Gameday: ECU Hosts Temple in Thursday Night Matchup | Eastern NC Now

Publisher's note: This post appears here courtesy of the news and information section for East Carolina University men's and women's sports.

Temple at ECU (Game 6)
Date	Thursday, Oct. 3
Time	8:00 P.M. (EDT)
Location	Greenville, N.C. (Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium)
Tickets & Parking	Tickets | Parking
Live Game Coverage	Radio: WNCT 107.9FM | TuneIn Radio Online Television: ESPN
Internet Options	Live Stats
Official Web Sites	ECU | Temple | American Athletic Conference
Game Notes	ECU (PDF) | Temple (PDF) | The American (PDF)
2019 Statistics	ECU (PDF) | Temple (PDF)
ECU Football Central	ECU Media Hub | Roster | The American (PDF) | NCAA Football | College Scoreboard

Official Social Media Sites
Facebook	ECU | The American
Twitter	ECU | ECU Football (in-game updates) | The American
Twitter Hashtags	#ECUGameday | #PirateNation | #AmericanFB
Instagram	ECU | The American

    GREENVILLE, N.C. — East Carolina will attempt to capture its eighth victory in the last 11 conference home openers when it welcomes Temple to Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium for a primetime American Athletic Conference tilt. After knocking off Old Dominion 24-21 last week, the Pirates will look to push their record to 4-2 for the first time since 2013 when they battle the Owls. Additionally, ECU will be vying to capture its third-straight victory (a first since 2014), extend its home winning streak to four in a row and post its second consecutive league triumph in Greenville (dating back to '18).

    ECU RECORDS AND STREAKS

• Qualified for 10 bowl appearances since 2000 (eight in the last 13 years) ...
• Has thrown at least one touchdown pass in nine of the last 12 games (16 TD throws) ...
• Has made at least one field goal (when attempted) in 16-straight games ...
• Has booked 56 tackles for lost yardage in the last eight games (7.0 pg) ...
• Has allowed just two (2) TD passes in last 4 games (0.5 pg) ...
• Has won 37 of the last 40 games when leading at the half ...
• Has won three straight (and five of the last eight) home games ...
• Has won seven of its last 10 conference home openers ...

    THE SERIES     Officially, the series is tied 8-8 ... On the field however, Temple has captured wins in nine of the 16 matchups, but the Owls' 45-28 victory in 1986 was later forfeited to the Pirates because of the utilization of an ineligible player ... ECU only has triumphs in three of seven meetings in Greenville, but is 5-4 against Temple in Philadelphia ... In American Athletic Conference play since 2014, the Owls have never lost to the Pirates (5-0).

    MIKE HOUSTON AGAINST THE OWLS     Including Mike Houston's prior eight-year tenure as a collegiate head coach at Lenoir-Rhyne, The Citadel and James Madison, Thursday's game will mark his first-ever meeting against Temple.

    ROD CAREY AGAINST THE PIRATES     Thursday will also mark Rod Carey's first-ever matchup against the Pirates ... East Carolina has never faced Minnesota, Wisconsin-Stout and North Dakota in its history or competed against Illinois State (2007) and Northern Illinois (2011-2018) while Carey was a member of those two staffs as an assistant or head coach.

    DEFENSE, SPECIAL TEAMS SPARK OWLS' SERIES RESURGENCE     During its current five-game win streak against the Pirates, Temple has forced a total of nine turnovers and penetrated the East Carolina backfield on a consistent basis as evidenced by a total of 47.0 tackles for lost yardage and 19.0 sacks ... The Owls have also limited ECU's rushing attack to just 91.6 yards per game.

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    Read the full game preview HERE.