Owls gear up for No. 21 East Carolina
Temple is still finding itself, and has a chance at what would be a signature win tomorrow.
TEMPLE WON four of its first five games, against mostly not-so-good teams. The Owls then dropped two straight, both on the road, against some better competition.
The good news is, three of their next four are at home. But they all are against opponents with records above .500, beginning tomorrow afternoon against No. 21 East Carolina (6-1, 3-0) at Lincoln Financial Field.
When you're coming off a 2-10 season, it's easier to lose perspective. The reality is, they should have won more games in 2013. They just weren't good enough yet. Now, they're probably not as far away as maybe they've looked these last 2 weeks at Houston (31-10) and Central Florida (34-14). As often is the case, the truth lies somewhere in between. That's why they call it an evolution. And you kind of figured that at some point there was going to be a stretch like this. Because they're still young and transitioning, in coach Matt Rhule's second season.
Temple hasn't played American newcomer East Carolina since 1995. It hasn't beaten a ranked opponent since 1998 (at No. 14 Virginia Tech). The only other time it beat a Top 25 team was 1987 (also on the road, at No. 16 Pitt). Last November, the Owls had No. 15 Central Florida beaten until the final minutes before losing by three on a field goal at the buzzer. So there is that.
"We're looking forward to it," said sophomore quarterback P.J. Walker, who was taken out for three second-half series in Orlando. "We have to go out there and enjoy it and have fun doing it."
He insisted that what happened last week is behind him. And the team.
"[Rhule told me] just to relax," Walker said. "He said it seemed like a lot of things were going too fast for me. Clear-my-head sort of thing."
The Owls will host Memphis (4-3, 2-1) - which was picked to finish seventh in the preseason poll, one spot ahead of Temple - next Friday night. Then they'll head to Penn State (4-3), which they haven't beaten since 1941.
"On Saturday, it's just all [on] us," said linebacker Tyler Matakevich. "Guys can't be more pumped up. It doesn't matter how much I'm talking. If I'm not doing my job, there's no point in my being out there."
It's one more opportunity to make a statement. Beating East Carolina would make a lot of people notice. It's probably going to happen for the Owls at some point. Sooner would obviously be preferable.
"It's just about our team taking a breath and learning how to handle these types of moments when there's expectations," Rhule said. "You can only do that by being in these moments.
"Everybody has to go play. They have five games left to do that. It'd be no better time than now."