What ECU head coach Mike Houston had to say about the Gamecocks after USC’s win

East Carolina head coach Mike Houston took a few long pauses when describing the Pirates’ locker room atmosphere after their 20-17 home loss to South Carolina.

“Quiet, sincere,” Houston told reporters. “I told everybody this summer I really like the group I got in that locker room.”

The close loss, in which ECU actually led for the majority of the contest, was tough on Houston and the Pirates. Still, he had plenty of positive remarks to offer on the Gamecocks after the dust settled in Greenville, North Carolina.

Houston gave his highest praises to South Carolina’s defense, which held East Carolina to 268 total yards and kept quarterback Holton Ahlers to 77 yards on 11-of-24 passing with no touchdowns and two interceptions.

“That defensive line, you got at least one first-round draft pick, and you got two five-star kids, one of them was the top defensive end in the country coming out of high school,” Houston said. “We weren’t playing against mediocre players.”

He’s referring to edge defender Kingsley “JJ” Enagbare, who sacked Ahlers twice for 15 lost yards, defensive lineman Zacch Pickens, who had three tackles, and also Jordan Burch, the No. 1 defensive end in the 2020 class out of Columbia’s Hammond School.

Houston also commented on Damani Staley’s 63-yard interception returned for a touchdown just before halftime. He agreed with the South Carolina perspective, where Gamecocks head coach Shane Beamer and players concluded Staley’s play was one of the game’s primary momentum shifts.

“That is a big play,” Houston said. “(I’d) give anything to have it back. They had a pressure called, we had a screen called, and screens sometimes are feast or famine. You get it off, it is going to be a huge play for us. The kid made a great play. That is probably the difference in the ballgame.”

The Gamecocks’ final drive was another point of emphasis in Houston’s postgame press conference. He praised South Carolina’s protection on Juju McDowell’s two long runs in the final drive, one a 15-yard gain and the other a 16-yard gain.

“We knew what was coming,” Houston said. “Our kids knew it was coming. We even had the defense called, but they did a better job there at the point of attack on those two runs.”

Houston also praised South Carolina kicker Parker White, who nailed a game-winning 36-yard field goal to seal the Gamecocks’ victory. White also kicked a 39-yard field goal to tie the game in the fourth quarter.

“Those are the games that you’ve gotta learn how to win,” Houston said. “They made the kick at the end. That’s a big-time kick. I’ve seen that kick missed a lot.”

Beamer said the Gamecocks will celebrate the East Carolina win on Saturday, but they’ll be back to work on Sunday to prepare for their SEC opener on the road against No. 2 Georgia.