The defensive player with the most successful season this year did not come from one of the usual stalwarts in the college football world. It wasn’t Penn State’s Carl Nassib, the Nittany Lions’ new owner of PSU’s single season sack holder. It wasn’t Alabama’s Reggie Ragland either, the heart and soul of the Crimson Tide’s stalwart defense
By: Cory Burrell
Instead, it was senior linebacker Tyler Matakevich, the leader of a 10-win Temple team that was the biggest surprise of the year.
Matakevich did not follow the route of the prototypical college football star. He did not have dozens of top-tier programs vying to recruit him. Almost the exact opposite – Matakevich saw virtually no schools recruit him out of high school, in large part because of a foot injury suffered during his senior year of high school.
“I guess it’s something that’s caused me to always play with a chip on my shoulder,” Matakevich said in an interview with CBS Sports. “I actually received more recruitment for baseball…I definitely think the injury had an effect.
Matakevic went to MIlford Academy, a prep school, after finishing high school. At Milford, Matakevich finally caught the attention of an FBS school willing to give him an offer in Temple.
Matakevich joined the Owls in 2012, the first year they rejoined the Big East (now the American Athletic Conference). But first years of Matakevich’s career with the Owls got off the a rocky start. Temple went 4-7, their first losing season since 2008. Even in this unsuccessful season, Matakevich quickly established himself on the team, becoming one of only four true freshmen to earn a starting role and one of three to play in every game for the Owls that season.
The situation did not improve in the following season – purely based on their record, the Owls declined, going 2-10 in the first year with new head coach Matt Rhule. Still, Matakevich continued to produce, turning in yet another 100 tackle season in 2013. More than the stats, however, was the work ethic Matakevich was instilling in the program, something his teammates speak of glowingly.
“We’ve grinded next to Tyler for four years,” Matt Ioannidis, a Matakevich’s teammate and fellow senior, said in an interview with Philly.com. “His success reflected our success. It’s been incredible, to see the steps we’ve made together. And from the start, he’s been the ideal teammate.”
Temple finally broke out of the rut of consecutive losing seasons in 2014, with a middling 6-6 record. But, as Matakevich proved this season, a mere .500 record was not the legacy he would leave at Temple.
“We had 22 seniors and all us went through 2-10 and 6-6 and we went through a coaching change,” Matakevich said in an interview with Temple’s athletic department. “We said enough is enough. We are not going to lose anymore.”
The Owls went on a blistering 2015 campaign that included a season-opening shock of Penn State and their potential NFL-caliber quarterback Christian Hackenberg. They would not lose a game until October 31st, in a hard-fought 24-20 decision to then ninth-ranked Notre Dame.
The key to this year’s success was unquestionably Matakevich, whose technique and ability to read offenses let him exploit holes in careless offensive lines all year long. Matakevich caused chaos for opposing offenses and often capitalized on the discord he caused, picking off five passes this season.
Matakevich’s play did not go unnoticed. The senior brought in a number of accolades this season. His bounty included consensus first-team All-American honors as well as the Bronko Nagurski award and the Chuck Bednarik award, two awards for the top defensive player in the nation.
“It was powerful, what he did,” Rhule said in an interview with Philly.com. “Everybody across the country was talking about Temple…He showed that someone from Temple can stand next to a kid from Alabama and a kid from Penn State and win. And he deserved it.”
Matakevich said he saw the awards as much more than just his own success this season.
“It wasn’t just me winning those awards,” Matakevich told Philly.com. “It was all the rest of the guys. I hope the kids coming in realize, ‘Hey, a kid from Temple can do something special.’ It’s a great opportunity for kids that get overlooked to come here and make the best of it.”
While the Owls will now look to build off the newly-successful attitude Matakevich brought to Temple. Meanwhile, Matakevich will look to prove himself on a brand-new stage – the NFL.
But first, Matakevich has one last collegiate goal to accomplish – a bowl win over Toledo and the chance for the 2015 Owls to break the school record for wins in a single season.
Numbers to Know About Tyler Matakevich:
- 3: Number of Consensus All-Americans Temple has had in the program’s history. Along with Matakevich, John Rienstra (guard, 1985) and Paul Palmer (running back, 1986) have also received the consensus honors.
- 336: Number of solo tackles Matakevich recorded in his career, the most of any player in NCAA history since this stat was officially tracked in 2005.
- 1979: The last time Temple reached 10 wins in a season. In the 1979 season, head coach Wayne Hardin led the Owls to a 10-2 record, capped off with a victory in the Garden State Bowl over California.
- 7: Number of players in FBS history who ever led their team in tackles for their entire four-year career, with Matakevich being the latest entry to the group.
- 2: Points Temple allowed per game this season, the 16th-best mark in among all FBS teams. In Matakevich’s first collegiate season, the Owls allowed 31.2 points per game, which ranked 88th in the nation.
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