East Carolina football coach Mike Houston spoke with the news media via Zoom in a press conference on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020, as the Pirates continued to prepare for a home matchup with American Athletic Conference rival Navy. The second-year coach expressed his pleasure that slightly relaxed pandemic restrictions will permit about 3,500 fans to attend the game in 50,000-seat Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. Only 350 fans invited by players were allowed to attend the home opener with Central Florida on Sept. 26.

Houston noted that all players tested on Wednesday for COVID-19 received a negative result. He added that both the Pirates and the Midshipmen will undergo another round of rapid-response testing on Friday before ECU and Navy medical staffers and league officials make a final decision on allowing the game to go ahead as scheduled at noon on Saturday.

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