Temple had the perfect opportunity to pick up its first American Athletic Conference win of the season against Tulsa last weekend and dispose of the UConn loss two weeks prior.

The Owls managed to do just that, opening up a two-score lead in the first half for the first time all season. While the last 30 minutes were more of a bend-but-don’t-break half for Temple, the Owls got the job done on both sides of the ball to take down Tulsa.

Temple’s bowl hopes are hanging by a thread and despite a 2-5 record, there is more to the Owls than what the record says in third-year head coach Stan Drayton’s eyes.

“I think we've learned some lessons from those games,” Drayton said. “That's what you need to do. You got to be able to flush it and get to the next, next play, the next game, you know. And that's our mindset.”

Now with a hint of momentum, the Owls head down to Greenville, North Carolina to take on East Carolina. It has been 1,814 days since Temple has won a conference road game, with the last coming at USF on Nov. 7, 2019. A win would also mark the first road win in three seasons of Drayton’s tenure.

ECU fired head coach Mike Houston following a 45-28 drubbing against Army that dropped its record to 3-4 and 1-2 in AAC play. Defensive coordinator Blake Harrell has been tabbed as the interim head coach for a team that had high expectations entering the 2024 season.

How will ECU respond from Houston's firing? It's hard to say. According to OwlScoop.com Assistant Editor Kyle Gauss, Teams who have watched their coaches get fired midseason have gone 12-12 in the ensuing game with an interim head coach during the 2021, 2022 and 2023 seasons.

Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. and will air on ESPN+.

WHEN TEMPLE IS ON OFFENSE

After suffering a sprained sternoclavicular (SC) joint in his throwing shoulder in the loss to Army, quarterback Evan Simon made his return against Tulsa and flipped the offense back into shape. The Rutgers transfer threw for 297 yards and a touchdown, guiding Temple to a 17-point halftime lead.

Simon did all of that without top wide receiver Dante Wright. He suited up and started the game, but suffered an injury unrelated to what was bothering him against Utah State. Without Wright, Simon spread the ball around with 13 different players making a catch, led by tight end Landon Morris’ four catches for 97 yards.

During Drayton’s press conference Monday, he said Wright was “questionable to probable” for the ECU game.

“For us to move forward as an offense [spreading the ball around] is exactly what needed to happen,” Drayton said. “[Dante Wright] is not the only playmaker in that room on that side of the ball. It’s time for those other guys to be exposed.”

Temple showed the ability to effectively operate its offense without one of the top pass catchers in the conference. Now the Owls face an ECU defense that has been shellacked in its last two games.

Against Charlotte and Army, the Pirates gave up 55 and 45 points, respectively, and more than 400 yards in each game. ECU has been significantly impacted by losing top cornerback Shavon Revel Jr. to a torn ACL after just two games. Revel was projected to be a first-round pick in the NFL draft by multiple experts, and his absence has been critical.

Harrell’s defense has shown flashes of being a tough unit this season, giving up 27 points per game and 390 yards per game, both in the middle of the pack in the AAC. The Pirates give up 119 yards on the ground and 263 through the air per game. However, in their last two games, they have allowed more than 290 rushing yards each time.

Running back Terrez Worthy got the bulk of the carries against Tulsa and struggled to get going in the first half before finding a groove. The Lackawanna College transfer ended the game with 41 yards and the first rushing touchdown by a Temple running back. Against a reeling ECU run defense, Worthy and fellow running back Antwain Littleton could be in line for a heavy workload.

The ECU defense is led by defensive back Omar Rogers and linebacker Zakye Barker. Rogers has registered 49 tackles and Barker is right behind with 48, both ranking in the top 10 in the AAC. ECU is one of the top teams in the country in tackles for loss, collecting 58 TFLs on the season, which is fourth in the country. Barker has recorded 7.5 TFLs while defensive end Michael Edwards III has eight.

