Temple University Athletics
"Just the Facts" Machine
11.2.14 | Football
East Carolina Recap
News & Notes Following Temple's 20-10 Win vs. #21/19 East Carolina
This was Temple's first win ever at home against a ranked opponent. In fact, it was the first time that a ranked college football team played in Philadelphia and did not win.
It marked just the third time that Temple upset a ranked opponent and the first time since 10/17/98 when the Owls won 28-24 at #14 Virginia Tech. The only other time that Temple registered an upset over a ranked opponent was 9/19/87 at #16 Pittsburgh, 24-21.
Temple defeated ECU who came into the game with a 6-1 record. The last time Temple beat a team with a winning record in the regular season was 10/8/11 when they beat a 3-2 Ball State team, 42-0.
The last time Temple defeated a team during the regular season with 6 wins was when they beat a 6-2 Navy team, 27-24, on 10/31/09.
Temple held the high-powered ECU offense to just 3 points in the first half. It was the first time that ECU was held without a TD in any half since game 6 in 2013 (a 36-33 defeat vs. Tulsa on 10/12/13.
It was the fewest points that ECU scored by halftime since a 21-0 score on 9/8/12 at South Carolina – a span of 33 games.
Temple won the turnover battle 5-0. To put that feat into context, East Carolina entered the game with just 3 lost fumbles all season. Temple now has 24 takeaways after registering just 15 a year ago.
This game marked the first time that Temple didn't suffer a turnover since 9/28/13 at Idaho.
DE Praise Martin-Oguike was the defensive playmaker. He finished with 4 tackles (3 solos), 1.5 sacks, 3.5 TFL, 3 forced fumbles and a blocked FG. Martin-Oguike leads the Owls with 4.5 sacks (last season the team leader finished the year with 3.0). He has already won the Walter Camp national defensive player of the week and is just the second Temple player to earn those honors since 2004, joining former Owl defensive end Adrian Robinson (Sept. 19, 2010).
LB Tyler Matakevich led the defense with 16 tackles – all solos tying a school record in that department. Lance Johnstone had 16 vs. Pitt in 1995.
DT Matt Ioannidis gathered a career-high 1.5 sacks and had 2.5 tackles for loss among his 3 stops.
RB Kenneth Harper added 2 rushing TDs to his resume. It was the third time that the senior scored 2 ground TDs. He now has 16 for his career tying him with Todd McNair and Henry Hynoski for 8th on the Owls' all-time list.
CB Tavon Young scored on a 63-yard fumble return. That gives Young his second TD of the year and the Temple defense its 6th TD of the season (2nd in the NCAA). Temple now has four defensive TDs of 55-yards or more which leads the nation.
RB Jahad Thomas had kickoff returns for 37 and 36 yards. The 37-yarder was the longest of the season by an Owl. Thomas now has the team's longest run from scrimmage (68), reception (74) and KOR (37).
This was the fourth game this season in which the Owls never trailed.
LG Leon Johnson, TE Colin Thompson, WR Keith Kirkwood, DT Averee Robinson and DE Jacob Martin made their first career starts for Temple.
TE Colin Thompson was the Owls leading receiver at 2 catches for 26 yards. He became the 6th player in eight games to lead the Owls in receiving. Only WR Jalen Fitzpatrick (3 times) has done it more than once.
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