The Temple Owls Upset the #21 Maryland Terrapins 20 – 17
PHILADELPHIA, PA. 9/14/2019 – The Maryland Terrapins came into the Linc nationally ranked sporting a prolific offense. It came down to this. The Owls had to stop the Terps in a fourth and goal situation twice is the last three and a half minutes, and did to earn a 20 – 17 win at The Linc.
“That’s a testament to our defense,” linebacker Shaun Bradley said. “The line played excellent, pushed them back. I did my job, we all did our job and made plays. It could have been any of us.”
Late in the fourth quarter trailing 20 – 15 Maryland, behind a 55-yard punt return, got to the one yard line and a potential go ahead touchdown. On fourth down Anthony McFarland was stopped in his tracks by Owls linebacker Shaun Bradley for a three yard loss at the 3:27 mark, and gave the Owls the ball.
Temple had to punt and a very short one by Adam Berry set up the visitors at the Owls 10 yard line with 3:09 on the clock.
“It was the best thing that happened,” Bradley said about seeing that play develop. “The defensive line did their job, and opened it right up for me.”
The defense was ready again.
“Put the ball down and play the next play,” said Bradley about their mindset.
On a fourth down play from the 12 quarterback Josh Jackson threw to DJ Turner who went high to catch the ball, but came down out of bounds giving the ball back to Temple with 2:14 remaining.
The Cherry and White were able to run the clock out.
For the game the Owls held the Terps to 1 of 6 fourth down conversion attempts.
At halftime Temple led 7 – 2 on a touchdown pass by quarterback Anthony Russo to wide receiver Isaiah Wright 29-yard scoring toss in the first quarter.
The defense kept it that way turning away Maryland from two-yard line on third and fourth downs. The Terps got close when an Owl player touched a punt that turned the ball over to the opposition at the 19-yard line. On the fourth and one from the one McFarland lost a yard on a tackle by Ifeanyi Maijeh turning the ball over to the Cherry and White.
Unable to move the ball Temple punted, but the snap went out of the endzone for a Maryland safety.
Maryland got a touchdown on the opening drive of the third quarter on a 4-yard rush by McFarland, who ran for 123 yards, to take a 9 – 7 lead.
On the next play Temple responded when quarterback Anthony Russo found wide receiver Jadan Blue who broke free for a 79-yard scoring play. Blue caught 4 passes for 103 yards, his second consecutive 100-yard receiving game.
“There was man coverage, ” Blue said about the play. “Russo checked it, he had trust in me and threw the ball. That’s all it was and we scored.”
The Terps took a 15 – 13 lead as Jackson found Tyler Mabry for a 17-yard strike with 4:51 left in the third quarter.
With 7:27 left in the game tight end Kenny Yeboah got free for a 7-yard scoring reception from Russo, who threw for 248 yards and 3 touchdowns, and a 20 – 15 Owls lead.
That set up the crucial end game situations. In running out the clock Russo ran out of the endzone for a safety and the final score. It looked a bit rocky, but the Cherry and White got it done.
“I’m thrilled with the outcome,” said Temple Coach Rod Carey. “We were not perfect. Everything your supposed to do to lose, we did. And yet we executed well enough to overcome that.”
Maryland ran for 213 yards, and Jackson had one touchdown and 164 passing yards, well below their average.
Written By: Glenn Papazian
Contact: Glenn@PhillyCollegeSports.com
Be the first to comment