Temple awaits No. 21 East Carolina

MATT RHULE used the word "fast'' multiple times during yesterday's press conference to describe No. 21 East Carolina's offense, which Temple will face on Saturday at the Linc.

Fast is appropriate.

Just ask Connecticut, against whom the Pirates ran 100 plays and racked up 580 yards last Saturday. Or ask North Carolina; the Tar Heels took a No. 25 ranking into a Sept. 20 matchup with their in-state rivals and got smacked around for 70 ECU points on 789 yards. Yes, 789 yards. Oh, and the Pirates won, 70-41.

Save for a late defeat against South Carolina in ECU's second game, the Pirates haven't been defeated. At 6-1 overall and 3-0 in the American Athletic Conference, Rhule called ECU the best opponent the Owls will face in 2 years.

In ECU's six wins, it has outscored opponents 254-131.

And given the way Temple has played in two consecutive American losses, the game couldn't come at a worse time. Or maybe it's exactly the right time.

"It's one thing to win or lose, but we haven't played the way we wanted to play," Rhule said. "I think it's really a pivotal moment for us. A football team that's trying to figure out how to win and lose all the time. I can see being out there today that we're a little bit rattled, our confidence is a little bit shaken."

The Owls were in a similar situation almost a year ago when they welcomed then No. 15 Central Florida and Blake Bortles to town and came within minutes of pulling off one of the biggest upsets of the season.

Rhule, who is in his second year as head coach, has suggested many times that expectations are different now. Last year, he's said, the Owls weren't prepared or expected to win games like the one against UCF.

"I hope we're significantly more prepared," Rhule said. "I expect us to play really well. I expect us to go out and challenge East Carolina. Because, if you don't, as I said to our players, why else did you come here but to play Top 20 teams? I expect us to play and put what happened the last 2 weeks behind us and go out there and challenge them.

"I tell our team: If we go out to challenge someone and they're significantly better than us, then you move on, right? But at least we can go out there and play, and play the way we want to play.

"I hope the moment's not too big for us."

Recently, those moments have been too big. In the last 2 weeks, the Owls have been outscored by Houston and UCF, respectively, 65-24. Their offense has been stagnant, they've been dominated on the line of scrimmage - though the return of left tackle Dion Dawkins may help - and have lacked the energy needed to win pivotal games in the American.

"It's in the past, it's behind us," junior linebacker Tyler Matakevich said. "We took everything that we did wrong from that [UCF] game, good and bad, and just moved on. It's a long season so you have to put those things behind you. I mean, you've got to learn from them, but then you go to put them behind you and just get ready. That's what we're doing right now."

Temple (4-3, 2-2) is two wins away from becoming bowl-eligible. Saturday's challenge is one of three remaining home games.

Just a year ago, Temple won two games, and the third could have been against the best opponent it faced. Saturday has that same sort of feel, only with a little more meaning.

"We're not the team that we were last year where we didn't expect to win any games like that," sophomore quarterback P.J. Walker said. "But we expect it this year, we got a bull's eye on our backs as well."