Temple's Studs And Duds Vs. UCF
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Saturday night under the lights the Owls beat the 0-6 UCF Knights, accomplishing an impressive 6-0 start. Now, for the first time since 1979, the Owls are a top-25 ranked team.
Here are your studs and duds from the win over UCF.
Studs
3. Jahad Thomas
Jahad Thomas is an animal, period end of story. Who knows where the Owls would be if it wasn't for their work horse, No. 5. Saturday, Thomas recorded a season high in carries with 31. He turned those 31 carries into 199 yards and three scores. Thomas has now totaled 756 yards on the season to go along with 10 rushing touchdowns. He has passed Georgia stud Nick Chubb in rushing yards and is now beginning to gain the national recognition he deserves. The Owls' attention now turns to AAC rival ECU. Last year the Pirates came into the Linc ranked 23rd in the country. On a rainy day the Owls knocked off the Pirates 20-10 and Thomas managed only 28 yards on 14 carries. He will look to improve on that total from last year and lead the Owls to a 7-0 start.
2. Tyler Matakevich
History was made Saturday night for the senior linebacker. Tyler Matakevich recorded his 400th tackle on the very first defensive snap of the game for the Owls. Late in the third quarter, with the Owls struggling, UCF was driving into Temple territory. With the ball on the 25 yard line for third-and-long, Temple forced their first turnover of the day on a Sean Chandler pick. Matakevich rallied up his guys after the play on the sideline and got them all psyched up for the fourth quarter. Matakevich continued his dominance as the Owls leading tackler with eight on the day. And late in the fourth, with the game already in hand, Matakevich made a diving catch off of a tipped pass recording his third interception on the season. Thomas may be the workhorse on offense, but Matakevich is clearly the play maker of the defense and the leader on the field.
1. Hershey Walton and Matt Ioannidis
How bout some love for the big boys? Hershey Walton had himself his best game of the season. The 315-pound redshirt senior from Reading seemed to be all over the field. When you are a 6 foot 4 nose tackle going up against a 5 foot 11 center, advantage Walton. Walton had four tackles along with one and a half for losses. With his five inch size advantage Walton also managed to come up with two pass break ups, one resulting in Matakevich's INT.
And if we are talking Temple DLine you can't forget about Matt Ioannidis. He came up with six tackles himself, two of them coming for losses.
Football is won in the trenches and clearly on Saturday night these big boys dominated.
Duds
3. Robby Anderson
The Owls leading receiver did not have his best game on Saturday night. On offense he only managed 42 yards on four receptions and was unable to get in the end zone. Still no glaring holes in that stat line, but on special teams he struggled. Anderson had a very costly muffed punt late in the second quarter that gift wrapped three points for the Knights.
2. Kip Patton
The local red shirt freshman tight end from Norristown High School was noticed for the wrong reasons on Saturday night. Patton was only targeted one time in the passing game and dropped that attempt. But the real killer was when the Owls were driving and Jahad Thomas came up with his longest run of the day of 39 yards into UCF territory. Instead, Patton got called for a silly hold away from the play bringing back the big gain. Rather than having the ball in Knights territory, the Owls were forced to punt.
1. Sean Chandler (for one half)
Okay, Sean Chandler did some incredible things on Saturday night. He forced the Owls' first turnover on an interception deep in their own territory. He sparked them on a special teams play with a 65 yard punt return that lead to points.
BUT, following Robby Anderson's punt return struggles, Coach Rhule putt Chandler back deep first and foremost to simply field the punt. And on his first attempt, he muffed it. It was the Owls' second muffed punt of the day. Luckily the defense stood tall and it did not result in any points but once again, turnovers will kill you.
Sean Chandler vs UCF gets half of a Stud for his INT and great return, and half of a Dud for his muffed punt. Glass half empty or glass half full?
6-0 and Bowl eligible for the second season in a row. The Owls faltered down the stretch in 2014 costing them a Bowl bid. This year that seems unlikely. One more win should lock them in for an extra game. Their success was recognized Sunday afternoon. When the AP Poll came out at 2 o'clock the Owls were ranked 22nd in the country. The first time Temple has been in the top 25 since 1979. Just like Bowl bids, rankings aren't on their mind. Coach Rhule wants his guys to be playing one game at a time.
Next up ECU.
