Temple rolls past Charlotte, 49-14, for first conference road win in six seasons
Another forgettable streak is in the past for a Temple football program that has quickly regained some credibility after five losing seasons.
With their 49-14 victory at injury-riddled Charlotte Saturday afternoon, the Owls won their first American Conference road game since Nov. 7, 2019, snapping a 21-game road losing streak in league play.
And with five regular-season games remaining, Temple is 4-3 overall and 2-1 in the conference standings. The Owls need just two more wins to become bowl eligible for the first time in six seasons.
Quarterback Evan Simon turned in another efficient day under center, completing 15 of his 22 passes for 194 yards and three touchdowns. The redshirt senior, who gave way to backup Gevani McCoy in the fourth quarter when the Owls had put the game way, also accounted for a 5-yard scoring run in the second quarter that ultimately put Temple ahead for good.
In addition to Simon’s four-touchdown day, Temple got two touchdowns from its defense — a 64-yard interception return from redshirt-freshman cornerback Adrian Laing that helped give the Owls a 21-7 lead at the 9:45 mark of the second quarter, and a 73-yard scoop and score from safety Louis Frye that gave way to a 49-7 lead before the game reached the fourth quarter.
Charlotte (1-6 overall, 0-4 American Conference), a team with 12 players out due to season-ending injuries, kept things competitive through the game’s first 15 minutes and tied it up at 7-7 when quarterback Grayson Loftis found tight end Gus McGee for a 2-yard touchdown pass on fourth down with 1:43 left in the first quarter.
From there, Temple rattled off 21 straight points before halftime with the help of Simon’s touchdown run, Laing’s pick six and Simon’s 46-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Kajiya Hollawayne, who continued to build upon the best season of his career by snagging five catches for 85 yards Saturday.
Jay Ducker needed just nine carries to get 114 yards and a touchdown. His 1-yard run put Temple ahead by 42-7 at the 6-minute mark of the third quarter. Now up to 560 rushing yards and five touchdowns on the season after seven games, Ducker had a 22-yard run on that scoring drive and also rattle off a 44-yard run on the series Simon capped with an 8-yard touchdown pass to tight end Peter Clarke that helped push Temple out to a 35-7 advantage with 12:29 left in the third quarter.
Temple won Saturday without starting left guard Eric King, who did not make the trip to Charlotte due to an injury. Redshirt junior Mausa Paulu started in King’s place, breaking the Owls’ streak of starting the same five offensive linemen through the season’s first six games.
Up next
Temple will play at Tulsa next Saturday at 3:30 p.m., with the game being streamed on ESPN+. The Golden Hurricane are 2-5 overall and 0-4 in American Conference play following their 41-27 loss at East Carolina Thursday night.
