Mike Houston expects a tougher challenge in week two. The Pirates took care of business in the season opener on Saturday night with a 42-3 win over Norfolk State.

ECU visits Old Dominion (0-1) on Saturday for a 6 p.m. kickoff (ESPN+). The Pirates are favored by 2.5 points.

Some optimism was created in the first game as Jake Garcis passed for 308 yards and four touchdowns. The performance came against a Football Championship Subdivision  program that was coming off a 3-8 season.

“Great to get a win to open the season,” Houston said Monday. “It was great to be at home, also. Watching film and seeing Casey Kelly’s touchdown right down there in the Boneyard. Seeing a packed student section that was celebrating and screaming. The intensity on the field. It was great to be back playing ball again.

“Like I said after the game the other night, I really appreciate the students and our fan base for showing up. We had a great atmosphere and electricity in the stadium the other night. Great to get a win to open the season, but a lot to clean up. I think that there are a lot of things to be excited about, but a lot to clean up.

“I’m happy to get the win, but certainly not satisfied with the way we played and our players know that. They’re very motivated to get those things corrected this week and we have to because we’re playing a very good Old Dominion team. I promise you they’re kicking themselves right now because they had South Carolina beat and they really dominated the line of scrimmage defensively down in Columbia last Saturday.

“If it wasn’t for a couple of turnovers inside the five that basically gave South Carolina two touchdowns, they’re sitting here with a win over an SEC team coming into this game. Very good team we’re facing on the road at their place. It’ll be a hostile environment. I’m positive that we’re going to have plenty of Purple up there.

“We’ve got a lot of fans in that region and it’s a two-hour drive from here, so I know the Pirates will show up, and our players are very excited about this game. So got a great week of practice. We can’t make the mistakes we made last week. We’ve got to make sure that we go and play a clean ball game, but it’s going to be a good one on Saturday night. Excited about it.”

Regarding turnovers

Garcia threw three interceptions and ECU lost three fumbles in the opener, a source of concern.

“I think they’re all very fixable,” Houston said. “Not anything extreme. They’re all a little bit different. You look across college football this weekend, you saw a lot of that stuff. Obviously, we had a lot more than you ever want.

“We’ve got to take care of the football and we’ve got to get those corrected and we will. We worked on it last night, so the guys saw everything. That’s what we’ll stress this week in practice.”

Improved communication

ECU is using a new wireless communication system that allows players on the field, who have a receiver/transmitter within their helmet, to talk to coaches and vice-versa.

“That was great,” Houston said. “We’re monkeying around with the system. CoachComm is getting feedback from everybody in the country this week.

“One of the things is you’ve got to figure out is how to turn the volume up a little bit. You’ve got a stadium that’s pretty loud. There was a little bit of an issue — hearing the communication, but it was very clear overall. I think it helped. It’s a plus for us. I’m glad we got to use it and work out some kinks.”

Up tempo

ECU had 74 snaps in 18:25 of possession time Saturday. That meant center Dustyn Hall was hiking the ball every 14.9 seconds of the game clock.

Houston thought the comfort level with the faster pace improved during the course of the nonconference contest.

“I thought the first series, we were really excited to be out there and we were going pretty fast,” Houston said. “After that, we got very comfortable with the tempo and the pace. I liked the pace that we played at.

“You eliminate a couple of the mistakes and we’ve got some potential to be pretty dynamic. I was excited about it and it was good to see. I’m glad our fans got to see it too.”

Wright stuff

Winston Wright Jr., a transfer from Florida State, was among 10 players who caught passes for the Pirates on Saturday night. Wright had three receptions for 24 yards and also played on special teams.

“Winston is certainly a talented young man and I think that Coach (Andre) Powell (special team coordinator) has done a great job with our schemes,” Houston said. “We’ve talked about that a lot. I’m glad everybody got to see that on display. He had two kickoff returns and really, both of them had a shot.”

Wright’s two kickoff returns totaled 77 yards.

“We’ve got to clean some stuff up,” Houston said. “We had a couple of missed blocks that kept it from going to the house. We’ve got to clean that up this week. We had a couple of long punt returns and have a couple of mistakes there we’ve got to clean up.

“Overall, our special teams were fairly solid for the opener. We’ve got to be solid this weekend, because it’ll be a big factor in the game.”

Bond, Javious Bond

Sophomore running back Javious Bond had four carries for 27 yards, a team-high average against NSU of 6.8 yards per tote. He had three punt returns for 58 yards.

The sixth-year ECU coach commented on Wright and Bond contributing on special teams,

“I think you want them to touch the ball as much as possible,” Houston said. “Javious has dealt with a little bit of injury during preseason so didn’t want to  overload him in the first game. Those two guys will get plenty of touches throughout the year but any time they ‘ve got the ball in their hands, they can make something happen.

