Christian Washington rushes for 2 TDs and the Coastal Carolina defense locks down Temple 28-20

PHILADELPHIA — Ethan Vasko passed for 103 yards and a touchdown, and carried 16 times for 92 yards to help Coastal Carolina beat Temple 28-20 on Saturday.

Christian Washington rushed for a 15-yard touchdown late in the first quarter to open the scoring and Xamarion Gordon returned an interception for a 29-yard touchdown less than a minute later for a 14-0 lead. Deamontae Diggs deflected the pass that Gordon caught near the line of scrimmage and went untouched into the end zone.

Shane Bruce added another defensive turnover when he secured a loose ball that Emmanuel Johnson knocked out of the hands Temple QB Evan Simon. Two plays later, Vasko's lone touchdown pass went for 15 yards to Cameron Wright to make it 21-10.

Washington's second touchdown run was a 5-yarder to cap a 13-play, 75-yard drive with 3:48 left in the third. Washington, who finished with 59 yards rushing, recorded two rushing touchdowns for the second game in a row. Braydon Bennett also had two-touchdown performance against Jacksonville State in a season opener for the Chanticleers.

Diggs added a huge sack to bring up third-and-16 with 51 seconds left to help seal it for Coastal Carolina (3-0).

Simon was 17 of 25 for 185 yards with two touchdowns and an interception for Temple (0-3). Starter Forrest Brock did not play after taking a few hard hits late in a 38-11 loss to Navy last week.

Antwain Littleton gained 74 yards on 14 carries, and Dante Wright caught nine passes for 99 yards and a touchdown for Temple. Maddux Trujillo missed a field goal on the opening drive of the game, but later made field goals of 54 and 37 yards.