On Saturday, Temple nearly pulled out a win against ACC opponent Boston College, as they were only down 3 points halfway through the fourth quarter, but ended up losing the affair 45-35. With the loss, Temple drops to 2-3, and ends their out of conference play. From here on out, it’s all conference play.
The story of the game for Temple was RB Ryquell Armstead. The senior single-digit player rushed 24 times and accrued 174 yards and found the end-zone four times. It was his eight career 100-yard rushing game and fourth straight. He now has 26 career rushing touchdowns at Temple. After the game, he told reporters that this was the most emotional game he’s ever played in his life. He had found out the day before that his grandmother was diagnosed with lung cancer.
“I feel sad, disappointed, like I let my team down. I had a hell of a game but that doesn’t matter if we don’t win. I’ve never cried over a game in my life, this is the first game I’ve cried over, it meant something to me… I feel like I let her (his grandmother) down. I didn’t come to BC to have a close game I came to win,” said Armstead postgame.
As for QB Anthony Russo, he went 20-45 passing with 255 yards and two interceptions, one being a pass the receiver should have caught, but instead went off his hands and into the defender’s hands.
Though, despite two average performances from Russo, Coach Collins told the media today that he will be his guy moving forward. He said that Frank Nutile is 100% healthy, but he is going to stick with Russo as his starter.
“If we were to play tomorrow, Anthony would get the bulk of the work and he’s doing a really nice job but I’ve got complete confidence in Frank Nutile, absolutely love him, and the same thing with Toddy as well,” Collins said.
Defensively for the Owls, they had problems stopping the Eagles running game as they let up just under 300 yards rushing to AJ Dillon and Ben Glines. Though they didn’t allow a receiver to gain over 40 yards, whereas Temple’s Isaiah Wright tallied 114 yards through the air.
LB’s Shaun Bradley and Isaiah Graham-Mobley led the team with 11 tackles a piece. Graham-Mobley also contributed to helping the Owl’s continue their streak of games with a non-offensive touchdown, which they have achieved in all five games this season. On a kickoff, Rob Ritrovato forced a fumble that Graham-Mobley scooped and scored to give Temple an early 14-7 lead.
Moving onto ECU, Temple have beaten the Pirates in their last four meetings by a score of 115-44 and the Owls haven’t let up more than 14 points in any of those matchups.
It’s interesting to note that last season, the Owls started 2-3 and played ECU in week six and finished the season 7-6 and won a bowl game. Hopefully, the Owls can match, or even achieve more than last season’s achievements.
The game is set to kick off from Lincoln Financial Field, Saturday afternoon at 12:00PM. The game will be broadcasted on ESPNews and you can listen in on 97.5 The Fanatic. You can also listen in on student radio on WHIP using the iHeart Radio app and listen to the SportsDesk’s very own Vince Coll analyze the game.
Stick with the SportsDesk for our pregame report coming later this week, and follow @TU_SportsDesk on Twitter for more.
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