Yo. Teddy Fiorella here, writing from a corner booth in South Philly with a cheesesteak in one hand and my Temple scarf in the other. Cherry and white, born and raised. And I'm gonna be honest with you, because that's how we do it in this city. We don't sugarcoat. We don't spin. We tell you what happened, and then we tell you why next week is gonna be different.
What happened was Charlotte. Charlotte came into the Linc without a win, and Charlotte left with one. That's on us. So this week, we review it straight, we take our open week like grown-ups, and then we look at the next one: a trip to Greenville, N.C., on Halloween.
Part 1: Charlotte 38, Temple 31
On Oct. 17 at Lincoln Financial Field, Conner Harrell threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more, and Charlotte beat Temple 38-31 for its first win of the season. I'll say it once and I'll mean it: credit to the 49ers. They earned it.
Here's the good part, and there was plenty. Ajani Sheppard was electric. He threw for 236 yards and a touchdown and ran seven times for 70 yards and two touchdowns, including a 44-yard run that tied it 21-21 late in the third quarter. Peter Clarke caught five passes for 127 yards and a 4-yard touchdown that tied it again, 28-28, early in the fourth. Keveun Mason ran 13 times for 64 yards and a 21-yard touchdown in the first quarter. Temple led 14-7 at halftime, gained 455 yards, ran for 206 at 6.1 a carry and didn't turn the ball over.
Now the part that keeps me up. Harrell went 23 of 31 for 281 yards with no interceptions, and he scored on runs of 8 and 10 yards. Henry Rutledge ran for 123 yards. Charlotte held the ball for 32:49 and converted 6 of 10 third downs, and Temple went 0-for-2 on fourth down. Aiden Bui's career-long 47-yard field goal with 1:48 left made it 38-28. Carl Hardin's 28-yard field goal with 48 seconds left brought us within seven, but the onside kick didn't come back. Ballgame.
So here's the season, straight. Temple is 2-5 and 1-2 in the American. It beat Rhode Island 38-14 and won 17-13 at South Florida. It lost to Penn State 27-9, at Toledo 49-48, to Army 21-17, to UConn 34-20 and to Charlotte. That's three losses by one score, including one by a single point at Toledo. Yo, that's a lot of heartbreak in one sandwich.
And the defense? Curly Ordonez made eight tackles and a sack against Charlotte, and Avery Powell added six tackles. Those guys played hard. But this defense gave up 449 yards to a team that came in winless, and that can't happen again. The guys up front have to win on early downs so we're not chasing third-and-short all afternoon. I watched the third quarter through my fingers, and I'm a grown man.
The Open Week
Temple has an open date this Saturday, Oct. 24. No game. Honest. Use it. Rest the legs, fix the run defense, and watch some East Carolina film. In Philly, we don't call it a week off. We call it a week of homework. And Temple has a lot of homework.
Part 2: Temple at East Carolina, Saturday, Oct. 31
Next up is a Halloween Saturday at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium in Greenville, N.C. ESPN lists the kickoff time as to be announced, so I'm not gonna pretend to know it.
Our Guys
Per ESPN's season numbers, Temple averages 25.7 points per game and 385.7 yards per game, with 202.1 of those on the ground. Sheppard has thrown for 1,127 yards and eight touchdowns, and Mason leads the run game with 513 yards and three touchdowns on 94 carries. When this offense runs the ball, it moves.
The honest concern: the defense allows 28.0 points per game and 404.6 yards per game, including 238.7 through the air. That's gotta tighten up.
Their Guys
East Carolina is 3-3 and 1-1 in the American. It plays at Memphis on Thursday night, Oct. 22, then comes home to face us nine days later. ECU scores 23.5 points per game and gains 339.2 yards per game, both less than Temple. Emory Williams has thrown for 655 yards with seven touchdowns and two interceptions. TJ Engleman Jr. has 490 rushing yards. Ray Ray Joseph Jr. has 29 catches for 272 yards.
Their defense is solid, I'll admit it: 23.8 points and 326.3 yards allowed per game. But look at their last game. On Oct. 15 at UAB, the Pirates led 14-0 in the second quarter. Then UAB's Ryder Burton drove 93 yards in 10 plays and tied it with 35 seconds left, and the Blazers won 30-17 in overtime, the last points coming on an 80-yard interception return. That's a team that knows how to hold a lead about as well as I know how to hold a diet. And they'll have just played Memphis. Temple will have had two full weeks. Rested legs on Halloween, baby.
The Series
CollegeFootballData.com has East Carolina ahead 12-10 overall. And yeah, I know the recent history. ECU has won the last five, including 45-14 at the Linc last season. But before that, Temple won five straight, from 2015 through 2019, and three of those wins came in Greenville. We've done it down there before. We'll do it again.
Town Report: Philadelphia vs. Greenville
Philadelphia. Yo, where do I even start? Philadelphia is the sixth-most populous city in the country, with 1.60 million people at the 2020 census. The Declaration of Independence was adopted here on July 4, 1776. Philly served as the nation's first capital starting in 1775, and as the capital again on several more occasions until 1800. We have 67 National Historic Landmarks, including Independence Hall.
We have more murals than any other American city, thanks to the Mural Arts Program, which has funded more than 2,800 of them. The Philadelphia Museum of Art is one of the largest art museums in the world, and its front steps got kind of famous after a movie called Rocky in 1976. And the food? Hoagies, soft pretzels, water ice, Tastykakes, roast pork and the cheesesteak. Our home field, Lincoln Financial Field, opened in 2003 and seats 67,594. That's a real stadium in a real city.
Greenville. Greenville, N.C., is a nice college town of 87,521 people at the 2020 census, the 12th-most populous city in North Carolina. Twelfth. In its own state. Philadelphia is first in Pennsylvania and sixth in America.
And here's my go-to Greenville fact. The town was founded in 1771 as "Martinsborough," named after a royal governor. Then, in 1774, the whole town moved three miles west to the south bank of the Tar River. Then it changed its name to "Greenesville." Then it shortened that to Greenville. Yo, Greenville, choose a spot and a name and stick with it. We've been Philadelphia since the 1600s.
Final Word
So here's the deal. Take the open week. Get healthy. Run the ball with Mason and Sheppard, because this offense goes when the ground game goes. Make Williams beat us through the air. And on Halloween, go into Greenville and take one back.
Yo, that's Temple Made.