and the mentality."

On the Difficulty of the Navy Offense
"Well, they're a little bit different than they have been in the past. New head coach, new offensive coordinator, Coach Niumat's no longer there, and it's going to be different there. Certainly, tremendous respect for him and everything he had done there, but it's new now. Yeah, you still see some triple option, you still see some gun stuff, quarterback counter, power read, you see just a lot of different stuff that they're doing offensively. And they are throwing the ball, so the challenge now is preparing for all of it. The triple option stuff is always a challenge to prepare for, but now you factor that in with everything else you're having to prepare for and it's a lot. We faced teams like this in the past and when they can do all of it well, it's really challenging for your defensive players to play one thing one series and then be playing a different style the next snap."

On the Offense Maximizing Their Possessions
"I think we've just got to, like you said, maximize our possessions. We can't give any of them away. I think in this ball game, it's going to be special teams, field position and turnovers. Those are going to be the key factors. We can't give any of our possessions away, so we need to do a good job of ball security and decision making. We've got to do a great job on third down. We need to drive the football and take advantage of being able to convert any time we have those opportunities. We're just going to have to maximize when we do get down in the redzone. We need to try to come away with more touchdowns when we get down there."

On Studying Navy
"For the last month or so, we've been working on the Navy gameplan on Sundays both with our defense and our scout team players. I thought we had a fast start. You're never going to be able to look just like they do but I thought for a group of guys not running that offense, I thought they looked really good Sunday to be able to give us a decent look. Today and tomorrow will be the big test because that's the stuff in pads. You're not playing tag against this team. It's going to be a very physical football game, so we need to be prepared to play at a high level there, not only executing defensively but playing with that physicality."

On Navy's Head Coach and Coming from the Same System
"There are some similarities and there are some differences. Certainly, we should be able to give them a better look than we do other teams because it is a similar style. They do come from different branches though, kind of like Army and Navy, they run a similar offense, but they come from different trees. Coach Newberry and Blake are similar in that. There are some similarities with what they do, but they come from different trees, so it'll help us this week to a degree preparing. There are some things they do defensively that are a little bit different than what we do."

On Performance This Season
"I think when you take a look at it and you factor in everything, he's done really well. It's so hard for freshmen to play that first year. He's got a good football head. He's got knowledge. He's a smart player for a young guy. Yeah, he's made some mistakes, some classic freshman habits that you have to clean up, and he's been hurt a couple of times because of that. But the great thing is, I think he learns from that. He's not overly sensitive. When you correct him, he has dialogue with you and he wants to be great, so he takes coaching well. Probably the biggest thing he's had to learn, which all freshmen have to learn, is how to take care of your body. They just have no clue what a college football season is like, so they don't do a great job taking care of their body early on and it really catches up to them. That's probably the biggest thing he's had to learn. You've got to get your tail in the training room. If you weren't playing this wouldn't be an issue, so if you want to play you've got to get in there and take care of yourself. He's been better with that the last couple of weeks, so I think overall you have to be very pleased with him right now. Last weekend was big for him, close to home, to be able to go down there and get a big win. He played well and I really think that was a good night for him."

On Player Perseverance this Season
"They were energetic Sunday, and I expect them to be energetic this afternoon. They enjoyed that win down there Saturday night, and I think they're hungry to do it again. After a bunch of close losses, that was a part of our pregame too, is I'm tired of being close. We need to get over the hump. We need to finish one of these games in the fourth quarter. It was great to be able to do that Saturday. Now the challenge is can we do it again this weekend. Certainly, we've got a different animal that we're going against, so that's even a greater challenge but they'll be enthusiastic this week at practice, and I expect us to go up there and play really well."

On the Performance of Former Players
"It's great. was here for our last home game. It was great to see him. Excited about what his opportunities are in San Francisco. Keaton (Mitchell), I talked to him this weekend, he had another big weekend. He's got a big game coming up Thursday night. Ja'Quan (McMillian) had a great weekend this past weekend, so just excited for them. You develop really close relationships with your players when you're here, and it's great to see them doing great things after leaving East Carolina University. I've talked to several former players today that are doing things non-football, and I'm excited for them and what they're doing in their careers. That's really the whole point of it. When they come here as freshmen it's making sure when they leave here, they're prepared to live a very productive life and go chase their dreams. Excited for all those guys."

On the Defensive Line's History with Navy
"They know the challenge; I think that's the great thing. They know the challenge, they know the physicality, they know they're going to have to prepare. I think the other thing is they have played up there before, because you're not just playing against Navy the football time. They march the corps in there, it's a great setting, it's going to be a very intense environment and at least we have some guys that have been in it before, so they'll hopefully be a little more prepared for it. Certainly, I think it's been one of the things that's hurt us early this year is, you cannot put a value on experience. You can't get experience until you get experience, so at least our defensive front has a lot of that."