Pinned
Link copied
Through 3 Quarters
Averaging points allowed per game, the East Carolina Pirates have been snoozing on defense this season, but thus far they are keeping the Temple Owls in check. Three quarters in and the Pirates' offense has really been able to impose its will, dominating Temple 28-3 three quarters in.
East Carolina has been led by QB Holton Ahlers, who so far has passed for two TDs and 174 yards on 19 attempts in addition to rushing for one TD and 63 yards.
East Carolina's lead is the biggest they have had this year going into the fourth quarter.
Who's Playing
East Carolina @ Temple
Current Records: East Carolina 1-6; Temple 1-5
What to Know
The East Carolina Pirates are 0-5 against the Temple Owls since October of 2015, but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit Saturday. East Carolina and Temple will face off in an American Athletic battle at noon ET at Lincoln Financial Field. Both teams have had a rocky road up to this point with four consecutive losses apiece.
A win for the Pirates just wasn't in the stars last week as the team never even grasped a temporary lead. They were dealt a punishing 55-17 defeat at the hands of the Cincinnati Bearcats. A silver lining for East Carolina was the play of RB Keaton Mitchell, who rushed for one TD and 124 yards on 17 carries.
Meanwhile, the oddsmakers predicted a rough contest for Temple last week, and boy were they were right. Their bruising 38-13 loss to the UCF Knights might stick with them for a while. Temple was down 38-3 at the end of the third quarter, which was just too much to recover from. QB Re-al Mitchell had a memorable game, but not in the way you want to be remembered: besides failing to produce a single touchdown, he threw two interceptions and fumbled the ball once with only 4.65 yards per passing attempt.
The Pirates are the favorite in this one, with an expected 3.5-point margin of victory. Now might not be the best time to take East Carolina against the spread since they've let down bettors for the past two consecutive games.
These two teams will surely be fighting tooth and nail to get back into the win column after losses last week. Allowing an average of 39.71 points per game, East Carolina hasn't exactly asserted themselves on the defensive end. We'll see if they can patch up the holes in their defense before their upcoming matchup.
How To Watch
- When: Saturday at 12 p.m. ET
- Where: Lincoln Financial Field -- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- TV: ESPN Plus
- Online streaming: fuboTV (Try for free. Regional restrictions may apply.)
- Follow: CBS Sports App
- Ticket Cost: $27.00
Odds
The Pirates are a 3.5-point favorite against the Owls, according to the latest college football odds.
The line on this game has moved quite a bit since it opened, as it started out with the Owls as a 3.5-point favorite.
Over/Under: -111
See college football picks for every single game, including this one, from SportsLine's advanced computer model. Get picks now.
Series History
Temple have won all of the games they've played against East Carolina in the last six years.
- Oct 03, 2019 - Temple 27 vs. East Carolina 17
- Oct 06, 2018 - Temple 49 vs. East Carolina 6
- Oct 07, 2017 - Temple 34 vs. East Carolina 10
- Nov 26, 2016 - Temple 37 vs. East Carolina 10
- Oct 22, 2015 - Temple 24 vs. East Carolina 14
