PHILADELPHIA — On the last day of daylight savings time for this year and in its first daytime game of the season, East Carolina beat the daylights out of Temple, 45-14, at Lincoln Financial Field on Saturday.
The Pirates had 614 yards of total offense in moving a win away from bowl eligibility.
Coming off three Thursday night games in October, ECU answered questions about potential negative effects from a 16-day layoff by establishing an early 14-0 lead.
The Pirates improved to 5-3 overall and 3-1 in the American. Week 10 results in the league left six teams with one conference loss and no one was unbeaten in league play.
“Our young men were eager to get back out there,” said ECU coach Blake Harrell on the Pirate radio network. “You could see it in their preparation and the way they go about their business every single day. They were just excited to get back to work.”
ECU went to work by driving 75 yards in six plays after taking the opening kickoff for a 7-0 lead on a 7-yard pass from Katin Houser to Yannick Smith with 13:03 left in the first quarter.
Temple yielded its first interception of the season to Ja’Marley Riddle and, on the next snap, Anthony Smith went 45 yards for a TD on an end around with 9:40 left in the first quarter.
A lost fumble was the catalyst for a Temple comeback that tied the score at 14.
Mike Wright Jr. ran 15 yards from wildcat formation for the stay-ahead score with 6:15 left in the half. Marlon Gunn Jr. had seven straight carries on the series for 35 yards.
The Pirates went up, 28-14 as Houser hit Yannick Smith angling across the field from the right for a 59-yard touchdown with 2;59 remaining in the half.
Houser completed 19 of 24 for 256 yards with two TDs and one pick.
The Pirates rushed for 358 yards. London Montgomery had 14 attempts for 84 yards in his home state with a 19-yard scoring carry for a 35-14 lead with 8:51 left in the third.
ECU extended the lead to 42-14 with 3:56 to go in the third as Gunn went in from a yard out after a 23-yard gain on a pass from Houser to Anthony Smith.
Nick Mazzie’s 46-yard field goal with 12:06 to play completed the scoring as the Pirates put up the last 31 points of the game.
Yannick Smith had five catches for 100 yards. Anthony Smith had two receptions for 58 yards. Tight end Desirrio Riles had two grabs for 50 yards.
T.J. Engleman Jr. gained 77 yards on eight rushes. Gunn totaled 64 yards on 10 totes.
ECU was six for 12 on third down conversions and 2-for-2 on fourth downs. The hosts were three for 12 on third down and 0-for-1 on fourth down.
Harrell moved to 2-0 against the Owls as the Pirates beat Temple for the fifth straight time to lead the overall series, 13-9.
Temple (5-4, 3-2) was denied bowl eligibility. The Owls were limited to 233 yards of offense.
ECU hosts Charlotte on Saturday at 3 p.m. (ESPN+) for Homecoming, Hall of Fame and Letterwinners weekend. The Pirates are 0-2 all-time against the 49ers with a 55-24 loss in the Queen City last year in Mike Houston’s penultimate contest as coach.
Charlotte (1-7, 0-5) is coming off an open date.
Congratulations to the Pirates on playing their most complete game this year. Good to see the Pirates pound the Owls with the running game while sprinkling in well-timed passes that kept Temple off-balanced all day.
The defense played aggressively through all four quarters, holding Temple under 250 yds. The Pirates defense made very few mistakes, and appeared to visibly frustrate the Owls.
Hopefully, this effort will carryover to next week’s contest with Charlotte. Go, Pirates!!
I expected Temple to give the Pirates all they could handle on the road in Philly; I did not expect the thorough beat down that the Pirates delivered, and on both sides of the ball. Credit to ECU for their dominating two-way performance vs. a definitely improved Temple edition, keeping themselves in the mix for the conf. post-season.
The Pirates would do well to remember the unhappy results of ECU’s last two meetings with Charlotte. Hopefully it’s a payback game; not a trap game.