On Saturday afternoon, the Temple Owls had one goal in mind and that was to beat the Cincinnati Bearcats to become bowl eligible for the first time since 2011.
Temple did not carry out the feat as Cincinnati won 14-6 in a defensive struggle. Scoring was at a premium in today’s game as the Owls opened up the game with a 30-yard field goal from Austin Jones to give themselves a 3-0 lead.
Temple’s field goal was the only score in the first quarter but in the second, Cincinnati quarterback Gunner Kiel and the Bearcat offense put up two touchdowns, one through the air and another on the ground to lead at the half 14-3.
To begin the second half, the Owls put a drive together on offense but it only led to a Jones 31-yard field goal. The score at that point was 14-6 but you just got the feeling that Temple could not do anything on offense to win the game.
After the Owls made the field goal, the Bearcats got the ball back with seven minutes left in the third quarter. Cincinnati did not hold on to the ball for long as Temple got the ball right back due to a Bearcats fumble.
With the ball in the red zone, Temple’s quarterback P.J. Walker missed freshman tight end Colin Thompson in the back of the end zone for a touchdown. On fourth down, Jones missed a 27-yard field goal and that would be all she wrote for Temple.
Today’s loss for the Owls hurt because it makes next Saturday’s game against Tulane a must win. This season, Tulane is 3-8 and 2-5 in the American conference. Temple is now riding a three game losing streak and will have to depend on Walker. In today’s game, Walker did not play bad as he was 18-of-33 for 193 yards but did not have a touchdown pass.
Walker was effective with his legs as he had 33 yards on 12 carries. Temple must find a balance on offense if they want to win next weekend at Tulane.
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