“You also have depth at both positions. Jhari Patterson (two catches, 28 yards) will probably be back full speed this week. Now you’ve got another guy there in the slot that, if Winston breaks a long kickoff return and needs a quick blow, then you can get Jhari in there to start a series. I think we’re fortunate to have two guys like that as returners.”

Evaluating the Monarchs

ODU lost its season opener, 23-19, at South Carolina despite a 305-288 lead in total yardage, The Gamecocks were a plus three on turnovers (4-1).

“I think first is how solid they are up front and in the box.,” said Houston of the Monarchs. “I’ll tell you their nose guard, Denzel Lowry, he’s a man and we’ve got our hands full with him. All three of their linemen did a really good job. They’ve got a couple of guys that come in and there’s no drop off. Their linebackers are very active.

“The middle safety, Jahron Manning, he’s all over the place. They are a very aggressive defense and they present a lot of problems. It’s a little bit of a different scheme, but they do a really good job coaching it. I thought they’re secondary, which they got a lot of new guys but they’re older, experienced guys. I thought they played really well.

“South Carolina struggled to move the football Saturday and so I think that says a lot about them defensively. ODU does a lot of things similar to what we do on offense. I think that we should be able to get a good look from our scout team this week during practice.

“The one thing they have is they’ve been running this offense for a couple of years, so they’ve got a lot of experience running it. They’re going to have some things and some wrinkles that we haven’t seen yet. We’ve got to do a great job this week of working to be prepared for that.”

Young talent

Houston commented on some younger players who contributed against the Spartans.

“Jimarion McCrimon (offensive lineman), I don’t think he was expecting to go in as early as he did when Kojo’s (Poku) helmet came off, but he did fine,” Houston said. “We’ve got some good, young offensive linemen that are going to be solid players for us in time. It was good to get them some experience there.

“It was good to get London (Montgomery 14 carries-67 yards) some experience. I thought he did a good job when he got in there of really getting north and south in the run game. We use a lot of guys at the skill positions that got playing time the other night and got a chance to make some plays. Just excited about all the personnel we were able to play the other night.”

Wideouts outstanding

The Pirates are deep in the wide receiver room. Even with Chase Sowell, the top returning target, out with a wrist injury, the Pirates had plenty of talented pass catchers.

“I was very pleased about how they played,” Houston said. “Anthony Smith obviously had a touchdown and had a big night receiving, but he also was very good on the perimeter blocking. He had a pancake on one of the screens out wide.

“Brock Spalding did a great job blocking and a great job running after the catch. He was the kind of the lead blocker on Winston’s two kickoff returns and the one that kind of sprung him. He’s a good ball player.

“You talk about the other names, Winston Wright Jr., Casey Kelly, Desirrio (Riles), Tyler Savage, we had so many guys that had solid nights. Yannick Smith, first career catch. Kelan (Robinson) had a catch It’s just got a lot of guys and I’m glad we’ve got that depth, because we’re going to need it.

“It’s a long season. Chase will be back and I’m excited to get him back when he’s ready to go. I was just very pleased with how our skill position players played on offense.”

Garcia’s composure

Garcia stayed confident despite being picked off three times.

“You’ve got to have thick skin and a short-term memory at that position,” Houston said. “We always talk about the next play and the most important play is the next play. I thought he did a good job of that mantra the other night. He talked about the goldfish mentality, which we talked about a good bit, but I think you have to be that way at that position.

“You’ve got to learn from your mistakes, but you can’t let one mistake turn into two. I thought he did a really good job of that. He had the mistakes. He also threw four touchdown passes and threw for over 300 yards and made some really great throws the other night.

“It’s game one and he’ll get the decision making and the corrections made that he needs to eliminate those. I would bet you’re going to see him play better and better every time out.”

Defensive challenge

ECU’s defensive kept Norfolk State out of the end zone, allowed just 43 yards on 45 rushes and limited the visitors to one of 18 on third down conversions.

“Well, we’re not playing an FCS team this week,” Houston said. “We played Norfolk State. I don’t know what they’re going to be. They’re not a bad team by any means, but they’re not a Sun Belt team. They’re not an American Athletic Conference team. We’re going to see a pretty steep increase in talent that we’re going against this week.

“We’ve got to step it up. We played really well defensively last week, but I want to see us do it against a good football team. We’ve got a challenge Saturday night up in Norfolk.”

Debuts on defense

Houston saw good things from freshman defensive back Ja’Marley Riddle and classmate Kevon Merrell at linebacker.

“I was nervous,” said the Pirates coach. “I don’t know if they were, but you just never know with freshmen. You stick them out there in the secondary. I thought they handled themselves well.

“Ja’Marley had a tackle on the kickoff. K.J. (Kevon) had a big hit on the quarterback on a pressure. They both played well defensively. They’re both going to be really good football players in time.

“We’ve talked about it all preseason camp with all the young kids is that everybody’s time is different. They all want to go out there and play a ton right now. You have to wait your time. You’ve got to be ready when you’re when your number is called. I was excited to see those guys be able to get some playing time the other night. That’ll only help them move them forward.”