Temple Owls vs. ECU Pirates Preview & Predictions

Date: Thursday, October 3, 2019

Kickoff Time: 8:00 p.m. ET

Location: Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, Greenville, North Carolina

Watch: ESPN

All-Time Series: Temple leads, 8-7

Last Meeting: 10/6/18. Temple 49 - ECU 6

Betting Lines: Temple -11.5, O/U 48.5

Temple Owls Outlook

Let’s talk about the last three weeks for the Owls. A win over Maryland had the squad in high spirits. Shaun Bradley called it the best game he’s ever been a part of. Temple clearly overlooked the Buffalo Bulls and it cost them.

They responded by knocking off Georgia Tech in dominating fashion. The defense pitched a shutout, while the Yellow Jackets could not stop the Temple rushing attack. And while most of the players would not admit it, they did want to beat their former head coach in Geoff Collins.

This week will be the first conference game for the Owls, and it comes against an ECU team that Temple has beaten in five straight by an average of 22.8 points.

It was a one-sided affair in the last meeting as Temple racked up 470 yards of offense, compared to just 196 for the Pirates. The Owls pass defense played particularly well as they limited ECU to just 120 yards through the air. Quarterback Anthony Russo threw four touchdowns and an interception, while Isaiah Wright and Branden Mack each caught a touchdown pass in the blowout win.

East Carolina Pirates Outlook

The Pirates have responded since their embarrassing blowout loss to the Naval Academy. They have won two in a row and looking to pull-off a major upset against the Owls. A couple things that could go there way this week. One is that it is a short week for both teams and two ECU is home which could create an atmosphere for a potential upset.

However, the team is averaging only 21.4 points per game which will need to change with the Owls averaging 30.5. Quarterback Holton Ahlers will need to be special than the 197.4 passing yards he is averaging this season.

When a team is looking for an upset, there will need to be opportunities for some short fields. The defense will have to create some turnovers led by the front seven including: Xavier Smith and Kendall Futrell.

The Pirates have been dominated by Temple in the past five meetings and will need to stay close going into the fourth quarter to keep the crowd engaged and then the pressure falls directly on the Owls.

Prediction

Joe S: Temple will not make the same mistake of having another let down game after beating a Power Five team. The Owls have dominated this series since ECU entered the AAC and that trend continues Thursday night.

Temple 38 - ECU 13

Blaine: East Carolina will be unable to keep up with the Temple Owls who will continue to dominate this series. The Pirates have failed to respond to adversity and they will be unable to respond Thursday night.

Temple 37 - ECU 17