PHILADELPHIA – After losing two of its five fumbles in the first half of Saturday’s game against Tulane University, Temple was fortunate to lead 21-10 at halftime. Coach Matt Rhule took all the responsibility for his team’s slow start.
“I was really disappointed in our play early,” Rhule said. “That goes on one person, that goes on me. If the team puts the ball on the ground five times, you can’t look around, you have to look at yourself. I’m not doing a good enough job right now of getting us to start where we want.”
After fumbling four times in the first half themselves, Tulane could not correct mistakes in the second half. Redshirt-sophomore quarterback Tanner Lee threw two interceptions in the third quarter, one of which was returned 22-yards for a touchdown by sophomore defensive back Sean Chandler.
Owls coach Matt Rhule addresses the media after his team’s 49-10 homecoming win over Tulane. -PSD Photo
While the Green Wave continued to struggle, Temple played better football, scoring 28 points in the second half while keeping Tulane off the scoreboard. Rhule has preached finishing strong to his team all year, but after Saturday’s 49-10 win, he hopes the Owls can get out to faster starts.
“We can’t win in the first quarter and we can’t lose in the first quarter, but we can play a lot cleaner in the first quarter,” Rhule said.
Temple did not get out to the start it wanted on offense in the first quarter, committing three penalties and losing a fumble.
In the second quarter, the offense started having more success. With 9:30 left in the quarter junior running back Jahad Thomas ended a seven play 90-yard drive with a 10-yard touchdown run. Earlier in the drive, Thomas had a 28-yard run after a fumble by junior quarterback P.J. Walker rolled out of bounds, creating second down and 29. Thomas feels the run got his confidence going after rushing for 10-yards in the first quarter.
“It got me started a little bit,” said Thomas, a native of Elizabeth, New Jersey. “They were doing a hell of a job playing their scheme and shooting gaps early on…I want to be that guy. When things aren’t going right, I want the ball in my hands.”
After his 28-yard run, Thomas ran three yards for a first down on 3rd and one. On the next play Walker found redshirt-freshman tight end, Kip Patton, who eluded a tackler and ran down the field for a 43 -ard gain. Two plays later Thomas ran in for the touchdown.
Thomas caught a screen pass and ran 16-yards for another Owls touchdown less than five minutes later to make the score 21-10. Like the interception return, this touchdown also was initiated by a Tulane miscue.
FAN VIDEO: QB PJ Walker passes to Jahad Thomas for a touchdown
On 4th down in its own territory, Tulane lined up in punt formation. Freshman punter Zachary Block dropped the snap, recovered, but could not kick the ball away before redshirt junior wide receiver Samuel Benjamin tackled him for a turnover on downs.
Thomas finished the day with 54 rushing yards and 24 receiving yards. However, because he was late to a meeting earlier in the week, Thomas sat out the first series in favor of freshman Ryquell Armstead. The Millville, New Jersey native produced out of the backfield for the Owls, scoring his first career touchdown in the 3rd quarter. After Chandler’s interception return, Lee threw an interception to redshirt junior Avery Williams. Two plays later, Armstead ran 16-yards for his second touchdown of the game, increasing Temple’s lead to 42-10. Thomas knows firsthand what it is like to contribute as a true freshman.
“[When you’re a] freshman it is tough playing,” Thomas said. “I played some as a freshman so I know what he is thinking. It’s good that a freshman can come in and take some of the load off me.”
The win for Temple is its seventh consecutive homecoming win at Lincoln Financial Field. Part of the reason was a strong performance from the defensive line, which was part of a defensive unit that had eight tackles for a loss and held Tulane 2 for 15 on third down.
Temple fans celebrate their team’s first 5-0 start since 1974.- PSD Photo
“When they’re able to blow through the gaps, the hole opens up and I’m just able to run through it and make plays,” senior linebacker Tyler Matakevich said. “They make me look good.” Matakevich had seven total tackles during the game, increasing his career total to 399.
Matakevich credits the Owls’ success to their preparation.
“Our preparation is one of the best if not the best in the country,” said Matakevich, a product of Stratford, Connecticut.
“We have guys in here every single night studying film, and we’re able to know what our opponent is going to do before they do it," Matakevich said. "You hear corners yelling out what they’re going to run. When you prepare at the level we prepare at, good things are going to happen.”
Senior defensive lineman, Matt Ioannidis, had four solo tackles and 1.5 sacks in the contest. Though Ioannidis might not always appear prominently on a stat sheet, Rhule says he is an important part of Temple’s defense.
“He holds people accountable as well as himself,” Rhule said. “His job is to dominate the inside whether he gets tackles or not does not matter, [because] it gets tackles for everyone else.”
After a strong start to the season, Temple (5-0, 2-0 American Athletic Conference) is on the outskirts of the NCAA Football Subdivision Top 25 rankings by the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches’ Poll. For Rhule, securing a sport in the top 25 ranking is not a present focus of the team.
“I want to finish the year in the top 25, but right now I don’t care,” Rhule said.