Three Takeaways as Temple Defense Lights Up ECU

ECU falls to 0-2 in conference play and 3-3 on the year after a 10-point loss to Temple.

The Pirates fell 27-17 to Temple on Thursday night, as the offense struggled to get anything going all night against the Owls’ defense. With the Pirates falling to 3-3, here’s three takeaways from the loss.

Lights Go Out on ECU

With just a few minutes remaining in the game, something happened for the first time in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium history. During ECU’s first game on ESPN in years, half of the stadium’s lights shut off in the middle of play. The lights that had the issue were part of the new tower on the south side of the stadium. In the words of Pat McAfee, “It’s just been one of those nights for the Pirates.” McAfee was mainly referring to the struggling ECU offense.

It was a two-man show for the Temple offense with running back Re’Mahn Davis and wide receiver Isaiah Wright. Davis got 24 carries for 157 yards and one TD, while Wright had 173 all-purpose yards and a receiving touchdown. Wright was extremely explosive and provided a much-needed spark for the Owl offense.

The Pirate offense continues to struggle.

The Pirate offense was able to start the game off with an impressive five-minute, 90-yard touchdown drive that ended in a completion across the middle to freshman C.J. Johnson. That was their last touchdown until another Holton Ahlers to Johnson connection with seconds remaining in the game. Johnson led the team in receiving with eight catches for 100 yards. Another freshman in Jsi Hatfield had the second-most receiving yards with 37.

The offensive line has been the centerpiece of the struggles so far this year and Thursday’s game was no different. They were unable to create enough holes for the running game or give consistent protection for Ahlers. And when they gave good protection, there were way too many dropped balls by the receivers. This is also not a new problem as there have been plenty of drops so far this season. Blocking and catching, as simple as it might sound, should be the focus for the Pirates as they go into their bye week.

Size Mismatch

Anyone who watched the game probably noticed a difference in size between the teams. Temple had more size at nearly every position but it was most evident with their offensive line. As the game progressed, the Owl offensive line dominated more and more. They were pretty much able to run the ball at will starting in the second quarter and this allowed them to really wear the defense down. Temple definitely has the most size in the conference, but Mike Houston is going to need to upgrade the size up front in future recruiting classes if he wants to compete for a conference championship any time soon.

ECU is heading into a bye week. Their next contest comes on October 19th as they head to Orlando to take on UCF. Time is currently TBA.