The Temple Owls defeated the East Carolina Pirates in Greenville Thursday 24-14.
What it means
For the first time in the program’s history, the Owls start 7-0. Temple remains not only unbeaten in division play, the Owls now have significant head-to-head tiebreakers against both East Carolina and Cincinnati. The win also gives the team a chance to remain in the Coaches Poll and The Associated Press Top 25.
Turning point
In the fourth quarter, after a missed field goal, he Temple defense forced East Carolina to punt. If East Carolina had scored, it would have all but guaranteed the Pirates a crucial win.
Play of the Game
With 2:48 left to go in the fourth quarter and East Carolina punting, Shariff Finch blocked his second punt of the game. After the ball had crossed the line of scrimmage, a Temple player tried to catch the ball. A scrum ensued, but Temple was able to recover. Had the Pirates recovered, East Carolina would have gotten the ball back with a fresh set of downs and momentum on their side.
Player of the game
Robbie Anderson had an outstanding game. The redshirt senior garnered eight catches for 126 yards. The most important catch he made was his last one. Quarterback P.J. Walker threw 23-yard strike to Anderson for the go-ahead touchdown. It was Anderson’s first 100 yard game of the season.
Dirty Laundry
In a game marred with penalty flags, Temple tied a season-high in penalties with 12.
Worth noting
The Temple punt return team had a good day. They were able to get two blocked punts. That gives Finch 3 blocked punts on the season. Also, Sean Chandler looked more comfortable fielding punts. Last week against Central Florida, the Owls fumbled punt returns twice.
Looking Ahead
After a short week, the team will now have nine days to prepare for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Notre Dame will also have a long layoff, as they currently have a bye week. The game will be played on Halloween, Oct. 31. Game Time is 8 P.M.