The Pirates have just 13 sacks on the season, which places them ninth in the AAC in that statistical category. That could bode well for an offensive line that faces some uncertainty with lelft tackle Kevin Terry working back from an injury.

WHEN TEMPLE IS ON DEFENSE

For the first six games of the season, ECU rolled out Jake Garcia as its starting quarterback. Garcia struggled in those six games, throwing just eight touchdowns to 12 interceptions before being benched in the second half of ECU’s loss to Charlotte.

Michigan State transfer Katin Houser stepped into Garcia’s shoes and impressed. In his first start against Army, Houser threw for 282 yards and three touchdowns on one of the best defenses in the country.

Houser will be delivering the ball to a trio of very solid wide receivers. Chase Sowell has established himself as one of the top wide receivers in the AAC, ranking eighth in the conference with 436 receiving yards and is fourth with 72 yards per game. Sowell and Houser developed a connection right away, as the sophomore wideout finished with seven receptions for 138 yards and his first touchdown against Army.

Former Florida State and West Virginia wide receiver Winston Wright Jr. has been a reliable second option for the Pirates. The graduate student has totaled 337 receiving yards and three touchdowns. North Carolina State transfer Anthony Smith is third on the Pirates with 311 yards and has also caught three touchdowns. Sowell, Wright, and Smith are the only pass catchers on ECU with more than 20 receptions and 200 yards.

“[East Carolina] poses a lot of problems as it is with the speed and the talent that they have at wide receiver and running back,” Drayton said. “So I believe that they will continue to do what they're doing.”

The Owls' secondary of safeties Andreas Keaton and Javier Morton and cornerbacks Ben Osueke, Torey Richardson, Jaylen Lewis and Jamel Johnson have been the strong points of the defense. They have allowed just 168 passing yards per game against mostly run-heavy teams like Navy, Coastal Carolina, Army and UConn.

In the second half against Tulsa, however, Temple’s secondary struggled with discipline and penalties. Osueke and Richardson were each tagged with multiple holding and pass interference penalties, something the Owls will have to clean up against ECU.

After playing a handful of games against top-tier rushing teams, Temple will take on an ECU rushing attack that averages 119 rushing yards per game, which is 12th in the AAC. Former AAC rookie of the year Rahjai Harris leads the Pirates on the ground with 431 rushing yards and averages 4.0 yards per carry. He has handled 109 of the 229 rushing attempts.

Temple’s run defense has continued to improve as each game goes by. They have allowed less than 100 rushing yards in each of the last two games after getting gashed on the ground in the early part of the season.

“We're tackling much better,” Drayton said. “Our secondary is doing a great job of supporting the run. That's pretty much it, just a combination of really just understanding the system better and tackling.”

Linebackers D.J. Woodbury and Tyquan King are second and third in the AAC in total tackles. King leads the Owls with 62 stops and Woodbury is right behind at 61. Defensive end Diwun Black continues to regain his footing after missing the first four games due to academics. He registered five tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble against Tulsa.

SPECIAL TEAMS

ECU has been forced to utilize two kickers this season. Andrew Conrad was the placekicker for the first four games, making 5 of 7 field goals. Noah Perez has handled kicking duties the last three games and has made all four of his field goal attempts.

Kicker Maddux Trujillo has continued to be one of the bright spots for Temple this season. He made both of his field goal attempts against Tulsa and is now 9-for-11 on his field goal attempts this season, including his notable makes of 64 and 60 yards.

Winston Wright has been one of the best kick returners in the AAC for ECU. He is second in the conference with 434 kick return yards.

Freshman wide receiver Tyler Stewart stepped in to handle punt returns with Wright injured last week, logging just one return for five yards. Stewart also returned one kickoff for 18 yards.

Temple punter Dante Atton leads the AAC in total punts with 39 and is third in the conference with 1,553 punt yards. ECU punter Luke Larsen has punted 34 times for 1,373 yards, an average of 40.3 yards per punt.