It’s been a long time since Temple has taken the field at the Linc.
Thirty-five days to be exact.
The last time the Owls were on the grass at Lincoln Financial Field they were celebrating a historic win over intrastate rival Penn State in the season opener.
All the Owls did since then was go perfect on a three-game road trip to give themselves their best start since 1974 and land on the doorstep of college football’s top 25 rankings.
That meant there was some element of pressure for a Temple team that came back home for a Saturday matchup against Tulane, especially with the group wanting to put on a show for homecoming. It showed early.
“They just needed to calm down,” Temple head coach Matt Rhule said. “Everybody starts looking at each other, yelling and screaming. We just had to take a moment and say hey guys, let’s settle down and let’s go play.”
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Once Temple got readjusted to life at the Linc, it was a completely different ballgame. The Owls overcame five first-half fumbles to rip off 42 unanswered points in a 49-10 win over the Green Wave (see Instant Replay).
The blowout marked Temple’s largest margin of victory ever on homecoming and pushed the team to 5-0 (2-0 American Athletic Conference) for the first time since 1974.
“Today was awesome. Great team win,” linebacker Tyler Matakevich said. “It just shows how you just got to keep sticking to the process and keep fighting.
“Our whole thing is we’re going to keep throwing body blows until we make you quit.”
Neither team would have blamed fans if they wanted to quit watching at the outset of Saturday’s game. Temple fumbled on the third play from scrimmage, as both teams struggled with ball security (11 combined fumbles).
The miscues really cost the Owls when DB Artrel Foster had a punt bounce off his leg and recovered by the Green Wave (2-3, 1-1 AAC) at the Temple 26-yard line. Four plays later, Tulane quarterback Tanner Lee found wideout Teddy Veal on an out route for a TD and a 10-7 lead.
“I’m really disappointed with our play early. That goes on one person, that goes on me,” Rhule said. “If the team comes out and we’re going to put the ball on the ground five times in the first half, you can’t look around. You got to look at yourself.”
While the coach took the blame, it was the players letting the ball slip right through their fingers seemingly every possession. Even as they were turning things around, the Owls couldn’t quite find a good grip.
After falling behind by three early in the second quarter, Temple fumbled the ensuing kickoff only to recover the ball at its own 10-yard line. The Owls then proceeded to go on a methodical drive that consisted of a little bit of everything … including a fumble. However, the Owls recovered it yet again and composed themselves enough to have quarterback P.J. Walker hit tight end Kip Patton for a 43-yard catch and rumble into the red zone. Running back Jahad Thomas took over the duties from there and punched it in from 10 yards out to regain the lead.
Temple forced a Tulane fourth down shortly into the next possession and watched as Green Wave punter Zachary Block gifted the Owls with (you guessed it) another fumble. He was pummeled after scooping up the ball at Tulane’s 12-yard line.
Thomas hauled in a screen pass two plays later and raced into the end zone from 16 yards out to push Temple ahead by double digits.
“If the team needs me to make a play or give the team some energy or come in and just do what I do, I want to be that guy,” said Thomas, who was replaced by freshman Ryquell Armstead in the starting lineup after showing up late to a meeting. “When things are not going right, I want the ball in my hands.”
Just like Thomas wanted to right Temple’s early mishaps, so did the Owls’ defense. TU’s vaunted defensive unit locked in after allowing those 10 early points. The Owls limited the Green Wave to eight first downs and 110 total yards on the day, while racking up four sacks and two interceptions (one returned for a touchdown by Sean Chandler).
“They really hit our guy today,” Tulane head coach Curtis Johnson said. “No. 9 (defensive lineman Matt Ioannidis) just wreaked havoc and those ends came off the corner. My hat goes off to them. They have a great scheme and did a great job on the back end covering. They really were phenomenal.”
“Our preparation is honestly one of the best, if not the best, in the country I think,” said Matakevich, who had seven tackles to push his NCAA-leading career total to 399. “We have guys in here every single night till 9, 10 o’clock studying film, just watching film. We’re able to know what our opponent is going to do before they even do it. You hear corners yelling out what they’re going to run, ‘Screen, screen, screen,’ and then us just being able to play it. When you prepare at the level that we’re preparing, good things will happen. It makes the game so much easier.”
What’s not easy is getting a straight answer out of the Owls on whether they currently deserve to be ranked in the top 25.
“My son says it to me sometimes and I say be quiet,” Rhule said about cracking the top 25. “I really care about how we finish the year. We’re one game better right now than we were last year. We were 4-1 last year. We’re 5-0 this year.
“I want to finish the year in the top 25, make no mistake, but right now I don’t care.”