Second-half surge pushes Temple past UTSA, 27-21, in conference opener
PHILADELPHIA — After Temple played a forgettable first half of football Saturday and mustered just three points in the first two quarters, K.C. Keeler did something he deemed to be “a little unique.”
The Owls’ head coach didn’t hold back in addressing his team at halftime. He even got a little emotional when he shared the story after the game.
“I had a very honest conversation with our boys,” Keeler said, “and I said, ‘This the first time in 10 months I’ve been embarrassed to be your coach.’ … It was like all the work we had put into this thing over the last nine months, 10 months, hadn’t mattered. And that’s not how you are going to do it here. We’re Temple made.”
The message landed.
“It’s exactly what we needed to hear,” quarterback Evan Simon said.
Temple responded with a 21-point third quarter en route to posting a 27-21 win over UTSA at Lincoln Financial Field that lifted the Owls to a 3-2 overall record and a 1-0 start in American Conference play.
It was Temple’s first win in a league opener since 2021.
After trailing 14-3 at halftime, Temple forged ahead with two third-quarter touchdowns – an 8-yard touchdown pass from Simon to JoJo Bermudez and a 54-yard touchdown run from Hunter Smith less than a minute later after Owls safety Jamere Jones intercepted Owen McCown on the previous series.
UTSA (2-3) regained the lead at 21-17 after McCown connected with wide receiver Devin McCuin on an 18-yard scoring pass at the 5:28 mark of the third quarter, but Temple went back ahead for good almost four minutes later when Simon hit tight end Peter Clarke on a 15-yard touchdown pass that helped push the Owls ahead at 24-21.
After surrendering two scoring drives in the first half, Temple’s defense clamped down in the second half, producing two interceptions – from Jones and fellow safety Avery Powell – and two sacks from Sekou Kromah and Demerick Morris, with Morris’ sack sealing the win as he dropped McCown on fourth-and-20 at the UTSA 7 with 1:31 to go.
Just as impressive was the fact that Temple held Robert Henry Jr., who came into the game as the second-leading rusher in the FBS with 624 yards, to just 42 yards on 12 carries, well below the 9.2 yards per carry average he held through the season’s first four games. Henry had previously tallied touchdown runs of 76 yards, 74 yards and two from 75 yards out through the first four games – and a 74-yard touchdown catch.
Against Temple Saturday, Henry’s longest run went for eight yards and his longest reception was a 9-yard catch. The Owls dropped him for two negative plays (a 1-yard loss on a run and a 3-yard loss on a catch) and another run for no gain.
“Our focus was, we know he’s a good running back,” Temple linebacker Curly Ordonez, who led the team with seven tackles, said. “Four games, 75-yard-plus runs out of the backfield. That was our main thing. No explosive plays. I mean, honestly, just watching film, it just starts in practice, working on it with Coach Dudz (Temple linebackers coach Keith Dudzinski). He does a great job helping us with that. Film, practice, that really got the job done.”
Simon finished the day 16-of-25 passing for 181 yards and two touchdowns, spreading the ball around to seven different receivers, with Colin Chase catching five balls and Clarke collecting four receptions on five targets for a game-high 82 yards.
TURNING POINT
After UTSA regained the lead at 21-17, Temple got the ball back but promptly went three-and-out on its ensuing possession, handing the Roadrunners the chance to build on their lead and make it a two-score game.
A first-down holding penalty put UTSA behind schedule, and then Kromah’s sack on second-and-18 officially turned the momentum back to Temple. The 6-foot-3, 280-pound JUCO product and East Orange, New Jersey native spun past Roadrunners right guard Darrell Jones on that play, and a shanked punt two plays later gave Temple the ball at the UTSA 38.
From there, Smith logged an 8-yard run, with UTSA defensive lineman Jameian Buxton gifting the Owls another 15 yards with a personal foul penalty. The Simon-to-Clarke scoring connection that put Temple ahead for good at 24-21 came on the next play.
A turning point runner-up might be UTSA head coach Jeff Traylor’s decision to go for it on fourth-and-3 from the Roadrunners’ 31-yard line with 3:27 with his team holding all three timeouts. Temple’s Cam’Ron Stewart pressured McCown off the edge and into an incompletion and turnover on downs.
Carl Hardin’s 36-yard field goal on the ensuing possession gave Temple its 27-21 lead with 1:56 left to play.
STAT STUFF
In opening the season by playing five games without a turnover, Temple is the only FBS team to have done so, and it’s the longest such streak in the program’s history.
Simon said he wasn’t aware and knocked on what he hoped was wood on the postgame press conference table.
“First time I’m hearing about it,” Simon said. “Pretty cool. Keep it going.”
