ECU-Temple: Preview, Game Time, TV/Radio

Date & Time: Nov. 1, 12 p.m.

TV/Radio: ESPNNews, WatchESPN, Pirates IMG Radio Network

Line: ECU (-7)

Ok, let’s all face facts here…given their performance in the last few weeks, it should be no surprise that East Carolina ended up near the bottom of the the first College Football Playoff rankings.

Sitting at No. 23, the Pirates will look for a big road win to impress to committee, as they take on a 4-3 Temple team that has lost two straight, but has a win over an SEC school (Vanderbilt) to their credit this season.

A Rivalry Renewed?

The Pirates and Owls have met just 10 times since 1982, and the Pirates have won seven of those games. The last game between the teams was back in 1995, as the Pirates won 32-22 in Greenville.

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Keys for ECU

The Pirates have been quite sluggish in their past few outings, and will need to get over their own slump if they plan to win on the road.

Temple’s coming off their worst offensive performance of the season in a 34-14 loss to UCF last week, and the ECU defense should take advantage of the Owls being a slump of their own.

The Owls’ offense shouldn’t be a big problem, only averaging just over 6 yards per pass play, so don’t expect them to break off many big plays like the Pirates do on a regular basis.

On offense, the combination of Shane Carden and Justin Hardy (who I’ve dubbed “The Cardy Boyz”…yes, it’s a terrible nickname, but stay with me here) should put on a show against a Temple pass defense that’s allowed over 600 yards and 65 points in their past two games combined.

Those stats are something that Carden has been known to put up in just one game, so expect him to be throwing early and often.

Bottom Line

There’s really not much more to say, this needs to be the game that the Pirates take early and don’t give Temple a chance to come back. That said, ECU comes in as a 7-point favorite despite Temple’s recent struggles. The Owls could stick around in the first half, but I feel like ECU will hugely pull away in the fourth quarter.

A dominant win could go a long way in moving the purple and gold up in the College Football Playoff rankings as well as building momentum into a huge Thursday night matchup against Cincinnati on Nov. 13. Until then, the name of the game should be focus for the Pirates in order to get a big road win.

Prediction 

ECU – 42

Temple – 28