Leave No Doubt, Temple Improves To 3-0 With Win Over UMass
Foxborough, Mass. – There was a time not so long ago that whenever the Temple Owls’ football team approached a do-or-die situation, the internal instinct was to think the worst.
Not anymore.
When Austin Jones lined up to attempt a game-winning field goal with 12 seconds left in regulation and Temple trailing, 23-22, Saturday afternoon at the University of Massachusetts in Gillette Stadium, the Minutemen elected to call a timeout in hopes of freezing the sophomore from Orlando, FL.
Its been five years since the Owls had a 3-0 record- Photo Curtesy of Owlsports.com
Jones’ first kick went through, but it didn’t count. No matter. On his second try, Jones ignored an annoying array of Minutemen fans standing behind the uprights trying desperately to distract him. His boot from 32 yards was right-down-the-middle perfect.
Seven seconds later, the Owls emerged with a 3-0 record for the first time in five years.
“Anytime you’re in a situation like that you have to block out any distractions,” Jones said. “Our offense did a great job of getting us into position to try a very makable field goal.”
Last year, Jones displayed his mettle when he nailed a 46-yard field goal with 2:46 left in the fourth quarter to tie Memphis at 13, though the celebration was soiled when the Tigers hit a field goal of their own as the clock expired.
It didn’t appear that Temple would need any heroics. The Owls led 14-0 before the Minutemen (0-2) outscored the Owls by 17-3 heading into the break. Unable to play consistently on offense, the Owls held a tenuous 20-17 lead in the fourth quarter before UMass took its first lead, 23-20, on a touchdown reception with 1:16 remaining.
Then came what ultimately served as the play of the game.
On the ensuing extra-point try, Temple gang-blocked the kick. Sophomore Stephaun Marshall, showing tremendous presence of mind, gathered the ball and handed it to junior Will Hayes. Untouched, the junior defensive back sprinted 88 yards down the left sideline for what amounted to an almost-never-seen, two-point score.,.silencing many of the 10.144 fans in attendance.
Now down by 23-22 instead of 24-20, the Owls only had to drive into field-goal range, where Jones had already connected twice, including one from 40 yards out. So far this year, Jones is a perfect 7 for 7 in field goals.
“I was fully confident that he’d put it through,” said junior quarterback P.J. Walker, who offset up a struggling running game (67 yards on 37 carries) by connecting for 28 completions, 391 yards, and a touchdown on 48 throws. “He’s been kicking great all year.”
Walker’s main targets included sophomore transfer from the University of Pittsburgh Adonis Jennings (4 for 62 and a touchdown), senior John Christopher (7 for 72, including a superb 14-yard catch on the play before Jones’ winning kick), and junior running back Jahad Thomas (25 rushes for 66 yards and a touchdown; five catches for 67 yards). Thomas and Walker were once teammates at New Jersey’s Elizabeth High School.
Next up for Temple is a 7 PM contest at the University of Charlotte on October 2. During their one-week vacation, the Owls will need to figure out how to stop opponents from posting big numbers in the passing game. Though they halted the UMass backfield to an unsightly 45 yards on 24 carries, the Minutemen collected 393 yards through the air.
“We have some things to work on,” said Marshall, whose interception with three minutes left in the fourth quarter thwarted a late Minutemen drive. “We know that. We will look at film and see how we can adjust.”
When the nation’s Top 25 is announced tomorrow, there is a very good chance that the Owls will be somewhere on that list. While the UMass win was more difficult than anticipated, it was a gutty effort on the heels of wins over Penn State and Cincinnati.
Pretty wins or ugly wins, bottom line is that Temple has found a way to ignite the Philadelphia landscape, something that seemed a pipedream three games ago.
(John Knebels can be reached at jknebels@gmail.com.)