What you should know about the football opponent of ECU in 2024: Temple
East Carolina is closing in on kickoff for the upcoming season, and with it, it’s time to start looking ahead to all 12 teams the Pirates will face off against this season. In this preview, we won’t necessarily go super deep into each foe – as that will more than likely happen as we get to game week – but we will provide the surface-level information to get a good gauge on each opponent that will take on ECU in 2024.
After recently looking at the Pirates’ matchup against Army, we now look at the team’s game against Temple. ECU and the Owls are set to square off on Saturday, Oct. 26, in Greenville.
It’s seemingly now or never for head coach Stan Drayton. After a period of success with Matt Rhule and Geoff Collins at the helm of the program, Temple has experienced a sharp downturn in recent years. Drayton was the former assistant head coach and running backs coach at Texas, and Temple was hopeful he would ignite the program when brought in before the 2022 season. But he’s produced just a pair of 3-9 seasons, and enters the third year of his tenure certainly on the hot seat. Year 3 is typically a big one for head coaches, but there’s been a lot of turnover at Temple the last few years, that there’s a lot of uncertainty heading into 2024 for the Owls, and Drayton.
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Former standout quarterback EJ Warner has transferred to conference foe Rice. If there was one thing the Owls truly had going for them, it was a young and promising quarterback to build around in Warner, the son of Pro Football Hall of Famer Kurt Warner. ECU fans remember him well, especially after he torched the Pirates for 527 yards and five touchdowns in the 2022 regular season finale as a freshman. Warner threw for more than 6,000 yards and 41 touchdowns the last two years combined. His loss is significant. Temple brought in transfer Evan Simon from Rutgers and former JUCO prospect Forrest Brock is also competing for the new starting quarterback job. Simon has some experience, but Brock has performed well in practice this offseason, per reports.
The defense was a major problem in 2023, and they are counting on many transfers to get it fixed. Temple was actually solid defensively in Drayton’s first year, but took a massive step back in 2023, allowing 442 yards and 35.7 points per game. The Owls’ defensive front looks like a solid unit, led by Tra Thomas and FAU transfer Latrell Jean. But the linebackers and secondary are a major question mark after some key departures. Former ECU linebacker transfer Tyquan King is competing for the starting middle linebacker job for the Owls. Their secondary also lost 4-5 contributors from a season ago, and has brought in seven transfers to compete for new roles on the back-end alone.
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