Some people may have been surprised to see East Carolina (4-3) open as the favorite for their Thursday night game against #22 Temple (6-0) but not me. Temple is playing well and definitely deserves to be ranked for what they've been able to do this season. The thing it, East Carolina is playing better than Temple right now.
After a bad loss to Navy, the Pirates seem to have found a rhythm on both offense and defense. The two quarterback system seems to be working well in three conference wins and a solid showing in Provo against BYU. The Pirates have a lot of confidence and know they can still have a very good season even sitting at 4-3.
Temple has been getting off to slow starts all season, either trailing at the half or only holding small leads against teams like Charlotte and UCF. That will get them into trouble against an East Carolina team that is averaging 38 points a game since moving to its current two QB system during the Va Tech game.
Two other things to consider are the Pirates looking to avenge their loss last year in Philadelphia, which derailed a very promising season and Temple's possible look ahead to their prime time, national TV game against Notre Dame next Saturday. Both coaches are saying that these won't be issues for Thursday's game but try telling that to a bunch of 18-22 year-olds.
I am an East Carolina alum so take that into consideration when following or fading.