GREENVILLE, N.C. (AP) P.J. Walker threw a late 23-yard touchdown pass to Robby Anderson, and No. 22 Temple rallied to beat East Carolina 24-14 on Thursday night.
Walker finished 19 of 35 for 250 yards for the Owls (7-0, 4-0 American Athletic Conference). They ensured their first appearance in the Top 25 since 1979 - and the best start in school history - will last a little longer.
East Carolina's Blake Kemp was 31 of 48 for 272 yards with a 7-yard touchdown pass to Quay Johnson. Chris Hairston added a 1-yard scoring run for the Pirates (4-4, 2-2).
Temple's Jahad Thomas rushed for two touchdowns, of 2 and 14 yards, the last sealing it with 2:18 to play. The American's leading rusher finished with just 66 yards - 60 fewer than his average.
A Temple team that cracked the national rankings for the first time in 34 years on the strength of its defense and ground game needed Walker's arm to win this one.
The Owls gained 82 total yards while going scoreless on their first five possessions of the second half, before the passing game got hot just in time.
Walker hit Anderson over the middle for 51 yards to the East Carolina 34 with about 5 1/2 minutes to go. Five plays later, they hooked up again, with Anderson slipping past a defender between the hash marks on his way across the goal line with 3:31 remaining.
After Temple forced a three-and-out, Sharif Finch blocked Worth Gregory's punt at the East Carolina 15. Two plays later, Thomas iced it with the longer of his two scoring runs.
The Owls forced two second-half turnovers and blocked two punts while occasionally sloppy East Carolina finished with nine penalties for 99 yards and lost to Temple for the second straight year. The Pirates had five turnovers in a 20-10 loss in Philadelphia that knocked them from the Top 25.
They were about 5 minutes from getting a little payback on Temple, one of three nationally ranked teams from the American.
But the Pirates came in as 2 1/2-point favorites and led 14-10 after a back-and-forth final 10 minutes of the first half, when the lead changed hands on three straight possessions.
They went up on Kemp's scoring pass to Johnson with 18 seconds left, a drive kept alive by Kemp's 21-yard pass to Bryce Williams on fourth-and-10.
Hairston put the Pirates up 7-3 with his short touchdown run midway through the second quarter. Thomas countered with a 2-yard scoring run with 2:59 before the break.
Austin Jones capped Temple's opening possession with a 28-yard field goal.
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AP College Football site: www.collegefootball.ap.org
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