After a rout of ECU 49-6, there was a lot to be happy about for the Temple Owls (3-3). They were able to pull their record back to even and remain perfect in conference play, 2-0. A 49-6 victory is the largest margin of victory in the program’s history over an FBS opponent.
The star of this past weekend’s game was QB Anthony Russo who made his 4th straight start for the team. It was easily the best game of his career as he threw four touchdown passes to four different receivers. He completed passes to 11 different Owls and had only four incompletions all game, accruing 254-yards. His performance earned him a spot on the conference’s weekly honor roll list.
“I feel really comfortable, that’s a big part of playing the position. I think every game, every practice you get more comfortable. And another part of it is the guys out there with me. All the receivers, the older guys all those guys keep me calm, keep me poised out on the field. That really helps me be comfortable when I’m out there,” Russo said after practice today.
Another player appearing on the conference’s weekly honor list is Isaiah Wright for special teams player of the week. Of his 192 all-purpose yards, 129 of them came on 5 different punt returns. One of those returns was a 59-yard return for a touchdown in the second quarter, making that the sixth straight game for Temple scoring a non-offensive touchdown. Along with the punt returns, he had a 27-yard kickoff return and a 19-yard touchdown reception.
Defensively, the Owls were red hot. They kept the Pirates out of the end-zone and allowed a season low 196 total yards. On nine of 16 drives for ECU, Temple forced a three-and-out. The Owls’ only allowed four third down conversions on 18 attempts and forced 11 punts. The defense had nine tackles-for-loss and three sacks in the game.
Leaders on the defense were Isaiah Graham-Mobley who led the team with six tackles. Michael Dogbe and Benny Walls each had three tackles, a sack and a tackle-for-loss.
Coach Collins mentioned in his press conference how the entire offensive line served as scout team players of the week for their efforts in preparing the defense for Saturday.
This Saturday, the team will take on Navy in Annapolis, Maryland. This season, Navy is 2-3 coming off two straight losses to SMU 31-30 (OT), and to Air Force 35-7.
Temple has won the last two matchups between the squads, most recently, last season 34-26 at Lincoln Financial Field when QB Frank Nutile threw for four touchdowns under the lights. Last time Temple played at Navy was in 2016 for the AAC Championship, where the Owls won 34-10.
Kickoff is set to kick off from Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland at 3:30PM. The game will be broadcasted on CBS Sports Network and you can listen in on 97.5 The Fanatic.
Make sure to follow @TU_SportsDesk on Twitter for updates leading up to game-day and for our pregame report.
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