Pirates Fall To Temple In Philadelphia

Saturday, October 6

Philadelphia, Pa.

12:00 P.M.

East Carolina University

2-3 , 0-2

Temple

3-3 , 2-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

ECU

Temple

October 06, 2018 | Football

Box Score

Final Stats (PDF) | Notes (PDF) l Photo Gallery

PHILADELPHIA — ECU's frustrations against Temple continued on Saturday as the Pirates fell 49-6 in an American Athletic Conference game at Lincoln Financial Field.

After Corey Seargent intercepted quarterback Anthony Russo to end the Owls' first possession, the rest of the contest belonged to Temple. It scored the first 28 points of the game and never looked back.

The Pirates, who dropped to 2-3 overall and 0-2 in the American, now have lost all five conference meetings with the Owls dating to 2014. Temple, which improved to 3-3 and 2-0, evened the series between the schools at 8-8.

"It was very disappointing from the start to the finish," said ECU Head Coach Scottie Montgomery, whose team will play host to another American opponent, Houston, at 7 p.m. next Saturday. "Defensively, offensively, special teams, we didn't come to play today. That goes directly to what we talk about every single day in preparing. We thought we had a great week of preparation. We were really sharp all week and had a great Friday, but we just didn't come out here and play very well at all today."

Russo, who entered completing just 47 percent of his passes with one touchdown and five interceptions for the season, shook off the early interception and completed 11 of his first 12, with two of those going for touchdowns. Although his last two passes of the first half were incomplete, he still managed to go 16-for-20 for 184 yards with three touchdowns and the interception. He completed all five of his passes in an abbreviated second half and finished 21-for-25 for 254 yards with four touchdowns.

ECU was unable to take advantage of Russo's early interception and had to punt. Taking over at their own 20, it took the Owls seven plays and 2:40 to score, with Russo completing a 24-yard touchdown pass to Sean Ryan.

The Pirates then lost the ball on downs when their gamble on fourth-and-1 from their own 43 came up short when Holton Ahlers was stuffed for no gain.

Temple took advantage of the short field as Russo capped a quick possession with a 7-yard scoring strike to Branden Mack.

"We had a recipe for disaster," Montgomery said. "We got down by two touchdowns and couldn't protect the quarterback. Then because you're down by so many touchdowns, you can't run the football. When you can't run the football, it's all uphill after that."

ECU went three-and-out, with Jonn Young's punt returned by Isaiah Wright 31 yards to the ECU 44. The Owls again took care of business, covering those 44 yards in five plays. Ryquell Armstead, who finished with 20 rushes for 91 yards, scored on a 1-yard run to make it 21-0 with 14:02 left in the first half.

The Pirates again were held to a three-and-out, and this time Young's punt was returned 59 yards by Wright for a touchdown, making it 28-0. Temple has scored a non-offensive touchdown in all of its games this season. Wright finished with 192 all-purpose yards.

ECU finally got on the board when Jake Verity made a 29-yard field goal with 6:30 left in the half, but Temple came right back and stretched its lead to 35-3 when Russo hit Wright on a 21-yard scoring pass with 2:15 left before halftime.

Reid Herring faced a lot of pressure in the first half and his two possessions of the second half. He finished 17-for-31 for 112 yards. Kingsley Ifedi saw the most extended action of his career as he guided the Pirates for three possessions. He completed one of four passes for eight yards and had one run for six yards.

Ahlers saw spot action at quarterback in the first half and led for two possessions in the second half. He rushed five times for 56 yards but completed none of his four pass attempts.

"We did play all three quarterbacks, but that's not the way we wanted to do it," Montgomery said. "There are some things we can clean up. We're just very concerned about our inability today, whether it's schematically or fundamentally, to protect the quarterback. They made some plays on us on the perimeter with our DBs that we haven't seen made, so we have a lot to get done in the next seven days."

Ahlers provided the highlight for the Pirates in the second half. On his first snap, a first-and-10 from the ECU 25, he ripped off a 55-yard run. The drive stalled soon afterward, and Verity came in and made a 42-yard field goal. He is now 10-for-10 on field-goal attempts for the season.

Verity's second field goal made it 42-6, and on the ensuing possession the Owls finished the scoring when Freddie Booth-Lloyd, a 6-1, 330-pound defensive lineman, scored on a third-and-goal from the 1-yard line.

The Pirates struggled running the ball and finished with 27 attempts for 73 yards. Anthony Scott had seven carries for 20 yards to finish second on the team behind Ahlers, but no one else was in double digits. Scott did, however, finish with 115 all-purpose yards.

Leroy Henley was ECU's top receiver, with five catches for 54 yards. Blake Proehl had three catches for 17 yards, and Trevon Brown (22 yards), Tahj Deans (20) and Scott (9) had two receptions apiece. Proehl now has multiple receptions in all five games this season.

Bruce Bivens had a career-high 10 tackles, with two for losses. Davondre Robinson had nine (one for loss), Alex Turner had eight (one for loss), and Ray Tillman and Nate Harvey (three for loss) had seven each. Harvey and Devon Sutton each had a sack.

Young had a career-high 11 punts, including three of 50-plus yards.

"We'll go back to work," Montgomery said. "We have a resilient bunch. There will be a lot of growth between now and next Saturday."