Memorable Moments: Temple Football Becomes Bowl Eligible Again

June 22, 2020 –

In the ninth installment of the Memorable Moments series we go back to November. With a 29 – 21 win over the Tulane Green Wave the football program at Temple became bowl eligible for the 6th consecutive season. During that time the Owls went 5 straight bowl games.

This was a tough win for the Cherry and White and was not earned until the final defensive stop. The defense had two takeaways that resulted in 10 points.

The Owls later found that they would play in the Military Bowl in Annapolis, MD against North Carolina where they were defeated.

In program history Temple has gone to 9 bowl games. Over the course of the last five years the Owls played in; the 2018 Independence Bowl versus Duke, the 2017 Gasparilla Bowl against FIU winning 28 – 3 for their last bowl win, the 2016 Military Bowl meeting Wake Forest, and the 2015 Boca Raton Bowl where they faced Toledo. Temple was bowl eligible in 2014 but did not receive a bowl bid.

Prior to then the Owls played in the 2011 New Mexico Bowl winning over Wyoming. In 2009 the Cherry and White faced UCLA in the Eagle Bowl but were defeated. In 1979 Temple beat California in the Garden State Bowl. The first bowl game in school history came in 1934 at the inaugural Sugar Bowl. They faced Tulane and lost 20 – 14.

Overall the Owls have a 3 – 6 records in Bowl games.

Let’s look back at the 2019 Temple vs. Tulane game story.

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PHILADELPHIA, PA. 11/16/2019 – The Temple Owls broke the losing streak last week and became bowl eligible for the sixth straight season. A win now could set up an interesting match up next week at Cincinnati which could have an impact on who wins the American Eastern Division. This was no time to stumble. The Owls did not, but hung on to get a 29 – 21 win at the Linc. A win that wasn’t sealed until the last defensive stop.

“We’re happy with the win, a tough win against a really good football team,” said Temple Coach Rod Carey. “Any time you get conference wins against good football teams you take it. It was not pretty.”

And for old-times sake Temple was wearing the replica jerseys used when the Owls faced the Tulane Green Wave in the first Sugar Bowl in 1935. This is now.

Temple held the lead, but Tulane was not going away and got possession of the ball with 1:34 on the clock in a one score game. Starting on their 29 yard line, the Green Wave ran into a road block in the form of the Owls defensive end Quincy Roche who had two huge sacks in that final drive.

“The game was on the line,” said Roche about the urgency of the situation. “If they would have scored it was a ball game. The whole defense came out and we had to get the stop. We had to get the job done and that was exactly what we had to do.”

Usually the team that wins the turnover battle wins the game. The Cherry and White caused three for the Wave. Two of those turnovers resulted in scores for Temple. In the first quarter Roche caused and recovered a fumble that turned into a 35-yard field goal by Will Mobley and a 3 – 0 lead early in the game. In the third quarter Owls linebacker Chapelle Russell forced a fumble recovered by Christian Braswell setting up the offense at the Tulane 47 yard line. in a span of 3:41 quarterback Anthony Russo found tight end Kenny Yeboah for an 8-yard touchdown reception and a 22 – 7 lead. It was one of two scoring receptions for Yeboah.

“It was 3 – 1 in turnovers, and we got 10 or 13 points off turnovers and that’s true to win games,” Carey said.

Ten points off turnovers in an eight-point game is meaningful.

The Owls got their final points on a 15-yard toss to Jadan Blue, who had 12 receptions for 131 yards and that score.

Still Tulane fought back and got to within one possession on a Cameron Carroll touchdown run, his second of the day.

The Owls were in front, but found themselves penalized for 106 yards on 9 miscues whichcaused them chances to put the game away.

Temple is 7 – 3 overall and 4 – 2 in the American. The Cherry and White go to Cincinnati next week in a game that has major implications on who can win the east.

“It’s going to come down to execution, who makes the least mistakes, so we really have to lock in this week and come to play.”

Boxscore

Written By: Glenn Papazian

Contact: Glenn@PhillyCollegeSports.com

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