Temple football’s magical season was going to come to an end one way or another on Tuesday and unfortunately it ended in a 32-17 loss at the hands of Toledo in the Boca Raton Bowl. The Owls really never had any footing in the game, but they battled for all 60 minutes like they have all year. On one final attempt to get back in it, Temple attempted an onside kick and it sure looked like their senior kicker Tyler Mayes recovered it, but the refs awarded the ball to Toledo. After that play, Temple just didn’t have anything left in the tank and the fate of the game was sealed. Still 10 wins is an incredible accomplishment for this program and it’s the first time the Owls have reached 10 wins since 1979, when Hall of Famer Wayne Hardin was coaching Temple.
In anybody’s wildest dreams, not many saw this kind of season coming from Temple football, but they made a statement in game one of the season they were for real. Temple took down Penn State in front of a sellout crowd at the Linc and it was the first time in 71 years since Temple had beaten Penn State. Beating Penn State is something Wayne Hardin’s teams couldn’t do and you somehow knew from that point this Temple team was destined for greatness in 2015.
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They followed up the Penn State victory with six straight wins, giving them their best start in program history and they found themselves ranked in the Top 25 for the first time since 1979. With Temple’s hot start and #9 Notre Dame coming to town, the City of Brotherly Love saw a visit from College Gameday at Independence Hall and man was that a crazy scene. The College Gameday crew was even impressed with the huge crowd on hand that morning and they said it was one of the best crowds they ever had for the show. In front of another sellout crowd at the Linc and on primetime TV, Temple came so close to taking down Notre Dame and even though they lost, this game showed Temple was legit and could play with any team in the country.
Temple would suffer its second a loss against South Florida in a game to forget, but they found themselves again for the final two game of the regular season. Temple was able to beat AAC West conference power, Memphis in a 31-12 victory, holding Memphis without a touchdown and now were now were one game away from being AAC East champions. Temple had no trouble taking care of UConn and they punched their ticket for the inaugural AAC Championship against Houston as AAC East champs. Temple dug themselves a hole early against Houston and their late rally couldn’t bring them all the way back. They settled for the Marmot Boca Raton Bowl game after being snubbed last year and that brings us to the present.
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So many records were broken this year and Temple players received a lot of rewards for their stellar season. Tyler Matakevich was rightfully named American Conference Defensive player of the Year after being only the 7th player in NCAA history to record 100 tackles in all four years and was the only player to lead his teams in tackles in every game this year. Matakevtch was rewarded with the Bronko Nagurski Award and the Chuck Bednarik Award recognizing him as the best defensive player in the country. He was named a consensus first team All-American by the Associated Press and many others. In Matakevich’s final game as an Owl, he was able to become Temple’s all-time tackles leaders at 493 after surpassing Steve Conjar at 492, who held the record for 34 years. Temple as a team had 7 first team All-Conference selections, which led the league; they also had 2 players on second team All-Conference list.
Would like to thank the 26 seniors, who played their hearts out every game this year and wished you guys could have gone out on top. There is no doubt this senior class will go down in history as one of the best this program has ever seen and they will be remembered for their greatness. This is only the beginning for Temple football and can’t to see what’s next for this program in 2016.
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