Golden Hurricane Run for 299 Yards
October 21, 2022 –
There was a baseball game and a football game at the stadium complex (and a concert). The baseball game needs little to no explanation, especially if you are a Phillies fan. The football game had a Temple team trying to bounce back from a tough loss the previous week. The start was what the Owls wanted. But the Tulsa Golden Hurricane defense held Temple in check. Then the Tulsa offense behind the running game turned it into their favor 27 – 16 at the Linc.
“They really hit us with a couple of explosive plays,” said Temple Coach Stan Drayton. “Nine runs went for 238 yards. That’s the equalizer. Any time you can create explosive plays it’s hard to come back unless you create explosive plays on out side of the ball. We need to find a way to do more of those things.”
Tulsa Ground Game
As the game progressed the rushing attack began taking its toll on the Temple defense. Tulsa ran for 26 yards in the first quarter. The total increased to 69 yards in the second. Then in the last 30 minutes the Golden Hurricane ground game accounted for 204 yards. Deneric Prince ran for a game-best 231 yards on 20 carries. His longest was an 84-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter that cemented the Tulsa lead to 24 – 10. It was the fourth longest run in program history. Tulsa broke 5 runs of 20-yards or more. Steven Anderson added 64 yards running.
“We knew we were going to have to deal with the quarterback, but they really got the run game going,” Drayton said.
Temple Defense Kept the Team in the Game
The defense was on the field for over 31 minutes. At the beginning of the game, the unit kept the team in the game. The first Tulsa pass by Davis Brin was intercepted by Owls linebacker Layton Jordan who returned it 35-yards for a touchdown. Jordan has a pick-six twice this season, the first since 2015 when Sean Chandler did so. The Cherry and White had another interception, a fumble recovery, and 7 sacks that set the Tulsa offense back 30 yards. Darian Varner sacked the quarterback a game-high 3.5 times. The offense of the Golden Hurricane was limited until the rushing attack took its toll.
“My team appreciates that we’re going to be aggressive,” Drayton said. “We know we’re going to have to take some risks to put ourselves in position to win ball games that way. That was a good momentum builder for us.”
Temple Needed More Offense
The Owls could not muster sustained offense. The team punted 8 times in the game. They lost the ball twice on downs. And third down was not their friend as Temple converted just 4 of 18 chances, and made a first down 15 times. Quarterback EJ Warner threw the ball 48 times completing 23 for 196 yards. Most of those came late. Warner teamed up with Amad Anderson, Jr. who had 8 catches for 112 yards. His touchdown catch brought Temple within 24 – 16 with 6:08 left to play. Proximity, and a chance to tie if the defense got a stop. Temple gained 84 yards on the ground as Edward Saydee led the team with 64 rushing yards.
“We’ve been practicing hard, especially the offense,” said Saydee. “We wish we could have put more points up but it didn’t happen.”
Next Up
Temple (2 – 5, 0 – 3) travels to Navy on October 29. They seek their first win in the American this season.
“The tears coming down their face is telling me a lot,” said Drayton. “We’ll build from this, we’ll endure this process, and get ready for the next game.”
Written By: Glenn Papazian
Contact: Glenn@PhillyCollegeSports.com
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