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Temple uses five fumble recoveries to upset No. 21 East Carolina

Sometimes, the box score lies. That was the case Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field, where Temple scored its biggest win in years by upsetting No. 21 East Carolina, 20-10, in cold and soggy conditions.

Temple defensive lineman Haason Reddick celebrates a recovered fumble
in the second quarter of Temple's 20-10 upset win over East Carolina on Saturday, Nov. 1, 2014 at Lincoln Financial Field. (Andrew Thayer/Staff Photographer)
Temple defensive lineman Haason Reddick celebrates a recovered fumble in the second quarter of Temple's 20-10 upset win over East Carolina on Saturday, Nov. 1, 2014 at Lincoln Financial Field. (Andrew Thayer/Staff Photographer)Read more

Sometimes, the box score lies.

That was the case Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field, where Temple scored its biggest win in years by upsetting No. 21 East Carolina, 20-10, in cold and soggy conditions.

The final statistics looked much the same as they had during the Owls' just-ended two-game skid, lopsided road losses at Houston and Central Florida. The Pirates, who saw their five-game winning streak halted, outgained Temple, 432 yards to 135. They accumulated 30 first downs to Temple's 10, ran 32 more plays than the Owls (88-56), and averaged twice as many yards per play (4.9 to 2.4).

But Temple (5-3, 3-2 American Athletic) earned its first-ever home victory over a ranked team and its first win over a ranked opponent since it won at No. 14 Virginia Tech, 28-24, on Oct. 17, 1998, because it reverted to being the playmaking, opportunistic team of earlier this season. The Owls forced seven fumbles, recovering five and scoring touchdowns off two of them.

"This was a calculated decision by the Temple football program to play this game this way," Owls coach Matt Rhule said. "To give up yards when we had to, but to not give up big plays and force turnovers. You have to look at every game and say, 'How can we beat them?' We thought this was the only way."

East Carolina (6-2, 3-1) came into the game ranked third in the nation in passing offense. Its run defense was ranked 10th in the nation, and quarterback Shane Carden had thrown for more than 400 yards in four games this season and passed for 2,574 yards and 18 touchdowns.

But against a heavy Temple pass rush that sacked him four times, Carden never looked comfortable, finishing 24 of 41 for 217 yards and no touchdowns.

With the Owls offense largely ineffective save for one scoring drive, the defense had a tremendous showing, holding ECU almost 30 points below its season average (39.6 before Saturday). The Pirates scored 70 points against North Carolina, and, before Saturday, scored at least 23 points in every game.

"Everyone did their job, everyone played [to the whistle], and we got turnovers," said Temple linebacker Tyler Matakevich, who finished with a game-high 16 tackles. "We had a rough past two weeks, and today everyone went back to the basics, and we were successful today."

Temple scored its first touchdown when cornerback Tavon Young scooped up the ball after ECU running back Breon Allen's fumble and raced 63 yards.

The Owls took the ball away again when linebacker Nate D. Smith forced a fumble that safety Will Hayes recovered at East Carolina's 40. Five plays later, running back Kenny Harper scored the first of his two rushing touchdowns to help the Owls to a 14-0 lead with 2 minutes, 50 seconds to play in the first quarter.

Leading 14-3 at halftime, the Owls began their best drive of the day after Praise Martin-Oguike blocked a 41-yard field-goal attempt. The Owls drove 76 yards on 13 plays, capping the drive with a 2-yard Harper run for a 20-3 lead with 4:36 left in the third quarter. A pass for a two-point conversion failed.

The Pirates finally reached the end zone on running back Marquez Grayson's 2-yard run with 2:15 remaining in the game. But Temple recovered an onside kick, holding onto the ball until 17 seconds remained in the game.

Temple's Wins Vs. Top 25

Temple has won three games over opponents ranked by the Associated Press in the football program's 116-year history.

Date   Opponent   Rank   Score   

Sept. 19, 1987   at Pittsburgh   16   24-21

Oct. 17, 1998   at Virginia Tech   14   28-24

Nov. 1, 2014   East Carolina   21   20-10

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