Temple squeaks past UMass

After starting off their season with two impressive wins, Temple football was finally getting the respect they deserved and the nation took notice of what the Owls have accomplished so far. On the cusp of cracking the Top 25, Temple came into Massachusetts trying to avoid a letdown game after taking down American Conference favorite Cincinnati, but Temple’s dream season almost took a turn for the worse.

Both teams were forced to punt on their first drives of the game, but then it got interesting after that. Temple would strike first with P.J. Walker connecting with Pittsburgh transfer Adonis Jennings for a 23-yard touchdown pass with 1:28 left in the first quarter. The Owls defense would force a fumble on UMass’s next drive and Jahad Thomas, who only had 66 rushing yards on 26 carries, turned the turnover into points on a 14-yard touchdown run to make 14-0 Temple. Temple looked like they finally had a grip on the game, but then on UMass’s ensuing drive, Frohnapfel found Rodney Mills on fourth down for a 48-yard touchdown pass and just like that it’s a game again. On Temple’s next drive, the Owls were driving down the field until P.J. Walker threw behind Robby Anderson and got picked off by Khary Bailey Smith. Luckily, no damage for Temple as they forced UMass to punt. Temple would give the ball right back to UMass and the Minutemen were able to put points on the board with 34-yard field making 14-10 Temple with 4:19 left in the second quarter. The scoring in the first half wasn’t done yet as Austin Jones would convert on a 33-yard field goal to get the Temple lead back to seven points. It looked like Temple was out of the woods, but then P.J. Walker was intercepted again and after a couple of penalties, UMass was on the Temple 17. It looked UMass’s drive was going to stall, but they called a gutsy fake field goal on fourth down to move the chains then Frohnapfel connected with Rodney Mills, who completely burned Matakevich, for a 5-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 17 going into halftime.

The Owls would get the ball, first to start the second half and after a couple of big throws, the drive would stall. Austin Jones would break the tie with a 37-yard field goal to the give Temple a 20-17 lead. Nobody would score again in the third quarter and with Temple struggling to run the ball, P.J. Walkers was forced to attempt 48 passes and he threw for a career high 391 yards. The two teams traded punts for a little bit in the fourth quarter until the Owls defense made a huge play. With 2:59 left in the game, Frohnapfel got rushed into a throw and Temple linebacker Stephaun Marshall intercepted the pass that looked like the nail on the coffin for UMass. Wrong, on the second play after the interception, Jahad Thomas fumbled like he did last week and just like that UMass has new life. With Temple getting no pressure on Frohnapfel, UMass easily drive the ball down the field and eventually finding the end zone on Frohnapfel’s third touchdown pass of the game giving UMass a 23-20 with 1:20 left in the fourth quarter. All looked loss for Temple, but wait just a minute, the Owls blocked the extra point. Stephuan Marshall, who had the interception earlier in the quarter, blocked it then lateraled the ball to Will Hayes, who took it all the way back for two points. Both of these teams seemed to have nine lives in this game, but UMass was running out and during the block of the extra point, they committed an unnecessary roughness penalty setting up Temple with great fielding position only down by one. P.J. Walker and the offense didn’t waste time moving the ball and in no time at all they were within Austin Jones’s range. On third and six, P.J. Walker found John Christopher, who finished game with seven catches for 72 yards, for a first down on the sideline, getting out of bounds to stop the clock with seven seconds left. After UMass using their final timeout to try to ice Austin Jones, the sophomore converted the 32-yard field goal and that was all folks.

Not how they scripted it, but Temple was able to escape UMass in dramatic fashion and keep their dream season going. Temple is starting off a season 3-0 for the first time since 2010 and they could find themselves in the Top 25 when the latest poll comes out. Temple has a bye this upcoming week and won’t be back in action until October 2nd when they go on the road to face Charlotte.